Interview
Maria Isabel Cardoso
In what does holiness consist?
In loving God above all things and your neighbor as yourself. It is to give everything to the one whom Jesus asks me, loving and serving with joy, avoiding seeking my own will in order to seek the Will of God, disciplining all my sentiments and temptations. It is to suffer everything for Jesus. It is to know that Jesus is everything for me and that I can do nothing without Him.
As to the level of your faith, have you always been as you are now or has there been a before and an afterwards?
I led a distracted life, without horizon. I was sad, I did not find joy in anything and the more I searched in superficial things, the more empty I felt. Nothing satisfied my desires. I was a slave of my vanity, of appearances and of the things of the world.
My faith was a faith of commitment. I only went to Mass on Sundays. After many years I began to go every day. A bit later I went with my husband to Fatima and there I felt the first call to change my life. This encounter with the Blessed Virgin had an impact on me and a profound desire for commitment was born within me. My husband gave me the book of Sister Lucia’s Memoirs. The story of the events in Fatima moved me greatly and was a great inspiration for me.
How did you live the Faith during your youth and the first years of your marriage?
Far from the presence of God, I did not feel understood and I ended up filling my emptiness by doing my will. A few years later I once again began to go to Mass on Sundays and to pray every once in a while.
What made you change?
Realizing that God had such a patient
love and silence, as regards the years of my youth and my experiences of sin. Also, the love, the peace, and the stability that I found in my marriage.
What things do you consider to have been important in the process of your conversion?
Prayer, daily Mass, confession, reading the Bible, finding books that are so beautiful, such as the Imitation of Christ, the life of St. Francis, St. Therese of the Child Jesus and other saints.
Temptations have permitted me to also unite myself to Jesus in a very profound manner and, even though the tendency to sin is characteristic of man, mercy is characteristic of Jesus. That is why I leave all my pain and affliction to Jesus in prayer and this is how I felt the presence of my Savior entering into my life, forgiving me and sheltering me in His divine love, giving me the sweet joy of feeling myself redeemed. Never in my life have I felt such a joy and happiness. Only Our Lord is capable of changing a state of sadness for another one, so opposite, which is of incomparable joy.
Has your husband accompanied you in your process of conversion?
He has been a blessing from God for me. His love converts me every day. His loving and patient company has opened for me the possibility of living very beautiful moments in places of pilgrimage and sanctuaries, every time that we have the opportunity to travel.
Is it important in marriage that the husband and wife be in harmony with each other in regards to the faith?
Yes, it is indispensable in order to be able to transmit to our children clear and solid concepts of the faith.
Do you believe that it is good for a married person to have a spiritual director?
A spiritual director is a very great grace which can be received from God. This is how I have experienced it in my life. It was an indispensable factor in the process of my conversion. Our Lord makes them instruments to guide us, counsel us and communicate His will to us.
Because of your husband’s work, you have had to move to Rome for a time. What did this mean for your spiritual life?
It has meant without doubt a beautiful growth, and enormous grace, and a divine privilege.
It is the most moving and significant experience that I could have ever experimented. Visiting St. Peter’s tomb moved me enormously because he was the apostle who revealed the most beautiful truth of our faith when he said to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God.” It is truly moving.
The solitude was also a kind and indispensable company for me to be able to grow and penetrate deeper into my spiritual life.
Who is John Paul II for you?
A saint! He is the voice of God on earth, the leader, guide and hope of the Christian people. He incarnates love, prayer, forgiveness, humility, suffering and perseverance. He is the man who extinguished communism and set on fire the hearts of many, many young people.
Can a married woman be in love with the Lord?
Of course! In love, I spend the entire day thinking only about Him. It is the most beautiful event that could have happened to me. It is an enormous joy that I cannot describe with words.
Is it difficult to be a Christian mother and spouse in the world today?
They are two great challenges... now that married couples nowadays have been converted into temporal relationships and the children suffer all the effects. Marriage is a sacrament, a vocation which we should conserve with the greatest fidelity, overcoming the difficult moments, but with God’s help in order to remain firm in love, union and respect until the ends of our lives.
What are the greatest difficulties which you encounter when trying to educate your children in Christian values?
The greatest difficulty is the attraction that they have for the television, video games, and computer games, because it isolates them, it annuls them, and destroys the capacities they have to create, the opportunity for dialogue to share and grow in family and social life is lost... Another difficulty consists in the twisted messages, masked and lacking in value, which the consumer society transmits.
Who is Our Lady for you?
She is the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus, and our Mother! Mary is the woman of silent suffering, who perfectly accepted the will of God from beginning to end.
Is prayer something that you can get along without?
No! Completely the opposite! Prayer prepares our soul to confront every battle. Prayer is for me the most valuable and fortunate space of time... it is my opportunity and the desire which arises in my soul to unite myself to God. They are precious moments where I look neither at time nor space. Prayer is the peace of my soul. Without it, I could not live.
What is your prayer like?
It begins when I open my eyes and finishes when the day ends. I pray when I arise, throughout the day, and when I go to bed, every time I have the opportunity, while working, walking home, contemplating nature... in any and every moment... I have favorite prayers, such as the Rosary, Aspirations to the Crucified Jesus, Prayer to the Holy Spirit, to the Blessed Trinity, which I repeat daily. I search for moments of silence, peace and contemplation... also of dialogue... looking at the picture of Jesus on the cross or of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or of Our Lady. I am united to them in thanksgiving, contrition, or petition... for different reasons.
Does a life without God have meaning?
No, it is empty... it is the inexorable sadness of solitude. It is the death of the soul.
How do you spend a normal day of your life?
Being a wife, mother, and volunteer.
Do you consider yourself a happy person?
Yes! Very happy and very fortunate because I have met Jesus.
What is the secret of happiness?
To live the life of God with God and for God. With your eyes fixed on heaven. I love this sentence of St. Paul to the Romans: “In everything God works for the good of those who love him.” I also like what St. Augustine added, that even out of sin God takes out good.
©HM 122 January - February 2005
