The Rosary was a lifesaver for this grieving young widow

My life imploded on April 17, 2011 (Palm Sunday), when I got the knock on the door at 8:30 a.m. and my brother-in-law told me [my husband ] John had passed away that morning while at the cabin from a heart attack. I crumbled … it was as if a “sword had pierced my heart.”  Sound familiar? That was Simeon’s prophecy to our Virgin Mother Mary during Jesus’ presentation in the Temple. So, I knew she (Mary) knew my pain. I turned to Mary and asked her to hold me as she held her son (remembering my small Pieta statue I had as a child).

A few weeks after John’s death, I still wasn’t sleeping at night. A friend loaned me her iPod and said “here Mary, borrow this, listen to the rosary recording. It will help you sleep.” Okay, so while I was a “good Catholic” and said evening prayers, went to Mass every weekend, I was not a fan of the rosary. I grew up saying the rosary as a family on Friday nights … blah blah blah, blah blah blah. But I listened to this friend and started listening to the rosary. It was a lifesaver! I couldn’t pray the rosary without listening to it. The trauma was so great I had a difficult time concentrating, so listening was much easier. And as I listened to the meditations, I started to understand even more how Mary understood my pain and how she wanted to help me through this.

But that first year I struggled. I had so much to deal with, single parenting and helping my kids deal with their grief, returning to work, keeping my husband’s company afloat. The community and my friends were amazing. But I still hurt so bad. Boy did I cry, at night, at Mass. I tried to keep myself even busier or distracted with books, movies, glass of wine/dinner with friends, volunteering. But that hole in my heart was still there.

Over time, listening to the daily rosary, Mary’s “magic” (which I now recognize as grace) started to work. I realized the hole in my heart could only be filled by God. I dug in with renewed energy to understand my beautiful Catholic faith. I finally turned the steering wheel over to Jesus.

[...] Thank you, Mother Mary! Thank you, Jesus!  Thank you for this beautiful universal Catholic Church and its powerful communion of saints!

Mary Fox Schaefer, November 18, 2022

Source : thecatholicspirit.com (Adapted)