By Fr. Rafael Alonso

The truth is that I was procrastinating a bit after returning from the summer encounters in the United States. It seemed that that my brain was dry and my inspiration fleeting.

I then remembered what Mamie had said a few weeks before dying, “My son, do not worry about me. Go and fulfill your duty because your children are waiting for you.”

In fact, Mamie died on August 4, 1994, and we usually have camps during the month of July. I do not remember exactly the dates of the camp in ’94, but I do know that they were around the middle of the month.

I knew that Mamie was truly gravely ill and that she could die in any minute. On July 16th, I had celebrated Mass in her house, in her presence, and in the homily I said that if the Lord wanted to take her with Him I was willing to offer up the sacrifice. And I went with my heart ready to fulfill my duty as the priest in charge of the preaching and sanctification through the sacraments of the group of girls that were going to the camp in Vegacervera, Leon.

Now I remember Mamie’s delicacy in the fulfillment of all her duties: family, social and personal. Mamie knew well that it is necessary to fulfill our duties not only punctually but also with the greatest perfection possible. She took great care of her social duties, paying punctually all her debts. She was especially careful in the fulfillment of her vocation as the spiritual mother of many priests, dedicating her life with great perfection to living the prayer of intercession and petition for the needs of all.

She was not daunted by the sacrifices, sufferings and efforts which God asked of her.

When her husband got sick, she never thought about herself, but rather about her duties with him and that is why she decided to go to Spain. The doctor had told her that her husband needed peace and a quiet life. He needed to forget about his worries so that his illness, arteriosclerosis, could be healed. Without worrying about herself, she moved with him from Brussels to Santander. Her duties as a wife led her to make all the possible sacrifices to save her husband.

The fulfillment of our duties is a path to do the will of God and this is what Mamie did.

The fulfillment of one’s duty is not always a sacrifice but it is sometimes and often an immense sacrifice. Many people tremble and run away from sacrifice and even more when it is a big sacrifice. Mamie never trembled before the sacrifice that the fulfillment of her duty implied and that is why she took on tasks from which many, who could have seemed stronger than her, would have fled. Mamie’s spirit was incredibly tough and when she knew that she should do something because the Lord or Our Mother was asking it of her or because it was part of her mission as the spiritual mother of many, she would never run away.

Neither the time nor the place nor the sacrifices nor the effort mattered to her. If she understood that she should do something, she did it. She knew, on the other hand, how to wait for the right time, and when it came she went into action. It is not easy to wait. Nor is it easy to go into action when you see before you a possible suffering as a result of that action. But Mamie did not see more than one thing: “If I have to do it, I’ll do it.” “If I have to do it now, I’ll do it now.” “If I have to do it later, I’ll do it later.” And in this way, she practiced patience.

Mamie was a living example for me of a woman who fulfills her duty.

©HM Magazine No.132 - September/October 2006