G.M. Sometimes couples go through difficult times, and we are no exception to this having had one more or less fifteen years ago. It was so difficult that for a time we were not together; I was here and she was there. That of course is not the way a marriage should be; when you join your lives, it is to share everything with love and to overcome difficulties together.
Love is so beautiful that it allows you to view the other as a special being no matter how many defects he or she may have. However sometimes we get disconnected from love, and the ability to disregard defects disappears and leads us into conflicts. That was what happened to us and the conflict almost destroyed our marriage. Fortunately, the Blessed Mother took this situation into her hands taking care of us and making a small light shine in our souls, so that we were able to see love again behind the difficulties. We started talking to one another again, bringing God into the problems, and were together once more.
I am pregnant!
And one day to celebrate reconciliation, we took a short trip. The result of this trip was a gift from the Lord: “I am pregnant,” was the phrase that she said in the midst of smiles and joy. We were happy to receive another member into our family, and as a happy new couple, we went to see the doctor for the first routine checkup. It was then that we felt the first blow: “The baby is not alive Madam, there is no heartbeat. The best thing you can do is to undergo a procedure.”
Only someone who has gone through a similar situation can understand the effect of those words, especially if they come from one of the most renowned doctors. We left the doctor’s office greatly affected. We decided to go to another doctor who gave us the same answer.
“There is no heartbeat and there should be one.” They recommended what they called “a cleaning process.” But for us it was to end a life, even if they insisted there was none. We decided to go to a third doctor, not as famous as the others, but perhaps more humane. He didn’t say anything encouraging either, but my wife’s tears convinced him that he should go a little beyond.
That holy card of the Blessed Mother in a Movement which was born in Germany
He said, “You’re young, you will have other children.” But the crying did not stop. Then he dared to suggest something different. “Let’s do this, we will wait another week. But if at that time there is no heartbeat, we will have to do something to get what you have out of there. In the meantime, pray to God as much as you can.” He seemed convinced that nothing would happen.
We couldn’t do anything else but pray. At that time, and we should have done it before, we remembered our love for our Blessed Mother, especially in that little image that we had from a friend, a representation of the Mother of God in a Movement which was born in Germany on October 18, 1914.
We sat across from her and simply asked for this: “Please, Blessed Mother, grant us this miracle, that our baby be alive.”
We are very impatient, especially when it comes to waiting for something that we really want. Perhaps it was because of the problems we had experienced, because our relationship had been under great pressure, but the fact is that in this baby, we saw a ray of hope for our future life. Perhaps that vision might seem selfish, but love can overcome these barriers. So each evening during that week of waiting, we prayed again and again to Our Lady of Schoenstatt to grant us the miracle of intercession before God to ask the Lord to give the breath of life to that tiny creature that the doctors insisted had no life at all.
And so the week went by with us believing that a miracle would come
It was not easy to work, sleep, or eat during those days, because we did not have the least desire or enthusiasm for any of those activities. Tears sprang quickly and smiles on the other hand were almost entirely absent; attempting to describe the anguish of the uncertainty we felt is beyond the ability of these words. Yet we had to try to overcome grief and demonstrate true faith.
“If we truly believe in God and the Virgin,” we said in one of our many prayers, “we have to act normally and think that our baby is alive, that is what Jesus would do.” And with all our human weaknesses, we decided to believe and feel that God and the Blessed Mother were going to reach out to us. And so the week went by with us believing that a miracle would come.
And the day came to visit the doctor again; he had his usual professional attitude, preparing the ultrasound machine, while my wife held my hand nervously. We all waited.
Then the image appeared on the screen, but the doctor looked worried. In a whisper I heard him say: “I see nothing yet.” I felt the world crumbling down over me, but the doctor decided to insist: “Let me try again.”
Nothing encouraging was visible on the screen. Only a motionless figure, but the heartbeat did not seem to be there.
“Look, there is the heart beating”
But then something happened, just a movement, a sort of jump, and almost as if by magic, the doctor said with a huge smile of relief. “Look, there is the heart beating.” My wife cried, but this time out of joy, and I joined in her emotions.
That night we sat before the image of the Virgin and thanked Her; we called everyone in the family to tell them that my wife was pregnant. Everyone was pleased with the advent of a new life.
But human beings are forgetful, and with the passing of months, the daily chores made us accustomed to the extraordinary, and we forgot the immense gift that the Lord through the work of His Blessed Mother had given us.
But the Virgin was not prepared to let us overlook her efforts and was going to remind us ever so gently.
Like I said, each year we celebrate on October 18th, the founding of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement, this was the day that Father Joseph Kentenich made his Covenant of Love with the Virgin Mary in the original Chapel in Germany.
For me it was a day like any other working in my office when I received a call from my wife, who only managed to say: “it is time.” I ran straightaway. We arrived at the hospital, and the doctor greeted us. I accompanied my wife in that beautiful moment, and after a natural birth, we received a beautiful girl into our arms.
“What date is today?”
Oddly enough, we had forgotten the miracle of love that had been given to us. Until my wife, with her baby in her arms looked at me for a moment and asked: “What date is today?” I replied absently, “Today, I forget, let me see, ah yes, October 18.”
Then we realized what had happened. Our daughter had been born, by natural delivery, the same day as the Foundation of our Mother of Schoenstatt’s Movement, the Sweet Lady who we had asked for a miracle. And so, to keep always in mind Her wonderful work, we named our daughter Maria Bernadette of Schoenstatt.
At the registry office they asked us: “You really want to give her that long a name?” And we answered, yes, this is how she shall be called: Maria Bernadette de Schoenstatt.
Thank you, Mother!
