“Miracle In The Bootheel”

I was baptized on September 15^th 1946 at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Malden, Mo. It was the Memorial of “Our Lady of Sorrows”. That was 80 years ago. At that time our family lived in Dexter, Mo. 20 miles away; the church in Dexter was still a mission church with only intermittent services. ( One historical tidbit, is that Rev. Bernard Ponce de Leon, O.S.M., the last male descendant of the Florida explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, served the mission parish for some 23 years.)

When I first discovered that I was baptized on the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, I was a bit disappointed. I had hoped that maybe I was baptized on the memorial of St. Francis or Padre Pio or St. Peter. Well, I’m no longer disappointed, but feel especially privileged. Regarding “Our Lady of Sorrows”, I read today that “We need the maternal closeness of the sorrowful mother to sustain us when we are overcome by the terrifying trials of life. We receive the courage to face life’s suffering, certain in the secure embrace of divine providence, through Mary’s compassionate presence at the cross and her presence to us throughout our lives.” (Magnificat, Sept. 15, 2026, pg.188) That’s a very encouraging thought… that as I have experienced sorrow in my life, Mary has always been near to sustain me. Whether I noticed or not, Mary was there with me. I didn’t get an extra dose of “terrifying trials” because of Mary; I received the blessing of having her near me in my trials. I think that is the same for you even if your weren’t baptized on this special day.

Our Lady of Sorrows helps us see the big picture at the cross. Often our crosses seem like giant negatives, huge messes, just a big pot of pain… how in the world is this good. The great mother of God  helps us to step back and see what’s really going on. Our crosses united  with Christ’s sacrifice are not defeat and despair; these negatives are converted  to incredible power and victory… the devil’s evil laughter and jeering are turned to his own terror. In Christ, the weakness and shame of the cross is turned into a tsunami of grace and power and conversion. Our prayers weakly uttered are turned into magnificent blasts of power… destroying strongholds of the evil one. Our prayers brought to the cross are energized with power. As Jesus uttered “it is finished”, heaven and earth could not remain still…. earthquakes, people rising from the dead, Satan crushed, death defeated, sin forgiven. Our Lady helps us to see that we don’t have to run from the cross. Victory is there. The victory of the cross. Wow !!!

80 years ago I was baptized on the memorial of “Our Lady of Sorrows” in the heart of the “Bootheal” of Missouri. Coming into the family of God on this day honoring the Blessed Mother was a lot more than met the eye. On that day, this great sacrament anchored me to the throne of God and enabled me to weather a lot of desperate storms over the next 80 years with dear Mother Mary helping to sustain me. You could even say it was a “Miracle In The Bootheal”. Hmmmm, that has a nice ring to it.