A God-graced moment

This article is reprinted from winter 2007 issue of HOPE.

By Sister Peggy Lynch

The following journal entry reflects my emotions and thoughts about the Mass of Canonization.

The dark morning gives way to blue sky and sunshine as we wend our way through narrow streets — the ones the tour guide continually tells us were built for horse-drawn chariots and pedestrian traffic and not the today traffic of double-decker buses.

Finally we arrive in full daylight at the gates of St. Peter’s Square. As we go through security gates — with some pushing and shoving — we are transported into THE square and there we are caught in the wonder of seeing our beloved Mother Theodore’s banner waving gently in the soft, warm breezes above us on the facade of St. Peter’s. Because we have tickets marked CHOIR we are shown up the stairs of this magnificent basilica and led through a foyer to the places reserved for us.

The music of the Vatican Choir begins, and we are lifted beyond ourselves to be part of the Church today gathered to hear the Holy Father pronounce two women and two men saints of the universal Church.

As we sing our part, it is evident to each of us that we have joined the choir of angels in praising God with our voices blended in song and prayer.

After that we watch the beauty and pageantry in St. Peter’s Square unfold, and we are caught up in the thrill of knowing this solemnity will finally reveal the holiness and sainthood of Mother Theodore Guerin to a world in need of heroes and heroines of faith and justice.

At long last the moment we have been waiting for so long comes: “Santa Teodora Guerin,” the Pope states publicly, and we look up as our beloved Mother Theodore’s banner flutters above us. Tears well in our eyes and stream down our faces and each of us knows, knows deeply in our hearts, that we are in a God-graced moment, unlike any other, and all we can do is say, “Yes, my Lord, yes!”