SPAIN, Luis Ortiz •
A while ago a patient of about 84 years of age arrived at the hospital in León. She had a brain tumour and had to be operated. I met her during my daily visits to each of the rooms. When I introduced myself as a religious service, the joy on her face was immediate! She asked for holy anointing and communion. The three sons who accompanied her were annoyed by the presence of the religious service to the point of telling their mother that it was foolish to believe in it. —
I continued to bring communion every day and always, when I arrived in the room, the children came out of the room, uncomfortable and annoyed. I was struck by the fact that the lady made the sign of the cross with both hands as she said, “I do it for me, for my children, for my grandchildren and for all the suffering children in the world. My heart was moved every morning.
She also prayed the Rosary every day, to which I offered to bring the Pilgrim Mother into the room, something that the children also refused on several occasions. This lasted for about three months and during this time the Blessed Mother worked in the hearts of these children and through the petition of this mother on a daily basis.
To the point that the children even apologized for their attitude before the Blessed Sacrament and the picture of the Pilgrim Mother and said that they came into the hospital with their mother without faith and they left reconciled with the church and with God thanks to the prayers of the mother to the Blessed Mother. A mother never tires of praying.
It is one of those little stories that happen every day in the hospital.
A Venezuelan missionary in León
I am Venezuelan, and a while ago I communicated with you, the schoenstatt.org team, via email. At that time I spoke with Maria Fischer. I told her my story with the Pilgrim Mother found in the refugee camp in Chile and she responded:
“Sometimes the Blessed Mother gives herself to her missionary, so: Take her and bring her wherever she wants to go!”.
I took her and she brought me to the city of León, Spain. Specifically to the hospital, in the health ministry. We have been visiting the sick every day and in some cases we leave the image of Our Lady in the room with the sick.
A couple of days ago, a small package arrived from people from schoenstatt.org with pictures of the Blessed Mother, medals, rosaries, pictures of Don João- to nourish this health ministry with small details for the patients and relatives.
Original: Spanish 2023-02-02. Translated by: María Aragón, Monterrey, México
