WHATTS??? Happy celebration, September 7th!

 WATTS IN A NAME?

Sunday, August 27, 2023
6:06 PM

(By: Karla Wagener after the virtual Mass from the Cathedral of Buenos Aires given by Bishop Cuervo)

So, what's in a name?

When I was a child the Carmelite nuns of my
primary school, Sacred Heart, told me that the Virgin Milagrosa didn't really have a name in English, that the name held deeper connotations. It was just before my family was about to go to New Mexico where many people speak Spanish, from South Dakota, a very conventional part of the United States. Later I learned Spanish and traveled and live in South America. At the time I first came here in 1975,  things were quite different. It was quite a feat. So I can only wonder why this Virgen Milagrosa is in this picture of me as an Angel for my brother's first communion in 1961. I wonder who is backing up who?  And I am thankful now to be a member of the Legion of Mary for some 15 years. This all has made my life much more meaningful. To tell you the truth, it makes me feel important in God's plans, like I have something to offer that goes throughout my history, something that is timeless. So I Hope this message of support gets to Bishop Cuerva (what a name)and even to Pope Francis, along with my ardent prayers and beliefs! I am responding to what the Bishop said in Mass.

Almost two years before representing an angel in first grade the nuns dressed me as a nun for the school play. It was some time before I took my first communion. They dressed me in white and told me white meant it was for a celebration. All of our class manifested the members of society, and the nuns especially put emphasis in the presence of the Bishop. Of course my little contemplative brain prayed deeply even at that young age. I felt, and tended to always think, that the nuns wanted to prepare me for the second coming of Christ or at the least some incredible destiny. Now I wonder if they intuitively wanted to prepare me for the 100 years celebration of Legion of Mary. Perhaps it was a lot of responsibility for a young mind! At best, I feel that I am one more member of the Legion and that the Legion's presence is paramount as a single entity working as one in our suffering world.

The Virgin Milagrosa is the image of Mary that the Legion employs. I have seen the fascinating work that has come about through her spiritual presence over the years as we have passed her image from person to person, home to home.  This all goes deep into my roots so I feel a need to share all this. Of course that my dad was a disabled WWII veteran who cracked jokes at all my childhood celebrations making me feel I was being sent on some great secret mission only adds spice to this story! Haha!

What I am attesting to is the importance of Legion of Mary and the positive spiritual traditions that form us.

So, what is in a name, Bishop Cuerva?

Buenos Augurios y Animo, 

Karla Marie Wagener Napolitano