Mary was sitting there at her desk when I stepped into the little back room adjoining the chapel at Milano’s Cimitero Monumentale – the Monumental Cemetery. Now 87, she’s given her time for close to 20 years, assisting Padre Francesco with the mass, altar flowers and little details.
We spent close to 2 hours chatting after I had surprised her by walking in. I never arrive empty handed; Mary took the fragrant lilies I brought and prepared them in a vase. Her gait is slowed to a shuffle now, yet she can still make it to the other side of the chapel, carrying the flowers to put in front of the Madonna.
A devout woman, with no inkling of doubt, she asked Padre Francesco to give me 3 separate benedictions, which he did at her request. She also pressed another photo of Don Guiseppe Gervasini into my hands and instructed me to carry it next to my identity card so that it would always keep me protected.
During my visit, a drunken, belligerent man came into the chapel. Padre Francesco was away at the time. The man was confrontative and insulting to Mary, much too close, swearing in her face. I was trying to usher him out, and was preparing myself to take a punch to keep him from harming Mary. Fortunately, another woman went off to get father, who deflected the man’s attentions and led him away.
I had first met Mary two years ago, and something as simple as her handwriting has spun me off into a study of Italian penmanship and typography.
After meeting her in 2010, it was touching to say goodbye to her before returning to the U.S. She had pleaded with me to stay.
…But it was a sweet reunion when I stopped to see her again in 2011 after a year away.
