HOW I EXPERIENCED THE FIRST CALL OF THE LORD

Mª del Pilar Larios

It was June 11, 1953. I was about to turn 17. We celebrated the novena of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in my parish of San Miguel, Segovia. There was an image of Jesus very tall, with open arms, presiding over the entire temple. Father Laburu, S.J. preached and said:

"No one can remain indifferent before Jesus Christ; either you love him with all your soul, or you hate him "... and also: “Jesus told us: my child, take my heart ... Do you want to follow me?”   I answered (in my soul): “I will follow you, Lord, because I love you, do not ask me why."

I felt these words of Jesus deep in my heart. From that moment on, I left the church very happy and convinced that, "I also have a vocation."

I was the 5th of 9 siblings who said this, (but I kept silent for five years, as I could not do anything about it): On April 10, 1958, I could not wait any longer.

My oldest sister got ahead of me and, when no one expected it, entered the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. My second sister, two years older than me, felt her vocation to Marie Reparatrice before me and brought me to meet the Sisters ... For me, the biggest difficulty was to tell my Dad. I told my Mum first and asked her to tell him about me. She said: NO, YOU HAVE TO TELL DAD.

At last, encouraged by a Jesuit priest, the Sisters of Marie Reparatrice and a Daughter of Charity, I made my decision and spoke to my father and he told me emphatically: NO (I was a minor).

The priest and the Sisters of Marie Reparatrice advised me to enter "as soon as possible".  For who better to offer your youth than for Jesus and Mary?

I did not pursue teaching like my sister. When I finished elementary school, I was 20 years old.  I spoke again with my Dad and he repeated, ‘NO’, help your mother, she has a good job!  I belonged to the group Catholic Action and at that time we were told (or I understood it to mean) that "marriage was for Christians of the 2nd division and I wanted to be in the first division.

In my family, among us siblings, we continually talked about VOCATION, FOLLOWING JESUS ​​... we even dreamed of going to America ... 4 of my siblings ahead of me, studied ecclesiastical careers, 3 entered the priesthood.

P.S. The youngest of the 4, a seminarian, with only four more years of Theology to study, was 20 years old when he drowned.  He had been working as a tutor to the children of a deeply Christian family, when the Lord found him mature enough to take him with him. FIAT!