She keeps watch in the middle of the night...

A few days ago, in Fontanilles, we were greeted at sunrise by a magnificent and deeply moving show. In front of the house, radiant under the sun, the Melia was covered with dew beads. A thousand stars were gathered on this tree, appearing to us like a Christmas tree covered with little lights! This strange spectacle captured our eyes and hearts: the splendour of nature came to assure us that Beauty-Goodness is tirelessly at work, in the midst of very many events that would have us believe otherwise.

This indeed is everyday life in this lockdown, which many rightly say, is more difficult than the first one. Daily news is hardly comforting: violence, interrogations, questioning and worrying... For some it can be dramatic, for others it is a hard path of patience and courage, sometimes marked by much solitude, and yet for some, it is an unexpected time where they can breathe deeply... Whatever the situation, we need to listen carefully if we want to hear a different kind of music: the inner source that doesn't dry up, a burst of beauty-goodness that says, "Stay with me! You can rely on me!” Mary’s feminine presence is always with us. This is our everyday life, in the most ordinary way, in the corners of our parks or our houses, to find you and take the path of trust with you.

On December 8th, we will celebrate Mary’s Immaculate Conception, a bright light "appearing in a still-dark world." There is no celebration for Mary that is not a feast for every one of us, so we are happy to share with you these excerpts from a text by Florin Callerand in the book "Mary, my secret!" It makes her intimately present, acting at the heart of our expectation...
 

Isabelle Peillon

French to English translation by Debbie Garrick and Cécile Simon