Dear Saint Madeleine Sophie

  • Marta Lobo Jiménez, Sacred Heart School in Pamplona, Spain
 
Dear Saint Madeleine Sophie,

You came early into the world because of a fire, a fire that, like you, brought warmth and hope. Little random flames dancing to the rhythm of your heart, open to the whole world. You were tiny, but you overflowed with generosity and worthiness.

Your voice may have been small, but you used it to proclaim the word of God. You acted justly and always kept the rules, without straying. If you got lost on occasion, you did not get annoyed or try to make excuses, you admitted it and thought that you may have been amusing. You were bright and intelligent, you did everything with enthusiasm and you helped anyone in need. You learned a lot, thanks to your brother Louis, your godfather. He it was who taught you how important it was to be honest, sincere and tolerant. Patiently the jigsaw pieces of your good heart fell into place, forming you interiorly in love and joy.

At the start it was hard for you to stop playing in order to concentrate on your studies, but as you were absolutely clear about making the world a better place, every day you made sacrifices, putting your shoulder to the wheel for up to seven hours a day, struggling against your own will that wanted to leave your room, go outside and enjoy yourself.

When you became a young woman, you knew straight away that you did not wish to spend the rest of your life cleaning and occupying yourself with household tasks. No, you desired for something more. You wanted all those girls who, like you, dearly wanted to learn, to have an opportunity to study and get a decent profession. The majority of girls who went to your schools had hardly enough money to pay for a place to live, but every month they were able to overcome hunger and deficits by sewing garments.

When you opened your first school you planted a little cedar tree that along the years grew up, coping with difficulties, great storms, times of drought, but it continued, the same as you did. You were not allowed to teach but the spark of education was burning in a tiny hearth, crackling away in your soul. You did not give up, you carried on fighting and teaching without troubling yourself about the possible consequences. However, your heart was not impervious, you fell into a deep sadness, becoming ill with hopelessness. 

Even so, in spite of all the suffering you felt, you continued sacrificing yourself for the girls, and you arose from the ashes in your inner self. You had compassion for the sick girls as you knew very well what they were experiencing; you looked after them, you spoiled them: if they asked you for something you gave it to them. 

The gift God gave you had not ended. You achieved your mission: that the little girls would have the right to learn. As you said with such love: “For only one girl, I would open another school.”  When a girl enrolls in a Sacred Heart school, even now, she can see Madeleine Sophie’s expression, looking at her tenderly.

Attentively, and with thanks for everything, 

Marta Lobo Jiménez
6ºC EP Nº 15
Sacred Heart School, Pamplona
 
Province: