"Is she or is she not my mother?"

What does it mean to consecrate our diocese and consecrate ourselves to Mary? What does it mean to take Mary into our homes? It means to truly entrust ourselves to Mary, to truly put our trust in the intercession of the Virgin Mary, for Heaven and for today.

I will share with you the story of a monk, a former soldier, who before dying wrote to his mother: "When you receive this letter, little mother, your son will be in Heaven with the Blessed Virgin Mary." He entrusted the letter to a monk friend, who reacted with surprise: "Are you so sure that you are going to Heaven? You have not always been an angel (for he had led a disreputable life before his conversion)!"

The dying man replied, "An angel? I am not an angel, but this is not about me, this is about her! I know her, and I'm sure she can’t wait to see me!" "You're delirious, surely the Blessed Virgin is not pining after you!" "No, I am not exaggerating, the Immaculate wants to have me near her."

As the other monk smiled, the former soldier sat up and, looking straight into his friend’s face, asked him: "Tell me, yes or no, is she or is she not my mother?"

From this true story, told by Dom Chautard, a native of Briançon, abbot of the Sept-Fond Trappist monastery in France we can see with what confidence we should approach the passage of death.

Bishop Louis Malle of Gap (Southern France). Excerpt from a homily given on September 12, 2021

https://www.diocesedegap.fr/20210912-est-elle-ou-pas-ma-mere-homelie-vepres-cloture-annee-mariale/