Mamie received the mission to pray and offer her life for priests. It was Our Mother who gave her spiritual children; this is how she explained it to me. And little by little, over the course of her life those for whom she had to pray and offer her life appeared…not by some sort of fate, but by Providence. They appeared one priest after the next. There were even three bishops among her spiritual children. She remained faithful to her mission. Never did she abandon it. She knew what the Lord expected of her and she fulfilled it day to day.
Our Mother told her that she would have ninety-nine sons who were priests. The first one was given to her in Lourdes. His name was Enzo Bianchi and he was a member of the Pavonian order (of Saint Ludovico Pavoni). The last son was Father Felix Lopez, who became her son the very same day of his ordination to the deaconate on July 13, 1993, the year before Mamie’s death. I was her forty-third son.

The list of her priest-sons, in the order of the spirit, she carried in her notebook, which was also her personal agenda. This agenda was stolen from her in Milan near the famous opera house next to the Galleria of Emmanuele Filiberto of Saboya, when she had little more than about sixty addresses from among those of her spiritual sons. For her, this was a very sad day. Her spirit was broken. It was not the material value of the notebook that pained her. The robber would not be able to use it for anything but to throw it in the trash for its little worth. For her, that was where she had kept stored her most valuable treasure: the memory of each son for whom she was to pray and with whom she was to communicate words of encouragement and support in their ministerial tasks which were at times so trying. Fr. Enzo knew that in her green travel bag she had been carrying a magnetophone and so he wanted to buy her another to console her a bit. But this was not what made her suffer. She accepted the gift, so as not to hurt his feelings.

I remember some of the names that I had written in my heart and my life: Fr. Enzo Bianchi, Fr. Angel M. Rojas, Fr. Jose Luis Rey Repiso, Fr. Tomás de la Cruz Bañas O.P., Fr. Higinio González, Fr. Félix López, Fr. Ramón Rodríguez Alcalde, her confessor, Fr. Llorens, Fr. Manuel, Fr. Gerardo Ricordo.

Others were from outside of Spain: from Belgium, France, Italy, etc. And moreover, there were three bishops among her sons. Two of their names I remember: Bishop Guerra Campos and Bishop Seitz.

For her, each one was a son that she was to help, support, console, help with her sacrifices and prayer. With many of them, she maintained direct communication. Many went to pray the Rosary in her house along with many other people who attended as well. They spoke at the beginning of the Rosary as a way of preparing for this prayer.

As the years go by, the memories are sifted through and only the essential remains. But, sometimes certain situations, words, actions, etc. suddenly come to the surface and these can be hard to explain to others. There is one that I remember: June 1975. Mamie went to visit Bishop Guerra Campos. He received her alone, at first, into his office. And what did they speak of? I do not know. But the bishop was notably effected by what Mamie had just told him. Then I entered. It was noon. He asked that we pray the Angelus, and asked that I lead it. I did so. He blessed us. He asked us to continue praying for him and for his diocese. We promised to do so and we left.

But Mamie carried a secret in her heart. And she smiled.

By Fr. Rafael Alonso

©HM Magazine No. 138 - September/October2007