If On A Winter's Day A Pilgrim...

Misery, magic, and mercy in the words of a Christian innkeeper in Walsingham

Wet, cold, and solemn on the pilgrim’s path to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham

On this day twenty-five years ago, my wife and I pledged our lives to each other at the altar of Our Lady of the Rosary parish in New Orleans. Today, though, is our last wedding anniversary. The divorce will be final in the spring. It seemed somehow fitting that, having prayed to Our Lady for years for a wife, if that was God’s will, and then having been married in a church dedicated to her, that I would solemnly mark the end of the marriage in medieval English Catholic shrine where she is honored. Funny how things work out that way.

Maybe “funny” isn’t the right word. This should have been a day of tears and grief. But it wasn’t. In fact, this is not a sad story. This is a story of a small (but for me, life-changing) miracle of mercy. And I did not see it coming. I’m going to tell you about it, because I know it will give at least some of you hope.