Totus Tuus - Totus 2us

11th February - Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes - Fiona      ¤

^{"It has been just such an incredible blessing in my life to be part of this parish trip to Lourdes for the last 22 years as a helper with the elderly who we take with us... The Lourdes week for me is the week around which the whole of the rest of my year revolves. And very year I 've gone I have learnt more and more about the love of Our Lady, and the really special place she has for us as our intercessor, and she has become my first port of call for intercessory prayer. And I think of it really very much like just asking one of my friends to pray for me, but the difference is that this particular friend has got a very special place in the heart of God, and we know how much He will listen to her and how much He will react to anything that she asks of Him. And it's a real honour for us to be able to give her that special place in the hearts as well."}

_{Fiona is part of a parish group in Northampton, England, celebrating this year its silver jubilee of pilgrimages to Lourdes. Fundraising has included the recording of a song about Lourdes and what it is to be a helper (you can listen to it here), and a musical arrangement of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. If you'd like to support this 25th pilgrimage & buy the CD, 'The Call - Lourdes25' (£6 inc p&p), please email Fiona: foo72 at hotmail.com.} 

12th February - Antonella      ¤

^{"I found in the Virgin Mary a huge strength to take me on my path to life.
Je prie très souvent la Sainte Vierge. Elle a un rôle très important dans ma vie. Je l'admire; je crois que c'est l'unique femme au monde que l'on peut admirer comme ça avec tout ce qu'elle a porté dans sa vie, toutes ses souffrances, mais aussi toutes ses joies."}

_{Antonella is from Belgium (& also Italy); she gives her response in English & French.}

13th February - Natalia      ¤

^{"Mary is for me a very good example for being open to God's Word."}

_{Natalia is 25 and from Poland; she gives her response in English & Polish.}

14th February - Barry      ¤

^{"When I speak to Our Lady, I call her 3 things: I call her 'my Love, my Mother and my Queen'."}

_{Barry is from the UK.}

15th February - Marie      ¤

^{"Mary is there the whole time. We have so much need of a mother, that it is beautiful and a beautiful grace to have Mary in our life... 
Marie a toujours été présent dans ma vie comme mère, comme une maman vraiment."}

_{Marie is 29 and from France; she gives her quelque chose de Marie in English & French.}

16th February - Martijn      ¤

^{"Mary has really been a help to me at times when it was really hard for me to pray. I felt completely out of touch with God and I experienced that Mary was very accessible. Especially the rosary was a help for me to stay in prayer and after some time I could pray again a little more easily and I experienced that she had brought me back to God. To me she's like a road sign pointing towards her son. If you know the way, that's ok, but if you get lost you can just use the road sign to guide you in the right direction."}

_{Martijn is 22 and from Holland; he gives his response in English & Dutch.}

17th February - Giuseppe      ¤

^{"Mary for me is not just Jesus Christ's mother, but she is another figure whom you can look up to, and the motherly side. So when you pray it's almost like as if you were talking to your mother, and therefore a more familiar approach. So that's why when I pray it comes easier also to pray to Mary... 
Per me Maria non è soltanta la madre di Gesù ma anche una madre per tutti quelli che credono."}

_{Giuseppe is 21 and from Italy; he gives his qualcosa su Maria in English & Italian.}

18th February - Martin      ¤

^{"Our Lady is to me most definitely my mother, and my son's mother, in heaven."}

_{Martin is from England.}

19th February - Kath      ¤

^{"If you bring Our Lady into the rosary, and walk with her, it's so much more meaningful."}

_{Kath is from England.}

20th February - Francesca      ¤

^{"On our honeymoon, we went to visit John XXIII … during the audience he turned to my husband and said: 'You now have a new friend, the Madonna.' As a result of which my husband had, till the end of his life, a strong devotion to Our Lady. From being a rather shy man, he became anything but, and was happy to lead pilgrimages, and he imbued in me this strong and loving devotion to Our Lady, which I think and hope I will have for the rest of my life."}

_{Francesca is from Italy.}

21st February - St John      ¤

^{"Mary for me is very much a connection with Christ."}

_{St John is 17 and from England.}

22nd February - Carmel      ¤

^{"I think Our Lady is always with us … and I just want to say how much I love her."}

_{Carmel is from the UK.}

23rd February - Ljubica      ¤

^{"Every single day Mary is in my life."}

_{Ljubica is from Croatia.}

24th February - Matthieu      ¤

^{"By working for Mary, she was really in the centre of our family, in the centre of our prayer. Now, with detachment,  I can tell how Our Lady worked for us, through the beauty of our family, the love of my parents and the relationship that I have with my brothers and sisters.
Par ce travail que mes parents faisaient pour Marie, elle était vraiment toujours au centre de notre famille, spécialement au centre de notre prière. Maintenant, apres 15 ou 16 ans, avec le recul, je peux vraiment me rendre compte qu'elle a énormement travaillé dans notre famille, quand je vois la beauté justement de ma famille, l'amour de mes parents et cette relation que j'ai avec mes frères et sœurs."}

_{Matthieu is 23 and from France; he gives his quelque chose de Marie in English & French.}

25th February - Paul      ¤

^{"I regard Our Lady as my mother and my protector. "}

_{Paul is from England.}

26th February - Rita      ¤

^{"From there on in, my life has been with the Blessed Mother, no matter what comes, no matter what happens in my life, because I know of the love the Blessed Mother has for me, and that she loves everybody. She's a mother, she's a perfect mother ,and her motherly love is so beautiful and it has brought me to God the Father, brought me to Jesus, and to knowing the Holy Spirit."}

_{Rita is from Ireland.}

27th February - Angela      ¤

^{"Blessed Mother I wouldn't do this for anyone else! I went to Medjugorje in 1987 and I didn't want to go at all but you got me there by hook or by crook and you really changed my life there and my love for you just keeps growing now and I just thank you."}

_{Angela is from England.}

28th February - Anne      ¤

^{"I have a great devotion to Our Lady and I pray the rosary every day because I think it is a real power prayer. And I do it to get great favours from Our Lady and I don't think my life would be complete without praying to her and to her holy mother. So I would say that she is a big part of my life."}

_{Anne is from Ireland.}