Joan of Arc. Bernadette of Lourdes. The Fatima children. Vincent de Paul. Louise de Marillac. Catherine Laboure.
These saints and blesseds are all heroes of mine - and in the past weeks, I’ve been able either to visit their graves or places that were of importance in their lives. And there are more, too, that I could list! Meeting these heroes has been a wonderful gift. Like when I get a chance to visit the grave of anyone I have loved in this life, there is a gift in the plain experience of being close to someone… even when the person has been cremated or has been reduced by time to bones. After all, even if it’s just a body I am visiting, it is a body I have loved, and the instrument of love through which another person has loved me.
However, I have been having a funny experience which has run parallel to my happiness at these meetings. In a way, I have felt a sense that I am not any nearer to these friends when pilgrimaging to their graves or homes than I am when I converse with them during my ordinary life. I felt like they appreciated my efforts to be with them, but also that they were acknowledging that we were already friends! And if I’d never had the chance to travel, we would be friends just as truly.
Know I am praying for you in our pilgrimage and also take courage in your friendships with the holy people who have lived this life already. They love you - whether or not you get the chance to visit them during this life.
- Sr. Agnes Therese Davis, T.O.R.
