MISSION
when I revisited the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Grace at the top of Mount Grace above Osmotherly. The revisiting came at the end of the pilgrimage when I rummaged back through my notes, journal reflections and my photos and was moved by the way Mary Ward returned to this tranquil site, a place for pilgrims to pray, including her own companions who prayed for her health there. I felt like a I had a brief window into her soul and I had a deep sense that after everything Mary Ward had encountered, at first some joys and triumphs, but then gradually all the suffering and disappointment that she had endured, the Shrine of Our Lady at Mount Grace was where she found peace and almost her final refuge. She placed, as always, her trust in God at this site. She gave thanks for the graces she had been given. It is a deeply spiritual place overlooking the landscapes of her life and time. A place where she journeyed, in prayer and reflection. A place where she walked, where she prayed and where no doubt she contemplated her deepest desires for her Institute and her companions. I found myself coming back to that idea of trust, a trust of God, of self and of others. It was at Mount Grace where I had chosen to place my heart on the first visit. Walking in the pilgrim footsteps of those who’d gone before and tracing the Passion of Christ up through the trees, I was immediately struck by God’s presence. I was struggling through my own grief, with the loss of my mother, and when I became aware of God’s presence I felt a weightlessness. An acceptance that no one is on this journey alone. I placed my heart at Station Number 4, where Jesus Meets His Mother. It was at this time on his journey that Jesus needed all his strength to continue and so he comes face to face with his mother Mary who is his most powerful source of strength. It was their love and trust in God that united both of them to continue. So too this must have been for Mary Ward, I thought. She had journeyed, followed the way God had desired for her and yet still did not despair or turn to bitterness when all seemed lost. She remained faithful and trusted in God, she persevered until the end. I realised as Mary Ward did, that when we persevere and trust in God, and when we walk this way with our companions, we are never alone. MRS LIBBY PARKER Director of Mission
Cruci Dum Spiro Fido
Special Edition 2020
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LORETO LIFE 31
