We Are Each Mothered by Our Blessed Mother
This Marian passion project has been on our hearts for quite a while. We are grateful for our mama writers and their “yes” to joining the journey. Each person we asked was revealed in prayer, and we were so grateful to read every personal story. We are each mothered by Our Lady with her intuitive love and gentle understanding of our hearts and needs. Only God allows this knowing, and we are so grateful for Jesus and Mary’s divine relationship, given to us by God. —Amy & Adina
IN GRATITUDE
I love when the Holy Spirit nudges me just enough to take a leap of faith. I love it, even more, when I realize I am to nudge a friend to take that same leap with me!
Amy D'Ambra and I were blessed to collaborate with friends on a women’s retreat called Women Gather. We each felt called to offer a space where women could gather to be fed by the Holy Spirit and to rejuvenate their faith.
Like any passion project, the process and preparation began to hit several obstacles. Just two weeks before the conference was about to happen, we hit a huge halt. We each had poured so much hard work into prepping and praying for the conference. Yet, we were met with obstacles, and the event was on the verge of being canceled.
A day later, I received a call from a dear friend who was on her way to a pilgrimage to Fatima. I could barely hear her when I answered since the hum of the airplane was breaking up the connection as she spoke. From what I could hear, she said, “As I prepared for my trip, a message keeps occurring for you in my prayers. I must share with you that Our Lady is mothering you through this all. Your mantra during this time is…Mother Mary, mother me. I hear it very clearly.”
At that moment, “Mother Mary, mother me” became our prayer, our mantra, our petition, and through it, everything changed. The event not only took place, but it was fully attended, and by the grace of God, fully received.
One year later with that same mantra in our hearts, the inspiration of this devotional book began. We wanted to offer personal stories of women who feel they have been mothered by Our Lady as they parent through love, joy, anxiety, fear, and doubt. We can’t explain it… but from the moment the book idea was born, we had miraculous moments encouraging us along the way.
As we were reviewing the format with Amy, suddenly I remembered a thin blue book on Marian Feast Days that was in the sacristy of my parish. It was called, Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The liturgical Missal became the road map and our guide. It allowed us to remain connected and aligned with our Catholic faith. The more we took this passion project to prayer, the more was revealed. As we began asking mama writers to join in the project, each one had a miraculous story, and each one was grateful for the project at this time in their lives. One of the writers even became one of our much-needed designers!
Sometimes they say that everything is planned ahead by God… all we need to do is discover it. This is exactly what has happened throughout the journey of this book. And now, you are part of the discovery. Welcome to the love of Our Blessed Mother Mary.
AGTG
—Adina Braatz/MSMH Mission Development
