Our Lady's Devotee

Our Lady's Devotee

During my first months in Nottingham, Fr Geoffrey Hunton, a priest-friend told me how amazed he was to see a number of Filipinos attending Mass during the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (11th of February). He asked me if there is any special devotion we have for the Blessed Virgin under this title. I told him that we do have that special devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes and mentioned to him that we even have a national shrine in her honor in Quezon City and an association of women devotees, the Confraternity of Lourdes.

Apart from my mother, one of the persons I cannot forget when it comes to devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes is my very own aunt, Lilia Samaniego-Reyes. Like Mama, she is a member of the confraternity. When we were living in her house in Kawit, Cavite I would join her in attending the First Saturday Mass. The church was filled with women and young girls dressed in white with a blue sash similar to Mary's attire when she appeared in Lourdes.

As a Marian devotee, Tia Lils, as I have lovingly called her, would take part in the block rosary. One time, she and her colleagues would transfer Our Lady's image on a daily basis to ensure that all Catholic houses in their neighborhood would have the chance to be visited by the image and pray the rosary before that image in their homes.

We spent Christmas last year in their home and she would recall how we cleaned the house every weekend, fetched water from a deep well in a neighboring barangay, and prayed the rosary every October. I told my wife that, when Tia Lils and her sons would visit us in Gagalangin, we would pray the rosary.

Tia Lils had a mild stroke in 2005, but I am very happy to say that she is coping with it. The Blessed Mother does not forget her devotees! It brings me joy to have seen her that Christmas and look forward to see her again when we come back home in the future.

During this feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, which is also World Day of the Sick, I am praying for her speedy recovery.