My name is María (Mary), which is an important detail to keep in mind for the story I’m about to tell.

My parents knew the Home before I was born.

When my sisters and I were little, the Home wasn’t yet in Valencia, so whenever the Servant Brothers or Sisters came to Valencia, they would stay at our house, and we would play with them… This is how I developed a very close relationship with Father Henry.

I remember a story with Father Henry that still fills me with joy, because you could say that, thanks to it, he was able to have an experience of the Virgin.

We were at Mass, and Father Henry came to celebrate it. When he preached, he would always walk down the aisles, asking questions to the faithful… his homilies were very interactive. That day, Father Henry started asking me questions: “Let’s see, Belén, what do you think? And Belén, what about you…?” Clearly, we were all in the chapel laughing our heads off, because Belén is my sister’s name, not mine. But the funny thing was that he thought we were all laughing because the homily was so amusing. So, laughing along with us, he kept talking.

At the end of Mass, he was leaving for home, so I ran after him and said, “Goodbye, Father, I’m María.”

The next day he came to celebrate Mass again and began the homily. He started telling the story of what happened the day before, in that kind of voice that makes it seem like he’s going to tell you a mysterious story:

“As I was leaving Mass, a little girl came running after me saying: ‘Goodbye, Father, I’M MARY!’ The girl came with her arms raised and open, the sky was blue with clouds, it was already getting dark… On the way home, I could only think of the Immaculate Conception, who had come to see me…”

In short, he gave an entire reflection on the Immaculate Conception.

From that moment on, whenever he saw me, he would raise his arms and say: “I’m Mary!”