On this feast of the ASSUMPTION OF MARY INTO HEAVEN, we wish to share the experience of some pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago as they come into contact with God through the MIRACULOUS MEDAL, received from the Daughters of Charity who offer it to them on their journey.
It is incredible how MARY in 1830 communicated with Catherine Labouré at 140 Rue du Bac in Paris, thus beginning what Pius XII called “The Age of Mary.” Sixteen years later, her apparition in La Salette (1846) followed, then the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pius IX (1854) and the confirmation of this dogma only 4 years later in Lourdes (1858).
Today, in 2024, she continues to draw near to us. From this small chapel, we witness how her Motherly heart touches the hearts of her pilgrim children.
This email, received from a couple of pilgrims from California, is one of the most recent testimonies. Before it, we can only exclaim, as Ratisbonne once did in his experience with MARY, “In an instant, I understood everything.”
Email from August 4, 2024:
“Two days ago, by an act of providence, my husband and I met Sister Ana as we entered Rabé de las Calzadas. She had gone out for a walk to say her rosary and we were walking the Camino.
We started talking and she mentioned that we should stop at the chapel where her other sisters were attending to the pilgrims.
This is my third Camino Francés, so I told Sister Ana that the chapel and the Sisters are one of my most cherished memories of the Camino and showed her the Medal that I was given on my first Camino Francés. I told her that I had worn it on four different Caminos and that I treasured it.
I also told her that I volunteered at the Pilgrim’s Office in Santiago last fall. When I was processing each pilgrim’s credential, I would ask them what their best memory of the Camino was. Pilgrim after pilgrim talked about the sweet nuns who prayed for them and then placed a medal around their necks. Most had tears in their eyes. A big pilgrim, a cowboy from Texas, broke down sobbing as he recounted how the Sisters had touched his heart.
Know that your love and support for the pilgrims is famous all over the world. From your small chapel, you are sharing the love of God with the whole world.”
With love and respect,
Kathy Ellis
San Francisco, California
It is a great joy to feel that MARY continues to walk with us, that SHE is present in every place and time to lead us to her Son, Jesus Christ.
Team of Sisters on the WAY.
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