Notable Sodalists

Spain, 1930 – 1950 The Virgin’s Mirror (Courtesy of Ann Ball – www.annball.com)  December 13, 1944 was an exciting day for a number of the students at the Carmelite Sisters of Charity’s high school on the Plaza de San Francisco in Madrid. Recently, a Sodality of Our Lady had been formed, and the girls were to make their consecration and choose their motto that day. Thirteen year old Teresita Quevado wrote out her chosen motto in which she had expressed an immense aspiration: “Mother, may those who see me, see you.” The motto was etched on her medal of the sodality.…

Chile – Argentina, 1891 – 1904 Willing Young Victim for Love (Courtesy of Ann Ball – www.annball.com)  Beaten and bruised, the young girl was dying of severe internal injuries. Her mother and the Salesian sisters stood by her bedside, praying and keeping watch with her. It was time to tell her secret. As her mother leaned close, Laura whispered, “Mama, I’m dying, but I’m happy to offer my life for you. I asked Our Lord for this.” Stunned, Mercedes Vicuna fell to her knees sobbing. She realized what her daughter meant, and begged Laura’s forgiveness as well as the forgiveness of…

Hungary, 1916 – 1935 Sodalist, boy scout, athlete, and Jesuit novice (Courtesy of Ann Ball – www.annball.com)  As the nurse and the priest entered the room where the dying young man lay, they realized he was no longer conscious. His open eyes were fixed on the crucifix and Marian medal in his hands, but he did not see the visitors. They found his final message, scrawled on a paper on the patient’s bedside table: “God be with you! We will meet in Heaven! Do not weep, this is my birthday in Heaven. God bless you all!” The priest anointed him and…

Ireland, 1903 – 1908 LITTLE NELLIE OF HOLY GOD (Courtesy of Leo Madigan – leomadigan@mail.telepac.pt )  William Organ, Nellie’s father, says of his family, “The branch to which I belonged had been settled for generations in and around Dungarvan. I may say they were very humble Catholic folks, whose sole inheritance was that sterling faith, which has survived for centuries of Ireland’s bitter sorrow. Mary Aherne, Nellie’s mother, a native of Portlaw, Co. Waterford, like me, her husband, came of a humble Catholic family poor in world’s wealth, but rich in those gifts of heaven, for the lack of which no boon…