Home of the Mother

Mamie and the Eucharist

By Fr. Rafael Alonso

We have already spoken once before of this theme, but this time we have placed it so that it may coincide with the fact that the Church is immersed in the Year dedicated to the Eucharist.

It is precisely in order turn our gaze once more to the Eucharist as the heart of the Church. The Eucharist becomes that heavenly nourishment that gives us life and is the source for the evangelical mission. It is the center of any ecclesial ministry and of any service. Christ calls us to participate in this ineffable gift: “Take and eat. This is my Body which I give up for you,” “Take and drink. This is the cup of my Blood, the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant, which will be shed for you and for all.” “Do this in memory of me.” These words extend to those who have a faith and ardent love for Our Lord. And that is what happened to Mamie.

During the 20 long years that I lived close to Mamie, I was able to observe the concentration with which she lived the mass and when she would visit the Blessed Sacrament, she was recollected, in a prayerful and adoring disposition. Her way of being before the Eucharist wasn’t just any other way. She lived immersed in the mystery celebrated by the Church.

At times, her deafness made it difficult for her to hear the readings and the priest’s homily. For this reason among others, she always would go sit in the front pews. Moreover, she did not want anyone to place obstacles in the way of her profound disposition towards what was taking place in the altar. Because, as she saw it, they were not simply gestures or human words. Her whole being manifested the unfolding of the mystery that was present, almost tangible.

Yes, I can say that her way of following the sacred rites, the sacred liturgy, were exemplary. To see her in mass was to sense a religious atmosphere in which you felt drawn in and enclosed. To see her was to enter with her into the mystery, although you remained in the threshold, knowing that she was up there and you were farther behind. To see her was to act in faith, hope, and charity and the profound adoration in which she lived. To see her was to place yourself, as well, in a disposition to listen and say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

I attended mass with Mamie many times because, as was declared by the late Pope John Paul II as well, the Eucharist was the “center of her day.”

The places of worship pass before me: Fátima, Lourdes, Torreciudad, Saint Peter’s in Rome, the cathedral in Toledo, in Burgos, in Santiago de Compostela, in Sevilla, in Cuenca, in Madrid, in Granada, the parish church in the town of Jerez del Marquesado where I was baptized…small and big places, simple ones, hidden ones, peaceful ones, busy ones,…and in all, the same impression, the same dedication to the living presence of the mystery, the same feeling of being in the presence of something so great, so immense, unable to be manipulated, that captivates, that attracts, that enlivens, that purifies, that urges, … that is, the conviction that you are in front of God.

©HM Magazine No.124 - May/June 2005

Speaking with Guillermo Blasco

We reprint here below the words with which Guillermo addressed John Paul II in the evening encounter with the young people:

Dear Holy Father:
My name is Guillermo Blasco. I am 19 years old. I come from a family of six children and I study technical architecture. I was born on the feast day of the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin has always carried me under her mantle. I went to a Catholic school in Madrid and my parents educated me in the Faith.
Since I was a boy, Holy Father, I have felt something big in my heart. In 1998, I went on the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela with a group that had come about by the hands of Mary: “Los Montaneros de la Asunción (The Mountaineers of the Assumption). This camino (the pilgrimage path) did me an immense good. There, I felt that Christ wanted something more from me.
On the 15th of August of 1998, the feast of the Assumption, my brother Fernando died in Ireland in a terroist attempt. I was 12 years old. This event marked my adolescent life. That same night, when I found out what had happened, I called all the hospitals in Ireland until the early hours of the morning. The next day, the terrible news was confirmed, and immediately I went to Mass with my father.
Perplexity and fear filled me, and a faint light appeared on the horizon. It was the light of the Camino of Santiago, something that had penetrated to the deepest part of my being. In communion, I found a strength that I could never have imagined. I had never seen the power of God in people. When my parents forgave the ones who killed my brother, their testimony remained engraved in my heart. Since then, I have had the conviction that the Virgin interceded in a very special way for my family.
The death of my brother resulted in a big change for me. My family became very united, and thanks to the example of my mother, I began to go to mass every day before school. I needed it. I had discovered that Jesus is the best friend that no one can take away from me. I also knew that I needed the interior strength that I was given in the Eucharist.
There have been hard times, Your Holiness, but daily comunion has maintained my hope afloat. I went on pilgrimages to Xavier, to Santiago in 1999, and in 2000 I participated, with Your Holiness, in the unforgettable Vigil of Tor Vergata. There, I felt, as in Toronto, that the Holy Spirit was being poured out over us, just as it is this afternoon in Cuatro Vientos.
The following year, Christ wanted to give me something more; something that He would only give to someone that He really loved. He gave me His Mother, Mary, who had been showing me the immense love of her Son. And I offered her my life. I consecrated myself to her, in the Marian Congregation of the Assumption. Since then I have been the Virgin’s and she has not stopped protecting me.
Since that day, and always, I have tried through prayer to offer her everything I do: every sports practice, every drawing I do…She has helped me to find delight in prayer, the dialogue with the Friend who never fails, who only asks that I let Him love me, who only wants to fill me with graces. And so, Your Holiness, allow me to invite my brothers, the youth, to share in the love of Mary, the love of Christ, the faithful Friend that never lets us feel alone, who only asks that we let Him fill our heart with His love, and who this afternoon asks us: “Do you want to be my witness? Do you want to be loved?”
I am convinced, Holy Father, that the secret of Your Holiness’ life is your love for the Virgin, expressed in the motto, Totus Tuus. From there you have found the strength to journey all over the world, in spite of illness and physical weakness, as a witness to the truth and to the love of Christ. Thank you, Holy Father, friend, for coming to Spain and for showing us that Mary is the shortest way to reach Christ.

INTERVIEW:

How old are you?
I am 21 years old.

What is your family like?
Well, my family, generally speaking, is big. I have three brothers, three sisters, my parents are Catholics, and as such, they have taught me to pray ever since I was little. Most likely the point on which they have most insisted has been the Marian devotion, with all that this contains.

Do you belong to an apostolic group?
To the Marian Congregation of the Assumption.

Have you always practiced your faith?
Yes, I have always done so, ever since I was little. And, of course, practicing it with the levels characteristic of each age. With this, I refer to the spiritual growth and search for maturity in my faith.

Has there been a certain moment or circumstance you can say caused a conversion in your life?
Well, the truth is that there was one: when my brother died and ever since then, Our Lord has not stopped surprising me and renewing me.

How do you live your faith now?
I live it according to the rule of life of the Marian Congregations, which comes from the Ignatian spirituality, whose key points are:
Daily prayer
Frequenting the Sacraments
Spiritual direction
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius once a year
Attendance of the Congregation’s acts
Spiritual Reading

Pope John Paul II repeated many times throughout his pontificate to the young people of the entire world: “Do not be afraid to be saints!” Do you want to be holy? Are you afraid?
Of course I want to be holy! Afraid? Of what? Of being completely happy? What I should be afraid of is not being holy.

How do you believe that you should reach holiness? What is it to be a saint?
I should reach holiness on the path and in the place where God has placed me. “Man has been created to praise, worship and serve the Lord our God, and through this save his soul.” That is to say, to be holy. The way in which each person carries out each one of these three things is the vocation to which God calls him.

Have you ever thought about what it is that God wants of you?
Of course, and once you know it, you throw yourself forward in search of it, your heart is full and has the strength to achieve it.

In your surroundings, is it easy for you to grow in holiness? Do you have people around you who help you on this path?
It is not your surroundings which help you to grow, but the prayer which gives you the desire to grow. If the question is if it is difficult for me, the response is yes, but the eternal problem of eternal things is that we live enclosed in time, and that we rush everything. However, our heart is always attentive to discover how to find a better environment. I have many people who help me, my girlfriend who encourages me to persevere in prayer, my parents, my spiritual director, the people of the Congregation...

You were in Cuatro Vientos (Madrid) when Pope John Paul II came to Spain in 2003 and you were able to be very close to him. How did you live those moments?
With an enormous peace and joy. The Holy Spirit was made more present to me than at any other moment.

Do you think that young people suffer?
Yes, greatly.

Pope John Paul II, especially in his last months, spoke a lot about suffering and the meaning Christianity gives to it. How did you face your brother’s death and how were you able to overcome that situation?
The truth is that when one finds forgiveness, and faith resolves the doubts, there is nothing more to overcome, except the sadness of not being able to spend more time with a brother who has just left. In order to be able to reach the point where I could forgive, my parents’ example, the remembrance of the pilgrimage to Santiago, and of the experience I had in those days, all helped me to find the most direct path towards the comprehension of all that had occurred and, above all, to accept the plans of God which sometimes are not those that we would like, but which are always the best.

Could you tell us how Pope John Paul II helped you in your spiritual life and in your process of drawing near to God?
I have been greatly nourished by the world youth encounters. Ever since that encounter, the unforgettable vigil of TorVegata, I have desired to absorb his messages and I have turned to books to read his previous ones from other World Youth Days. This helped me to understand the concept of the Universal Church, of commitment, and it encourages me more and more to become excited about the incredible project of holiness.

Pope John Paul II has been an especially Marian and Eucharistic Pope. Has this aspect of the Pope helped you in any way in your life of holiness?
They are two great aspects with which I felt especially identified. Thus, he has helped me to penetrate deeper into them.

What role does the Virgin Mary have for you?
The truth is that She doesn’t have any role in my life. In reality, She is my life. I was born on the day of Our Lady, I studied in a school which, when I went there, said, “Beneath your sacred mantle, my mother here has left me.” And before I realized it, I was in the mountaineering group of the Assumption, later in the Congregation, where I consecrated my life to Her, so that she could take me wherever She wanted.

And the Eucharist?
Never better said, our daily bread, through which we are made in a more real way, authentic living tabernacles. How can we not journey towards holiness, if Holiness itself is among us in the Eucharist!

You are young. The Pope attracted you. Why do you think that Pope John Paul attracted young people so much? What do you think was his secret?
He attracted because he was an integral man and the love and purity of his gaze attracted the youth who are tired of the harassment of falsity and lies. His secret, of course, was in the path which he followed, hand in hand with Christ and Mary, making him always a renewed man and a renewing man.

The Holy Father has always been very clear, direct and very demanding when he spoke to the youth. Do you think that the way of life he urged is possible to live in the 21st century?
Not only do I believe that it is possible, but it is now more than ever necessary. The Europe of the Spirit, intimately tied to the civilization of love and the school of Mary, are two points which are necessary in order not to fall into the deep pits of this society.

How did you live the moments around the death of the Pope John Paul II?
With a bit of sadness, but with great thankfulness to God for the immense gift which He has given us.

With what phrase would you resume his long pontificate?
I do not have anything to resume. I prefer for him to resume it with his motto: “Totus Tuus.”

What would you like the world to remember about this Pope?
It is a very difficult question. The world has so much to learn from his life. Maybe I could say that it is the wonderful comprehension which he had of each one of the stages of man’s life and which he so well knew how to link together and to penetrate in order to make this society see the importance of life and of the beautiful creature created by God.

Trust in God

A while back, I heard a priest tell a story about trust in God,
which made me think about how my trust is.

It happened in the Ukraine a few years ago, when persecution was still intensified. Today, thanks be to God, the Ukraine has changed somewhat and the Church is beginning to be revived. But in those years, the persecution was terrible. They were looking to destroy the faith, the spirit. Almost all the priests were expelled, deported to Siberia, to forced labor or simply assasinated. The story refers to precisely one of these priests deported to Siberia. He was brought there with many other people, all accused of one great crime: being Christian. After a long trip in the midst of many hardships, the first night they spent in Siberia the priest could not get to sleep. So much had happened, too many uncertainties, hardships, and fears, to be able to manage getting to sleep peacefully. Thus, he decided to pray. A little while later he began to hear a whisper, as if there was another person praying as well. He drew a bit closer, and sure enough, he discovered a man who was praying.

“ What are you doing?” he asked.

“ I am praying to God and the Blessed Virgin, asking them to help me to be able to be able to confess, because I know that I have very little time left to live. I will die soon and I want to go to confession before it happens. So, I am asking God that He might give me that opportunity.”

The man, in fact, had already spent some time deported in those Siberian lands, subjected to forced labor that had worn down his strength, and showed that the end was already approaching.

“ But do you think that you will be able to leave here to go to confession?” the priest asked, still withholding his identity.

And here is where the infinite trust this man had in God comes in. He responded with doubting for an instant. “I have so much confidence in God that I know that if I cannot leave here, He will somehow find a way to send me a priest that will help me. I only know that the Lord will hear my prayer. The means are up to Him.”

And that is exactly what the Lord did. The man had made a great act of faith and hope, in spite of suffering and he did not see his confidence as betrayed. How great was the happiness of this man! He had the absolute certainty that, even when the circumstances seemed impossible, the Lord would not abandon him and He would do whatever it took to have a priest there at the moment of death. Blessed are you who have believed!

For the priest, as well, it was an immense grace in the midst of so much suffering and pain. He felt himself as an instrument in the hands of God, seeing how God is never deaf to a prayer made in true confidence and love.

John Paul II

Dear Young People!

In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into his body and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey, and he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of hope. If, in the presence of this mystery, reason experiences its limits, the heart, enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, clearly sees the response that is demanded, and bows low in adoration and unbounded love.

Encyclical letter “Ecclesia de Eucharistia”