Gifts That Really Keep on Giving
Story by Joe Pisani
When “Megs,” as she was known to her family and friends, died last year at 102, she left behind a legacy that will last into eternity, a legacy that included seven children, 12 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, good works, and decades of prayers for others.
In the 1940s, long before it was fashionable for women to have careers, she went to nursing school and college and worked at several Catholic hospitals. She eventually left to raise her family and later returned to train young nurses.
She went to daily Mass, she taught Bible study, she was active in her parish, she was committed to several ministries and humanitarian causes.
“She lived her faith daily for over a hundred years and established that legacy in her own children to carry on,” her obituary said. All of us should be so well remembered.
She was also known for her love of owls and had a large collection of them as knick-knacks. But more important, she loved religious statues and sacramentals, and when she passed, her children spent days going through what she had collected, taking what they wanted and sharing the rest with family and friends. There were Madonnas, crucifixes, statues of saints, prayer books, rosaries, scapulars, medals, holy cards and more. Boxes of religious items.
Her daughter gave us some of these treasures, and for me it was a sacred honor to receive rosaries and prayer books this saintly woman had used.
Sacramentals are a fundamental part of our spiritual life. Blessed objects, such as crucifixes, rosaries and medals can ward off evil, inspire devotion and help us appreciate God at work in our daily lives.
It took me time to sort through the prayer cards, some of which dated back more than 50 years. Of course, I wasn’t new to this sort of adventure. Throughout my life, I’ve wandered through antique shops and second-hand stores, looking for rosaries, vintage prayer books, Madonnas and whatever else I could find that lay hidden in dusty corners. It was always a delight to save a blessed item from obscurity.
Many of the books and Bibles had been inscribed by family members on the occasion of a First Communion, Confirmation or marriage, so I brought them home because something so precious and spiritually meaningful deserved a renewed life and shouldn’t be cast aside.
More than once, I found a prayer book over a century old, in a corner of a used bookstore, most likely because a son or daughter or descendent didn’t appreciate its spiritual and family significance.
I found sets of rosary beads, which I’m sure had been used thousands of times by a parent or grandparent during times of trial and crisis or thanksgiving.
Realizing that seemed to establish a special relationship between me and whoever prayed with them before.
My hope is that someday I can pass my sacramentals onto family members and friends who value them, rather than have them discarded.
When my mother passed, it took me a while to go through her belongings. Her rosary beads held special significance because every night as she lay in bed, she prayed to Our Lady — for her family, her sick friends, people who were dying, and for intentions known only to her and the Blessed Mother, who I’m sure, answered them.
The box Megs’ daughter gave us contained hundreds of sacramentals. I said a silent prayer as I went through them: “Lord, help us to find a home for these religious items, someone who will cherish them, pray with them and continue the legacy of the woman who owned them … and may they continue to give you glory.”
That prayer was answered quickly enough. My wife gathered everything together and put them in a large box for the Missionaries of Charity, who always put religious items to good use.
St. Teresa of Calcutta’s sisters will share them with the people they serve, whether they’re children in catechism classes or families who can’t afford to buy statues and prayer books.
Meg’s love for Jesus and the Blessed Mother will bear fruit long after she’s gone. Someone will be using her rosaries, someone will be saying the prayers on her holy cards, and someone will put a statue of Our Lady and the Baby Jesus in a place of honor.