Couple travels with Mary

By PAUL QUIRINI- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Ed and Mary Breitenbach have been helping to bring Mary's inspiration and healing powers to Catholics throughout the Albany Diocese for nearly 20 years.

As custodians of the diocesan Pilgrim Virgin Statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, they visited nearly every parish in the Diocese during a pilgrimage in 1987, which Pope John Paul II declared a Marian Year.

They also have traveled with the statue to Rosary rallies and the homes of people who are in ill health or who wish to have an enthronement ceremony.

Travels with Mary

The couple enjoys sharing their devotion to Mary and caring for the statue, sculpted in Fatima, Portugal, and containing pieces from the tree upon which she stood during the apparitions there in 1917.

"It's just such a wonderful feeling having Mary here, and the Fatima message is so important," Mr. Breitenbach said.

Since 1978, the two parishioners of St. Lucy's Church in Altamont have run the St. Joseph Marian Center out of their home. The center serves as the diocesan representative of the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima, a group of millions worldwide who respond to the requests made by the Blessed Mother at Fatima.

Moving statue

During its years in the Albany Diocese, the wooden statue has been taken to parishes, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions.

It also was present in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany on March 25, 1984, when Bishop Howard J. Hubbard consecrated the Diocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The 1987 Marian Year pilgrimage gave the statue a great deal of exposure -- and a reputation for healing. Mrs. Breitenbach recalled a woman who was suffering from cancer; after she prayed before the statue, her cancer went into remission. Another woman wept before the Pilgrim Virgin statue and sought help for her son, who was paralyzed in a car accident. Gradually, he regained movement in his limbs, and his prognosis for steady recovery was encouraging.

Devotion

Being involved with the St. Joseph Marian Center and the Pilgrim Virgin statue has made the Breitenbachs realize just how important Mary is to them. They haven't had miracles occur, but they have experienced her blessings through stories of healing that they have heard from others.

BY being responsible for the statue, they have seen the ways in which Mary can intervene in people's lives, and that's enough to convince them that their work is worthwhile.

Said Mrs. Breitenbach, as the Pilgrim Virgin statue stood nearby, "We've had nothing but blessings in our family."

(10-01-98) [[In-content Ad]]