Before Mary, we are family

As a young seminarian on a summer internship at the Shrine of Lourdes, I helped with the preparation of the evening of prayer under the rotunda. In that month of August, there were a great number of pilgrims from many countries.

We had the idea of providing the Hail Mary in all the languages spoken by the pilgrims. I was in charge of collecting as many versions as possible. My job was quite easy: all I had to do was walk around and listen to people speak, then spring into action when I heard an unfamiliar language: "Would you mind writing the Ave Maria for me in your language, on this sheet of paper?"

The first people I met were an Italian and their sick adult daughter. The mom willingly took my paper and began to write. This is a good start, I thought. What surprised me was that she quickly filled out the first sheet, and continued writing. I could see tears running down her cheeks. She kept writing for ten minutes before she finally gave me back my sheets of paper, filled with something other than the Hail Mary in Italian, I knew that.

What had she written? I found out later, when an Italian priest translated the lines for me. The grieving mother had poured out her heart, telling of her daughter's illness, their anguish as parents, the constant prayers they had made to God and their confidence that the Virgin Mary would not let them leave Lourdes without healing and peace of heart. The Italian priest had to interrupt himself several times while reading it, overcome with emotion. A complete stranger had written for me on this paper not only her own prayer but also her whole life story. Her spontaneous trust and unvarnished frankness was a truly Marian grace. Before Mary, we can tell each other everything, because we are family.

Father Guillaume de Menthière is a priest from the diocese of Paris since 1991. He teaches theology at the Paris Cathedral School and at the Collège des Bernardins.