After a week of losing sleep over the suffering of little children taken from their parents at the border, many days of speaking out and also of sending what money I could to organizations trying to help these separated families, I texted to one of my sisters in Carmel, still feeling very sad. I asked her to pray with me for these traumatized children taken from their families and terrified in a foreign land.
She answered, “yes have not stopped praying my holy sweet
😇. we must ask and plead to HIM that all holy priests speak from the holy pulpit and tie this in with the holy Gospel because it’s so holy apparent our BELOVED needs for us to focus on this dark madness and see it’s our children our families
😘
😍
🙌
Thomas Merton said that he came to a point in his spiritual journey when he realized he could not be a contemplative without also being a prophet and an activist for social justice. This is something wise and wonderful this sister of mine in Carmel has said about letting God lead your contemplative soul into the right actions and words to do this.
“it’s HIM in YOU
❣
I was unable to attend the prayer vigil at our representative’s office in my area that I had so much wanted to attend. I prayed about what I would be able to do.
😭
🍼
🚼
☺
🐣ooooh my beautiful one finally someone who Sees as I for I have been struggling to holy understand what is the meaning in all this
💕
Finally, I thought of praying a Hail Mary for every one of the separated kids. A friend advised, “Why don’t you get other people to chip in- like with crowd funding?”
So I did. I announced the project on Face Book and Twitter and I told people about it in person too.
I understand we have separated 2,500 children from their parents when their families crossed our southern boarder. I thought we could pray a Hail Mary for each child. That is a real lot of Hail Mary’s. So how about we crowd fund those? Pray Hail Marys, each one being for one of these kids. Let me know how many you prayed and we can do that together.
Mary knows what it is like to be a refugee, what it is like to be separated and scared to death for your child. She knows how these kids suffer and their parents too. It has to pierce her heart with grief. Let us ask her prayers and also make reparation to her for the suffering of God’s little children.
It was encouraging to see that, similar to the way kindly adults come to the rescue of a little kid lost from his or her mother in the store, so many people wanted to find a way to come together and spiritually lift up these children to the Mother of God that they might be restored to their families right away.
An old friend traveling in Europe wrote: Prayed 10 Hail Marys and lit a candle here in Brussels at the Church of St. Nicholas, patron saint of children.
Another person commented, “I prayed 15! I’ll be back!”
I ran into someone I knew at Adoration, and she said, “Oh! I prayed the Chaplet of Our Lady of Sorrows for them today!” 49 more!
“Does a rosary count?” Of course it does! That’s 53!
A reader who has since become a Face Book friend, had a prayer vigil at her church for the separated families, each person in attendance praying a rosary. Hmm… 30 x 53…. !
the shrine where the prayer vigil for the separated families was held.
“Count me in for 10 right now!” said Sister Aletheia on Twitter.
The project got re-tweeted a few times.
A fellow Carmelite I only know from social media sent me several a day.
I started to get messages from strangers. ” Count me in for 150!”
“My mom says count her in for 10!”
Even people who had argued with me about this issue didn’t see the harm in praying for the children caught up in this; to ease their suffering and pray they might be with their parents again soon. “This is great!” one of these wrote, “Count me in!”
“I love it!”
“100!”
My fiancee, a former Methodist pastor, joined us by praying two Hail Marys. (That was his first time to pray any Hail Marys.)
Other people less comfortable with counting or with reporting back messaged me that they were joining in, or that they were praying in their own ways.
A non-Catholic wrote saying she didn’t know the Hail Mary but was avidly joining us in prayer, and watching our store of Hail Marys grow.
An old friend of my parents from their hippie days, now living in Mexico, said he would pray an “appropriate mantra” and let me know when he got to “a respectable number.” I loved it.
photo Shawn Chapman
Like a store of goodness, the treasure grew.
“140!
“10!”
“This is awesome! Thank you so much for starting this. I had been so upset and not knowing what to do but fervent prayer might be the best thing we have right now,” wrote a young friend.
“I prayed 40 last night and 50 today!”
I sent my daughter, Maire, the story of a little girl whose name was Filomena. Speaking only Mayan, separated from her widowed father, she must be terrified. Maire has been praying especially for that little girl and her dad.
My daughter Roise joined in too. “I prayed three and I will pray more after my movie!” 😛
She and I took my granddaughter’s colored chalk and made the side of the house a sign about reuniting families. People slowed down to look at it. We live near a slightly busy street, too. Our neighborhood is largely Spanish speaking so we wrote it in Spanish too. We had not been able to hold a sign at a march or anything so we made one out of our house. 🙂
“I am praying with you!
“10!”
“100!”
“43!”
I imagined our holy mother seeking out these children, turning back those metallic blankets, kissing tear stained cheeks, surrounding each child in the warm glow of her love, embracing desperate mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers.
I saw her out at night, searching, searching for her children in the company of many mothers’ prayers, interceding for them in God’s temple in Heaven.
On the day all the demonstrations were planned across the country about this issue, I had to work. I was sad about not being able join in and do something. But I remembered what my beautiful sister in Carmel had said about letting God open the door for us and that being a sign of when to act.
So I prayed in solidarity and offered my work day for everyone’s safety, for peaceful protests, and for their success in speaking out and drawing attention to the plight of these families.
“I prayed 5!”
“We’re praying from Lourdes!”
“49! More later!”
“How are we doing on our goal of 2500 Hail Marys?”
“I haven’t counted in a a few days, let me see.”
When I tallied up our collective Hail Marys, which was several days ago, we had reached 3,516 Hail Marys reported back to me. I gather the number of children separated is now understood to be closer to that number so that is perfect! People are still reporting back at this writing.
We are almost to 4000 Hail Marys offered. Please join us!
“
😘
🙌
😍
😇
I understand about 500 children are back with their parents now. Blessed be God, and thanks be to the powerful intercession of Mary! It is Holy Beautiful.
Let us continue to pray with the Mother of Jesus until every one of those children are reunited with their families and on the road to healing.
The Child Mary
🙂 Watch:
Oh golly, I forgot to tell you that I’ve continued praying Hail Marys, lots of them. Too many to count. With the YouTube video-on-demand of the rosary prayed earlier in the day at the grotto. And if I fall asleep while I pray, I suspect that either the pilgrims made up for my somnolence or – as they say – my Guardian Angel finished them for me. Does that count for double?
That is wonderful! <3 Me too! Let's keep it up!