An Open Letter to My Mother Mary~ How a Devout Catholic Inittated me into a Modern Day Yogini

   Its been nearly 3 years since you passed from this physical world into the heavenly eternal realms where I touch your spirit each day. Your lessons continue to unfold for me as I continue to journey this path we call life . Through the power of your devotional faith to your savior, Jesus Christ, your embodied pure heart, love and compassion that was the essence of your time here on earth.

Raising 9 children, loving 24 Grandchildren and currently 12 great grandchildren and more on the way, your family continues to grow. My earliest lesson from you was at age 7 when in church, the priest was asking the congregation for all the people in the world who were not Catholic to find Jesus. I remember tugging on your dress and whispering to you" what about all the people in China?" You smiled and looked a bit exasperated with me and replied " Just pray they find Jesus". I had no conscious awareness at that time that their were billions of people on the planet that were not Catholic but it was my first introduction to an intuitive knowing that would unfold as I grew.

Soon around that time I had a memory of you being pulled in so many directions, taking care of so many children, your own mothers health in decline and the many pressures that mothering can create and being a persistent child in my own way, you once held my hand and said" why are you so strong willed??" The tone of your voice conveyed that although I wasn't exactly clear of what a strong will was, I knew I had one and it was expressing itself. I realized recently, that when I was in my 40's and you were in your 80's we came to a heart to heart where you openly accepted my spiritual path of yoga and eastern contemplative traditions as I openly honored your devout devotion to your faith. The devotional faith element is the same. Connecting to that which connects us to Source.

We had many conversations over the years on how faith and action transform the world, from the days of Dorothy Day, MLK, Thomas Merton, Mother Theresa , the Dalai Lama and so many others that walked the path of love ,compassion and peace to make this world a more loving and Just place.Peace and Justice motivated you. You initiated me into the power of spiritual healing as an early teen taking me to ecumenical healings where I first hand witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit entering into the physical bodies of those attending and surrendering them to their knees . Where most young teen girls were obsessing on friends and such, my eyes were being opened to the world of spirit beyond this physical life. This made for a powerful mystery going forward and a ton of questions on what the real meaning of all this human struggle was about.

You modeled the power of your spiritual faith as you dealt with the brain illness of your son, the sadness your mother carried all her life , and the heartbreaking journey of loving and caring for Dad as Alzheimer's claimed his life. Through it all your faith remained constant. You said to me once, without the Eucharist you would die. It literally sustained you. I learned from you that that ritual of mass was not just words and motions but actual spiritual transfiguration where you received the embodiment of Jesus's love within your own heart.

 It's through your ever open heart that the strongest lessons were taught. These are among my most treasured;
Live simply so others can simply live
Love of family, faith and community
Love of nature;flowers, birds, clouds, beauty, sunsets, oceans
Love of God and Faith in your tradition
Love of the less fortunate
Love of singing and music. You sang daily as do I!
Generosity
Kindness
Patience
Forgiveness
Gratitude-Your daily practice of voicing all your gratitudes, you often joked by the time you mentioned all your family members your list was overflowing!
A sense of humor! You loved a good laugh.
Trusting to your higher power when you cannot see or understand
Your love for what you create with your hands, your many quilts
Your love of learning, being curious, engaged and present
Your love of reading , forever reading and loving inspirational auto-biographies of how others overcame difficult circumstances and contributed to this world in a positive way
Your strong belief in the power of prayer to heal!
Your strong belief and practice of creating spiritual community wherever you were.
Your strong ethic to extend yourself into your community
Your surrender of your personal will to Divine will all your life
Your nature to never hold negativity, always share a smile
Your absolute love of being a mother and raising a family.
Your ever present quality of offering support to anyone in need.
Your humility, You never boasted and often were quite embarrassed 

by any attention given your way to acknowledge the many community support projects you were involved with throughout your life.

And finally a saying you shared with me, always give from an overflowing cup! Fill your cup with your own connection to spirit and generosity and love will naturally be shared. My mother's last words to me upon her death were: "you are intuitive , use that spirit to help others" and with that she waved me goodbye.

    It is said we are born twice. Once from our mothers and the second time when our mothers die and we birth ourselves into the truth of our Being.I bow to my greatest teacher, my mother, Mary Agnes Downes Townend 8/31/16- 7/26/2011
Love you Mom, Always! Your loving daughter Anne Christine

Happy Mother's Day to All , Everyday!