This year too, we are preparing to celebrate Mother's Day (May 8), but in this 2022, marked so tragically by the suffering of war, we cannot forget mothers who are showing particular courage: Ukrainian mothers.
Stefania, an SMA volunteer (Society for African Missions) from the missionaries' house in Genoa, speaks about them: “Together with the SMA fathers and some volunteers, we went to visit one of the reception and distribution centers organized by the city of Warsaw,” Stefania recounts. “This is their life now, and they are staying there in Poland, but with the strong hope of being able to return home soon. The women are always busy managing the children and help the household hosting them immensely, carrying out every kind of task. At one point,” the volunteer concludes, “my sadness fades away and gives way to the awareness that the moment they are living through now is peaceful. I perceive that these women have been capable of a strong reaction and are managing to live by looking beyond the justified fears that paralyze so many of us, far too often.”
We entrust these mothers and all mothers who suffer to Mary through the prayer of Cardinal Comastri.
Prayer to Mary for suffering mothers
O Mary,
in that Son, you embrace every son and feel
the anguish of all the mothers in the world.
O Mary,
your tears pass from century to century
and streak faces and weep the tears of everyone.
O Mary,
you know pain, but believe!
Believe that clouds do not extinguish the sun,
believe that night prepares the dawn.
O Mary,
you who sang the Magnificat,
teach us the song that conquers pain
like childbirth from which life is born.
O Mary,
pray for us!
Pray that it may reach us too
the spread of true hope.
Amen.
