The Pieta

For our 25th wedding anniversary, Gary and I went on a pilgrimage to Italy. At first Gary was not real excited about the trip, but after he got there I think he enjoyed it as much or more than me!! Seeing the beautiful old cathedrals and basilicas was amazing to his engineering eyes. He was amazed at how difficult it must have been building these structures.

When we visited St. Peter's Basilica we both just loved looking at the Pieta made by Michelangelo. This is a statue of Mary holding the lifeless body of Jesus after the crucifixion. It is just an amazing site!.

At Gary's funeral, the family picked the picture of the Pieta to be on his funeral card.

A few weeks after Gary's death I was just beside myself. So I took a walk around the neighborhood. I found myself crying and starting to say the Hail Mary prayer over and over again and it gave me some comfort. After a few minutes of this, I had a thought in my mind that overcame me. I saw Mary holding Gary in her arms just like she was holding Jesus, except that Gary was in her left arm unlike her holding Jesus in her right as in the Pieta. Gary was dressed in his hospital gown and still had tubes coming out of his body. At that moment I knew Mary was taking care of Gary just like a mother who had taken care of her son, Jesus!!  It was amazing. It has taken me a long time to realize the blessing of that day!

Another mystery involving the Pieta was when I went to a gift shop in the Westerville Catholic Church. I was just looking around when I spotted some prayer cards. One card was a prayer for widows and widowers. I read the prayer and bought the card. After I had purchased the card, I looked on the back and there was the Pieta!! 

God does work in His mysterious ways and we must always be alert to signs in our life that He gives to us. He sends us His graces at our times of need. To know that Gary is being taken care of in heaven left me with such peace. Although I would love to have him back so desperately, I know for sure that he is in such a holy place that how could I ask him to leave that!! I thank God for giving me these special happenings and I also thank Mary the Mother of us all that she is involved in my life here on earth and that she is helping with the care of Gary in heaven. I believe that if we give Mary a chance, she can become a wonderful help in our spiritual life. She helps lead us to Jesus, her son. Wouldn't that be something that any mother would do especially a mother who knew her son was the Savior of the world.