Une Minute avec Marie
Faire connaître et aimer Marie
"On June 2, 1972, I went to California with my friend Réjean on a last minute trip. I was hoping to meet some of the Jesus people I had seen on a TV story about San Francisco. When we arrived in the United States, police officers drove us back to Quebec. In the evening, we went to Drummondville to see a community of young people called The Apostles of Jesus through Mary.
Before going to sleep, we were invited to pray. After some religious songs, we recited three Hail Marys. During the first one, I just smiled. At the second one, I prayed. And at the third, I cried. The rest belongs to the Holy Spirit. The young people continued to speak to us about God and answered my questions. God’s love was burning inside of me, like a divine fire that reached down to the utmost depths of my being. I then entered into the celebration of a God who takes his delight in me, as with the prodigal son.
Three Hail Marys were enough to overcome my objections, to celebrate my reunion with the Son and his Mother. The dam of tears gave way under the weight of grace. I didn't try to hide, flee, or understand what was happening to me. I did not say anything, I let myself be told, reached, and penetrated by a fiery, implacable, invincible love. "Lord, you seduced me, and I was seduced; you seized me, and you succeeded" (Jer 20:7).
I was changed by this personal encounter with Christ who gave birth to me a second time. My whole being was shaken by the revelation of his unconditional love. He loved me beyond what I had done and what I had not done. From now on, my life was intimately linked to his grace which broadened my horizon, orienting it towards a new springtime.
I stopped going on last-minute trips, skipping classes, taking dangerous drugs, and I even quit smoking; Jesus was inviting me to go out into the deep. To stay the course, I resolutely turned to Mary; I took up the prayer of the little ones, the Rosary, and never left it to this day. My "yes" is an extension of Mary's founding fiat at the Annunciation: "May everything happen to me according to your Word" (Lk 1:38).
Excerpt from En sa présence, a memoir by Jacques Gauthier, Canadian author (published in September 2022 in France by Artège and in Canada by Novalis. Excerpt translated from the French)