ITALY, Pamela Fabiano •
The blessing of home shrines in Italy continues. In Tuscany in particular, many families are experiencing the beauty of having the Blessed Mother in their homes. After Laura Liberati’s story, Maria Laura Borelli Respino also shared her experience with us. —
On Saturday, April 22, 2023, I had the grace of having Father Beltrán and Sister Vera Lucia in my home. Their sweet presence allowed the Holy Spirit to descend on my family with the blessing of the Home Shrine and for Mary Queen of the Family to come and dwell here.
I have to admit that in the previous months leading up to this, having various meetings to deepen my knowledge of what I and my family were going to, there was no shortage of doubts and uncertainties, I did not feel ready, worthy, of what Mary our Holy Mother was going to do, that is, to come and dwell with us, to be a living presence in our home. So I brought up these perplexities of mine and since painful things had happened in the family, I was convinced that I had to preclude myself from this joy.
Then talking with Laura and Margherita [those in charge of formation, ed.], who always left me free in my choice, I ‘jumped in’ and said ‘yes,’ because Mother was coming precisely to heal those wounds and dry those tears.
I was very anxious in the preceding days and all caught up in preparing for the celebration; in fact, I disturbed several times my good and patient friend Laura who punctually directed me to this experience unknown to me, and I must say that, in the end, on Saturday morning I woke up serene and calm.
The table near our shrine was ready, carefully prepared the night before, and the celebration amidst songs and prayers pervaded our hearts with peace and I became emotional several times and my voice cracked with tears.
In the face of Mary’s greatness and God’s presence in our home how could this not happen?
Now she is there looking at me and smiling, waiting for us to sit with Her, to pray Lauds, to offer Her greetings, to embrace life together.
Original: Italian. Translation: Maria Fischer @schoenstatt.org
