Glory to Jesus and Mary! One day at the end of February this year turned out to be really sad for our family. My sister got married seven years ago, but she could not feel the joy of conception, pregnancy and birth of her child. And now, as if these seven years of infertility were not painful enough for her, they were followed by news that broke her heart completely. Doctors informed the young couple that they were both infertile and had to accept the fact that they would never be able to experience the joys of motherhood and fatherhood. I can only imagine what they went through then, if even in my heart it resonated with such pain.
The evening before Lent I spent in prayer in front of a small candle and at a certain moment I decided to read a passage from the Gospel of Matthew, which talks about the beatitudes. When I delved into the words of Jesus, my gaze stopped at one phrase: “Blessed are those who are sad, for they will be comforted” (Mt. 5, 4). That evening, my heart became a small mustard seed that believed that a mountain of barrenness could become so insignificant before the greatness of the mercy of our Heavenly Father. And then I decided to spend forty days fasting on only bread and water to make this small sacrifice for my sister and her husband and their joy of holding their baby one day.

After a few days, I felt how difficult it would be. The temptations were increasing, and my body was getting weaker. After two weeks, the bread began to stink to me, and it tasted like earth. The smell of my favorite dishes was constantly wafting through the room, although I was alone and there was no food in the house.

The most difficult were the constant attacks of evil – thoughts that everything I do has no meaning, that I will soon become seriously ill from malnutrition and it is best to stop and eat well. In those moments, when it became very difficult and my body screamed for food, I squatted down, took the rosary in my hands and, praying, began to think about how small children would one day run around my sister’s house. Their smile, I imagined, carried me like an angel like the one that supported Jesus when He was going through all his temptations. And although I dedicated these forty days of fasting to others, I felt as if it was my soul that was climbing the mountain of barrenness and on its summit, weak, humble and modest, was experiencing its transformation. Despite the fact that the body was completely without strength, the spirit rose to the heights, where it soared freely, as never before. These were moments of God’s amazing closeness…closeness that found the true meaning of sacrifice…closeness that revealed Love.

I spent the last fortieth night of fasting on my knees, looking at the light of a small candle that supported me so much during all these difficult days… and in my mind suddenly appeared: “For in You is the source of life, in Your light we will see light” (Ps. 36 , 10). Those were the moments when I gave myself completely to Heaven. When the spirit immersed itself in the Father’s love, the weakness of the body completely fell asleep… and then I could hear with indescribable tenderness the words of the Father: “I heard your prayer and your supplication that you brought before Me. I sanctified this temple that you built, dwelling there forever My name. My eyes and My heart will be there forever” (I Kings 9, 3). Tears flowed all night, and my heart filled with joy, because I knew that the images I imagined in the hardest waves would become a reality.

A month after that night, the pain that had lasted for seven years in the young woman’s soul stopped… She conceived and now carries twins in her blessed womb – two new eternal lives…

Brothers and sisters, be little… and glorify the Heavenly Father, the Lord of heaven and earth, because He has hidden this from the wise and intelligent and has revealed it to you, babies…

May the intercession of the Mother of God and God’s blessing not leave you!+

Mateo, 25 years old, Croatia