Midwest Mary

She whispers, shouts, nudges. France is calling, and I can’t ignore her much longer.

The art, especially in the Louvre, the cuisine, music, and the iconic Eifel Tower are among the attractions on my list. I want to sip tea or wine in a café, break crusty bread and dine on French delicacies, stroll the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, and coast down the Seine River in a boat. I want to visit sweet, French villages with flower boxes, meet her beautiful people, and listen to their stories of living in their lovely country.

Perhaps this urge to see France began with the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus and her apparition in Lourdes, France. I’ve traveled to Fatima, Portugal; Knock, Ireland; and Mexico City, Mexico to shrines to Our Lady, but have yet to see Lourdes, perhaps the most famous Marian shrine of all.

And then, after attending St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, a school founded by Saint Theodora/Mother Theodore Guerin and where I received a Master’s degree in Pastoral Theology, I wrote two books about this saint (Seven Principles of Sainthood and Saint Theodora and Her Promise to God.) I also attended this saint’s canonization in Rome.

Mother Theodore was a missionary from France who came to the United States in 1840 to found schools in Illinois and Indiana and the women’s college, St. Mary-of-the-Woods. She was born in Estables-sur-Mer in Brittany, entered the Sisters of Providence of Ruille-sur-Lor, and taught in central France in the city of Preuilly-sur-Claise. I would love to see where this favorite saint lived and worked.

My mother researched our family genealogy, and nothing of France was ever mentioned. But when I submitted a 23 and Me test, low and behold, results stated that I was French (as well as Irish, Italian, and German.) According to my DNA, my bloodlines run to Grand Est, Ile-de-France, and Pays de la Loire. I’m not certain of where those areas are located, but I’m eager to find out.

And of course, we heard much about France during the Olympics.

I recently purchased a pair of little pink Eifel Tower earrings at the French Market in my town, so now, I’m committed. I have to make a trip to France a reality. I will keep you posted on that.

**Thank you, Kevin, from The Beginning at Last, for the use of your creative image of the Eifel Tower.

©2024, Mary K. Doyle