| The year was 1952; I was seven years old. I could feel | | | | endeavor I found the holy water donated by our local |
| my mother tingling with excitement as we entered the | | | | Episcopal priest. |
| 5 & 10 cent department store. She had painstakingly | | | | Seven years later when Rose passed away, I |
| put aside scarce household change in anticipation of | | | | requested that the Mary Mother of God statue be |
| this day; buying a special Mother of God statue for her | | | | returned to me which her family graciously tendered. |
| devout mother. My grandmother wept with joy at the | | | | To my surprise and delight, the statue was covered in |
| sight of her beloved Mary statue. It was a rare day of | | | | bright red lipstick where Rose had apparently kissed it |
| celebration with each of us allotted an extra bowl of | | | | repeatedly as she completed her nightly ritual. A |
| potato soup and a glass of powdered milk. | | | | sacrament made possible in Rose's mind by the |
| My grandmother was the humblest most spiritual | | | | presence of the blessed holy water and the Mother |
| person that I have ever known. She never spoke | | | | Mary Statue. |
| about her love of God or her devotional habits. I was | | | | Fifty-six years have passed since that enchanting |
| privileged to witness her daily fidelity first hand having | | | | shopping day at the five and dime store with my |
| shared a bedroom. Each night she patiently smoked a | | | | mother. This special event celebrated with an extra |
| cigarette while waiting for me to fall asleep. Feeling a | | | | bowl of watery potato soup and a glass of powdered |
| sense of peacefulness, I often stole a look at her | | | | milk. The atmosphere held the feel of Christmas. I |
| evening ritual. After first blessing me with holy water, | | | | cannot help but think of that day as sacramental, an |
| reading her bible by the Lady of Fatima night light, she | | | | example of sharing "our daily bread"; my mother's |
| pulled the tight rubber band from her bun allowing her | | | | excited anticipation of her mother's joy, my |
| hair to fall along her weary shoulders. She raised her | | | | grandmother's tears of elation, my jubilation at |
| arms toward her sacred altar which held the Mother | | | | participating in their happiness, my mother's subsequent |
| of God statue and the large crucifix which hung | | | | comfort gleaned from the inheritance of her mother's |
| directly above Mary's head. As if frozen in time, she | | | | sacred objects and Rose's peace and reverence |
| remained in that precise position for what seemed like | | | | garnered from a statue that she perceived as holy. |
| an eternity. I drifted off to sleep with a sense of the | | | | Lastly, the many years of grace and sweetness |
| sacred. Not that at the age of seven I understood | | | | bestowed upon me as I reflect on my good fortune to |
| what sacred meant but I had the feeling of being | | | | stand upon the shoulders of these devoted, albeit |
| sheltered. | | | | somewhat eccentric, women. Through their quiet daily |
| After grandmother died my mother kept the altar in | | | | rituals, these women demonstrated living their lives |
| her bedroom in the exact manner as her mother had | | | | sacramentally. |
| done. The Mary mother of God statue, the Lady of | | | | I now have my own altar complete with Rose's holy |
| Fatima night light, the holy water the rosary beads, all | | | | water. The Mary Mother of God statue herself has |
| remained in the same order as grandmother had | | | | long ago faded from her original beautiful colors. She is |
| placed them on her altar. Some thirty three years after | | | | now discolored, chipped, glued in several places and |
| grandmother's death my mother died. | | | | just plain old. But I believe in miracles, prayers and holy |
| Enter Rose, a crusty, stubborn, mouth-like-a-sailor, | | | | energies. Can you imagine the bountiful collection of |
| no-nonsense kind of gal. Eighty plus years of age she | | | | Gods graces, the myriad of unending fruits, the |
| wore flashy clothes and bright red lipstick. After | | | | sorrows, the gratitude's, the comforts, and the peace |
| mother's funeral, Rose asked if she could 'borrow' the | | | | held within the ancestry of this old statue. One day |
| Mary Mother of God statue for her newly acquired | | | | when I pass on perhaps she will end up in a heap in |
| altar. Rose had a falling out with her local church and | | | | some obscure place, but the comfort that her |
| she wanted to perform her own nightly service in the | | | | presence has bestowed on the young and old can |
| privacy of her bedroom. She asked me if I could obtain | | | | never be diminished. |
| holy water for her. Happy to assist in her hallow | | | | |