The Priest, Our Lady and Catholic Women (Mothers)
This is a photo of my late mother, Audrey, and my sister on our last visit to Lourdes. When my mother died (April 10, 2010), after the initial shock and a brief period of awful grief, I received a wonderful grace which meant that the worst aspects of grief were simply overtaken by immense gratitude and a great sense of peace. It is not just an emotional thing - it has lasted until now and has brought with it a deeper appreciation of the gift of motherhood - a gift of huge and unique importance for the world and the Church. One of the touching things that brought this home was a card we found in my mother's prayer books which has a picture of the Visitation on one side and a special request to Our Lady to look after a mother's children on the other. In that prayer there is a space where a mother might write the names of her children. Of course, there we are, the three of us. Two other things happened which were obviously a preparation for her death. On my last anniversary of ord