PARAGUAY, Leticia Deggiovani Fariña •
During the very difficult and sorrowful moment of her mother’s sudden death, Leticia Deggiovani Fariña felt that Mary the Mother Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt, whom she already knew, ran to meet her. —
The Blessed Mother has come into my life at different times. Without being aware of her call, she was there, seeking me as her ally, and wanting to conquer my heart. I was not close to the Movement when I met her, although I always had the Blessed Mother present in my life as the Mother of God and our mother.
Over time and already as a family, my husband and I were invited to belong to the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement. At that time, I did not know what to say, but without hesitation, my husband insisted that we say “yes,” and we were also thinking that our daughter Sofia could grow into a more solid spiritual environment. Since then, we have belonged to a couples’ group with whom we really feel like a family and we have developed amicable bonds.
Our second daughter, Gianna, was born after we already belonged to the Movement, and our family grew in numbers, faith, and love for the Blessed Mother.
The Pilgrim Mother in the intensive care unit
2017 was a difficult year for my family and me. My mother was struck by an illness that was never diagnosed. She was admitted to hospital, and in a matter of hours, she was taken to an intensive care unit, and given a reserved diagnosis.
While I was in the waiting room, filled with questions without answers, we encountered a picture of the Pilgrim Mother. That was not a coincidence, rather she was present there with a single aim: to strengthen us amid the sorrow and to console us. I could feel her telling me “I am here, do not worry.” That is how she sustained us during that wait, and she accompanied my mother in a special way. I prayed once and again that she would not leave her alone, that she would take her by the hand throughout her suffering, since neither my siblings nor I could be physically close to her. As those unending hours passed, I felt a great load on my shoulders, like a heavy cross, of my mother’s pain, and suffering. I did not stop praying that God’s will be fulfilled in her life, praying the Prayer of Confidence: “I trust your might, your kindness…” and I can attest that the Blessed Mother accompanied her to her last breath, taking her in her arms to meet the Lord.
My mother more than ever
It is difficult to find strength amid sorrow, but the Blessed Mother’s presence marked that moment in my life forever. She gives us hope during suffering, she comforts, helps us, and accompanies us. I feel that my bond with her was secured over the years and even more from these experiences of profound sorrow that I had to go through.
My mother’s death was very hard, but I accepted it with a confident heart and united to the Blessed Mother, who I take as my Mother now more than ever, and to whom I turn at every moment of my day. I look to her to be listened to in the physical absence of my mother. I keep that encouraging word that she gave me and most of all the strength to continue forward sowing that seed that she placed in me, my family, and in my siblings.
Source: Revista “Tupãrenda”, Paraguay, March 2017 – can now be read online (Spanish)
Original: Spanish. 30 March 2018. Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA. Edited: Melissa Peña-Janknegt, Elgin, TX USA
