Mamie and the Priests
By Father Rafael Alonso
Mamie received the mission to pray and offer sacrifices for priests. Our Blessed Mother gave her spiritual sons. Little by little, throughout her life, the priests for whom she should pray and offer sacrifices providentially appeared. Priest by priest, one after another, including three bishops. She was faithful to her mission, which she never abandoned. She knew what the Lord wanted from her and she fulfilled it day by day.
She knew that she would have ninety-nine priests as sons. Her first son appeared in Lourdes. He was a Son of Mary Immaculate named Fr. Enzo Bianchi. She received her last son, Fr. Felix Lopez, Servant of the Home of the Mother, on the very day that he was ordained a deacon, July 13,1993, a year before Mamie’s death. Fr. Rafael Alonso was number forty-three and her spiritual mission began with him even before he entered the seminary.
She had the list of her spiritual sons in a notebook that was also her personal diary. In Milan this diary was stolen and she lost about seventy different addresses of her spiritual sons. It was a very sad day for her. It wasn’t the material value of the notebook that upset her, but rather the fact that she had lost her most precious treasure: the memories of each son for whom she should pray and to whom she would write in order to encourage him in his often difficult ministerial duties. Each one of them was a son for her to sustain, console and help with sacrifice and prayer.
In March of 2007, a curious thing occurred. We received an e-mail from a man we had met in Mexico during a summer camp held there in 2001. This is what he wrote:
“…I have been trying to come in contact with you again for some time now. Looking for more information about Mamie, I searched the internet for the Home of the Mother and I found your website. There I located some articles in the magazine section, but not the information that I needed. I was looking for an explanation of how God entrusted 100 priest to Mamie’s prayers and sacrifices. If you permit me, I will explain why I needed this information...
Ever since I read Mamie’s story, I have been thinking about this aspect of her life. It is curious that since then, whenever I have spoken with a priest or listened to a homily, it is as if he were asking me to pray for him and the image of Mamie popped into my head… In 2002, while I was speaking to a woman who has a website dedicated to providing psychological and humanitarian aid for religious and priests, she invited to learn more about her work and asked me: “What else can we do for them?” That is when all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place: We can pray for them just like Mamie did!
We designed an internet service in which lay people would be able to offer prayers for a specific priest, “adopting” him… Anyway, I spoke about my idea with a few priests and some time later and after a few providential moves played by Our Lord, we launched the website in July of 2003.
As you can see, priests are benefiting from Mamie’s example on a worldwide level.
There are currently 6,262 priests inscribed and 22,732 people praying for them.
An article appeared in “La Razon”, a Spanish newspaper, on April 2, 2004, explaining this initiative. Here is a short quote: “…Their model is the apostolic work of a Belgian woman, known as Mamie, who lived in Spain. Her mission was to pray and offer sacrifices for more than 100 priests…”
TESTIMONIES OF SOME
OF HER SPIRITUAL SONS
Fr. Enzo Bianchi
(Pavoniano. Italy)
Her exterior appearance, the lively nature that she possessed, and her inseparable cigarette took the attention off of her reserved, interior life.
However, the bait that drew me to open my heart and begin a solid friendship which later led me to be one of her spiritual sons, was precisely her amusing cigarette.
I met her for the first time in 1971,in a town near Fatima…A numerous group of priests had converged in that town for different reasons, looking to participate in a prayer encounter that was to be held in Fatima. During the meals, Mamie zealously served the priests… but while we were having a cup of coffee afterwards, the peculiar Mrs. Elisabeth left. Where did she go? Out of curiosity, one evening I decided not to lose sight of her and I left the house looking for her. Lo and behold, I found a shadow that moved a red dot. Hidden between two cars, silently, thoughtfully, with her gaze fixed on the bright moon, I found her. It was Mamie… I made a noise to startle her. I finally caught you!, I exclaimed, smiling. She got out of the fix explaining to me that smoking was a “sin” that she had obtained during her youth for different reasons. That was how she began to tell me her life’s story… Since we didn’t have too much time there, we decided to meet each other on another occasion. We agreed to meet again on October 15, in Lourdes.
On the established date, I went to the hospital in Lourdes looking for Mamie… After feeding the sick, she accompanied me to the Grotto where we knelt down in front of our Lady. The scene was indescribable. Mamie spoke with the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Mother of God entrusted her with the particular mission of dedicating her life to the priests that were commended to her and I was the first of those spiritual sons… she would have to offer herself from then on as a victim for the souls, especially for the consecrated, her favored children. It was an immense joy for Mamie and an indescribable emotion for me. Throughout twenty-three years she never broke her promise.
Fr. Angel Maria Rojas S.J.
Spain
The attention, concentration and devotion with which she prayed impressed me from the start. As I was able to enter deeper into her inner life, I found that this was only the external facet of her total surrender to the Lord. She didn’t like things half done and even less in the spiritual life...
She was an exquisite person, which revealed her maternal heart. Her smile captivated everyone that knew her, especially the young people… This smile, so common in Mamie, halfway hid another side of her personality: her enormous capacity to suffer, which hardly ever manifested itself exteriorly.
Fr. Ramon Rodriguez Alcalde
Diocesan priest. Mamie’s confessor.
Maybe her greatest virtue was always bearing pain with joy and simplicity. She never thought about herself, otherwise she would not have lived like she did. She was a dedicated soul… The day before her death she said, “I can’t wait to be with the Lord…” She said this quite often. At the end of her life she lived even more intensely in the presence of God. She said, “Let God ask me for whatever He wants, I will give Him what He asks.”
Fr. Joaquin Ferrer Arellano
Diocesan Priest. Spain
The quiet offering of her victim soul, chosen by the Lord, has done so much good to so many priests, among which I include myself! But the hidden fruit of her generous immolation will not be fully known until we reach heaven, it is God’s secret. Those encounters with her helped me so much… Everything that she advised me to do brought me peace and a fulfillment of God’s will.
Fr. Felix Lopez Lozano
Servant Brother of the Home of the Mother
A lot of things impressed me about Mamie during all those years (1982-1994) that I luckily was able to live close to her. I especially like to remember the last years of her life. Her physical weakness increased, but she was filled with interior security, with optimism, with a smile on her lips.
Her capacity to suffer also impressed me, along with her generosity in the midst of pain. She knew how to discover the supernatural sense of the cross. More than once, seeing her sick and in pain, I said to her, “You’re a little bit worse today, aren’t you?” -“Yes, my son. My whole body aches. But I offer it all up to the Lord. When you suffer, don’t think about yourself, don’t play the victim. Look at the Lord on the cross and offer everything up to Him with love.”
Another aspect that impressed me was her gratitude. She always thanked everyone for everything. Above all, she thanked the Lord and our Lady. She knew how to be thankful for the joys and the crosses...
It was impressive to see Mamie pray. It wasn’t a prayer full of pompous words. She spoke humbly to God, with supreme respect, putting her whole heart and soul into it. She lived her prayer.
Lastly, I will say that Mamie taught me how to love heaven. Nothing lasts forever, only God. Illness, physical pain, criticism, incomprehension, everything passes.
Mamie always said: The Lord is so good! And that divine Goodness knew how to live and die.
©HM Magazine No. 143 July/August 2008
