Who's to blame?
Last spring, when we were in Spain, we made an unexpected but brief visit to Montserrat. It was a place that I would have liked for us to have spent a lot more time.
Not only are the surroundings breathtaking up there, it is a significant place in the Jesuit story. It was here, in the shrine of the wooden Our Lady of Montserrat, that a soldier from Loyola named Ignacio, still recovering from woulds received in battle in Pamplona, would experience a powerful vision. After that, his life took a new direction. The Jesuits would come into being.
As I mentioned in the blog post, our time at Montserrat was much too short, to short to contemplate the wonder of where we were, too short to join the queue to visit the Black Madonna. Instead I gave a few euro donation and received a picture of the statue. I keep it tucked in my Kindle.
Every once in a while she slides out while I am putting something else in there. I notice her and tuck her back in. One day last week, I took a moment, and stared at her. I just had to ask her something.
"You're the reason I'm here, aren't you?"
Whether something miraculous happened or not, Ignacio of Loyola's life changed in the presence of this statue. His Jesuits came to China, for better or worse. Somehow, I have to think, there is a line, obviously not a straight one, that leads from the Jesuits in China to my family's being here as well.
"So, do I blame you when I am having a bad day? Thank you for a good one?"
That is probably an extreme response, but I can't get over this connection. It is overwhelming and humbling at the same time.
Ignacio went to Montserrat. Jesuits, regime changes, closing China, opening up, foreigners in China. Here I am in Beijing.
Could it have happened at all without Our Lady of Montserrat?
Not only are the surroundings breathtaking up there, it is a significant place in the Jesuit story. It was here, in the shrine of the wooden Our Lady of Montserrat, that a soldier from Loyola named Ignacio, still recovering from woulds received in battle in Pamplona, would experience a powerful vision. After that, his life took a new direction. The Jesuits would come into being.
As I mentioned in the blog post, our time at Montserrat was much too short, to short to contemplate the wonder of where we were, too short to join the queue to visit the Black Madonna. Instead I gave a few euro donation and received a picture of the statue. I keep it tucked in my Kindle.
Every once in a while she slides out while I am putting something else in there. I notice her and tuck her back in. One day last week, I took a moment, and stared at her. I just had to ask her something.
"You're the reason I'm here, aren't you?"
Whether something miraculous happened or not, Ignacio of Loyola's life changed in the presence of this statue. His Jesuits came to China, for better or worse. Somehow, I have to think, there is a line, obviously not a straight one, that leads from the Jesuits in China to my family's being here as well.
"So, do I blame you when I am having a bad day? Thank you for a good one?"
That is probably an extreme response, but I can't get over this connection. It is overwhelming and humbling at the same time.
Ignacio went to Montserrat. Jesuits, regime changes, closing China, opening up, foreigners in China. Here I am in Beijing.
Could it have happened at all without Our Lady of Montserrat?
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