Une Minute avec Marie
Faire connaître et aimer Marie
In the early 19th century, a priest entered the islands of Fernando-Po and Amban, now Equatorial Guinea. He was surprised to find a crudely-built cross on the shore not far from the sea, surrounded by a group of native children, one of whom was white. They were reciting the Rosary aloud in Spanish.
On spotting the priest, the child exclaimed: “A priest!” and all the others immediately turned their heads. The missionary approached and asked the child, who looked about ten years old, to take him to his parents' house. I have no parents here,” he replied, ”I was shipwrecked on this island, and some people took me in. Remembering my mother's advice to say the Rosary every day, I began to recite it. As I didn't have a statue of the Blessed Virgin and didn't know how to make one, I made this cross in front of which I say my prayers every day. My little friends come here with me, and I've tried to teach them the Ave Maria, so that we can recite the Rosary together.”
The missionary asked the child how long he'd been on the island. “I don't know exactly,” he replied, ”but it seems to me that it must be a long time; for the time seemed long to me, away from mom and dad.” The child led the priest to the house where he had been welcomed, and these good people received him with great respect.
The next day, the missionary led the recitation of the Rosary, attended by several families. He even went from family to family, and soon, under the protection of the Queen of the Rosary, a fervent Christian community was formed, and grew by the arrival of other apostolic men. One of these, returning to Spain, took the child with him. The child was fortunate enough to find his parents, who had also escaped the shipwreck. He told them of Mary's kindness to him, and the prodigious effects of the Rosary during the exile in which he had suffered.