Under Her Mantle

Elizabeth Estrada shares the ways she has deepened her devotion to Mary, and how this has helped transform her sadness into joy.

May has always been a difficult month for me since my mom passed away in May of 2000. I would dread Mother’s Day, which sounds silly, but I would be an emotional wreck, as my mom and I were very close. Due to the pain of losing my mom I stopped going to Mass and was very mad at God.

It wasn’t until my reversion in 2006 that I began to understand that God wasn’t the villain who planned to take my mom away, but instead, due to choices made in the Garden of Eden, this is a suffering world and painful things happen.

One of the major reasons I reverted was that my son was born that year, and I wanted to pass on the faith to him the way my mother had done for me. I was so excited about being Catholic that I learned as much as I could so that as he grew up and asked questions, I could hopefully give him an answer.

One of the first things I learned how to do was pray the Rosary. I knew how to follow along, but I didn’t know how to pray it or what was happening as I would pray the Rosary. Perhaps it was because I was always drawn to Our Lady of Guadalupe that I was called to learn.

My mom had a very strong devotion to Mary, so I too became close to her. People would always give me gifts that involved Mary: one year I received a medal with her image, a statue of her on another occasion, and the list goes on.

So, I thought I should learn how to pray the Rosary. Over time, I have meditated on Our Lady, and one thing that has become clear is that she has always been in my life and drawn me closer to her Son.

Now as I have learned about Our Lady, May is no longer a month of sadness but one of joy. My mom passed away on May 13, which is also not a coincidence, and May is Mother Mary’s month, after all.