I have met a Saint
The celebrations have opened many possibilities for the pilgrims. One of the highlights was the testimonies from people who met Father Kentenich. Different people reveled details from their encounter with the founder. The public was able to get to know Father Kentenich, experience his fatherhood and was moved by the experiences that were told.
That is what Sister Virginia Maria did when she captivated those who listened to her testimony titled: “I have met a saint”. She conveyed the timeless footprints of father Kentenich she experienced with her time with him in Milwaukee. Her testimony showed how she was educated and loved by the man who lived so many years in her country during his exile.
She began her piece with the words “I have met a saint”. She remembers fondly the man who helped her with the every day sanctity, who proved the heroism of this sanctity in his exile. Emphasizing that even in that difficult time of life he never left his mission of guiding others to Mary’s heart.
She was just a little girl when she first met Father Kentenich. Thanks to her mother the two would become close over the years. She remembers her teenage years united to the one who accompanied her, listened to her, and educated her in so many moments of her life.
Through him she was able to meet the fatherly face of God. “He awoke in me a child like love for God”, says Sister Virginia. She remembered how she was always accepted by Father Kentenich and with confidence he believed in her, guiding her towards heaven.
Her testimony was centered in this fatherly love for Father Kentenich. She also talked about fatherhood as a “key to get to love Christ”; saying that for Father Kentenich Jesus was God’s perfect son, that is why he humbly loved and accepted the cross. “[He] Often encouraged me to conquer the heroic child like love for Jesus”, explained Sister Virginia.
Educating in every detail.
If there was anyone with great intuition it was Father Kentenich. He always knew what the sister’s heart wanted to say. She remembered for example, that he had an endless patience, was very wise when educating, how he awaked in her the wish of being like Mary, and how cautious he was to correct what wasn’t so good.
“He cared about keeping my feet on the ground”, says Sister Virginia. That what she remembers about the time when she told him that she wanted to fastfor Lent. Father Kentenich told her lovingly that he didn’t want her to choose that intention because she was still young and had to eat well. Then he gave her a list with new purposes: being obedient, to pray the Stations of the Cross, study, etc. He instilled in her the little things, the tiny pieces that aid in every day sanctity.
She also told about how he always made her feel “welcomed”, how he educated her in being responsible with her studies. She even reveled a lesson in poverty he taught here saying “once he gave me back a lot of envelopes of letters that I had send him so I could used them again”.
Without a doubt Father Kentenich formed and molded her during her teen-age years. She remembers him as a cheerful, noble, and attentive person. “He was a gentleman,” she says. He was a Father capable of talking and giving advice to people of different ages, an instrument of Gods love, a servant of Mary, and a man who never abandoned his mission. She tells and finishes her testimony repeating: “I have met a saint”.