The Story of Maria
as told by her
SHOE
"LEFTY"!
Reported by
Sr. Vivian Miller, ASC
Hello,
My name is Lefty.
I may look like trash but
I have a precious story to tell.
Sit back and listen as I tell you about my friend, Maria.
First off, I want you to know that I wasn’t always tattered and torn.
Back in 1821, I was quite beautiful.
As a matter of fact on Feb. 4th I was a birthday present for Maria DeMattias,
a young girl of Vallecorsa,
who just turned sweet 16.
She hugged me and I knew she was very happy.
Believe me, she looked right smart,
as she dressed up for her Sunday afternoon walks.
Maria took really good care of me and wore me only on special days.
I’m afraid that in the beginning I pinched her toes a bit…
but she never complained.
It seems beauty and looking good means more to young people
than a pinched toe.
A bucket of hot water always eased her feet after we took our long walks.
Then one day I was left sitting in the closet for a long time.
Let me tell you, it was dark in there.
I sat and tried to remember what happened.
Then I remembered,
The last time I was worn, was to Church.
I think something happened that day.
I know Maria sat very still for a long time listening to some missionary.
Then she made me run all the way home.
I was kicked off and landed in a corner,
and stayed there for days.
Next thing I knew, I was here in the closet, under a stack of woollies.
I missed my Maria.
After, what seemed like a long time,
the doors opened and light streamed into the dark closet.
Well, bless my ‘sole’,
someone grabbed me and soon I was falling.
A lot of other stuff was falling too!
It looked like we were all heading for a sack.
Soon the sack was strapped to the side of a surefooted donkey.
I felt a little squashed but it wasn’t too bad.
There was so much added all around me it felt like a feather bed.
The moving up and down made me sleepy.
I woke up and found myself in a mountain town called ACUTO
and back on Maria’s feet.
I was being used again, but something was different.
I was not just going for short walks on Sunday or to a dance.
I was being used for hours, everyday.
I liked it, because I was close to Maria.
She seemed to be always on the go:
sometimes with a broom in her hand,
sometimes standing still while she talked to groups of children or ladies.
Now sometimes Maria would put me at a different angle.
At first I felt a bit dizzy, but after long hours upside down on my toes,
I got used to it and didn’t mind it one bit.
I could feel how relaxed Maria was when she was kneeling
and when Maria is happy I was happy too.
I often wondered about the PERSON she was looking at as she prayed.
She called Him, “My Crucified Jesus”.
Now if there is one thing we shoes understand it’s feet.
But the feet of this PERSON are nailed.
Pinched toes are bad…corns are worse…
but feet with NAILS in them…Big nails…that I can’t understand.
It bothered Maria too, I could tell.
She kissed these feet and cried a lot.
Often I wanted to tell Maria that I was tired and she had to be too.
I wanted to say, “Maria, you’ve been on your feet all day today.
This morning you were with the young girls
and women teaching them to sew and telling them about Jesus.
This afternoon it was with the novices
and tonight you will talk to the shepherd children.
Why don’t you ever stretch out and rest like other people do?
Are you still thinking about the Person with the nails in His feet?”
Shoes are made for walking, but Maria walked on some pretty rough paths. Sometimes she would leave the path
and go looking for big rocks to build a home for her sisters.
One day, I had to help her jump to one side
to keep from being hit by a big stone.
Now, these stones, every once in a while would give us a scare.
Like the time the little boy almost had his finger cut off.
I don’t know if you all know how Maria prayed
as she took the little one’s hand in hers and then, all of a sudden—
the lad’s screams turned to laughter, for his finger was healed!
As I said before, these stones were necessary for building.
Maria and I loved the procession
with the people as they walked and sang songs praising God.
It may surprise you to know that shoes have temptations.
Many times I wanted to give a swift kick to those who weren’t nice to Maria.
But she would pinch me to the floor with her toes
and I never had the satisfaction.
Imagine that, she even loves those people
who are mean to her and is extra nice to them!!!
It seems there were a lot of sick sisters at Acuto at times.
Maria would be up day and night, sitting by their beds,
calling for help as they got sicker,
carrying trays up and down the stairs,
standing close by the sisters to cool their fevered heads
and kneeling to pray for them.
I was sleepy…and Maria had to be tired too.
Maria liked music and so did I.
Her toes always begin to wiggle
and soon her whole foot was tapping in rhythms
when the children and sisters sang.
She often put me to work pumping a big box called an “organ”.
When we worked together music came out.
What wonderful sounds filled the air.
I have to tell you about my friend: Rosie.
We traveled so many miles together, that we became quite good friends.
Maria needed both of us to do her work with the children,
young folks and married ladies.
It is hard to count the trips she made
to encourage the sisters and show them
how much she loved and cared for them.
We shoes like to stay on the ground as much as we can…
that’s where we work best.
But one day I found myself and Maria floating on air.
She had been talking to the women in church about God’s
love and how much He loved us by shedding His blood.
Then I began to feel very light and in mid-air.
Don’t worry, we had a happy landing.
Sometimes Maria wore heavy woolen socks to keep her feet warm
during the cold winter months.
Now socks are nice but they made my seams bulge.
It was a good thing that over the years my leather stretched.
The cobble stones and rocky paths had been hard on me,
first there were scuffs, then the tears,
but Maria kept on working with the sisters.
She often went down to the vineyard to help pick grapes.
One day Maria Tullio decided that I needed a little repair.
She was very gentle with the needle and it didn’t hurt a bit.
I was as good as new, almost,
and Maria could continue to teach the children about Jesus.
The weather in Italy is sometimes rainy.
Maria kept on going and making those trips out of love for others
and I often got wet.
That rain sure didn’t help the way I looked.
My leather was cracking.
I was getting pretty run down
so I decided to try a little squeak to express my protest.
It didn’t do any good, really.
All I got for the effort were laughs from the children
and frowns from the Sisters.
Maria just went right on with her classes and all the other work.
Nothing could stop her in her service of others for the love of God.
Maria did grease me up so I would’n squeak so much.
One day the worst thing happened to me.
I was thrown out of the window.
I had seen the new shoes the Sisters gave Maria
and I knew that Maria would not wear them
as long as I was around.
I was very comfortable. The sisters knew this too!
Before too long, Maria came looking for me.
I wondered what happened to the new shoes
until I saw a poor person with a bundle.
Maria gave her new shoes to someone else.
I’m not sure what the sisters said about this,
but I think they knew that Maria had a special love for the poor.
I never knew where Maria would take me.
One day we were walking on beautiful carpets.
There seemed to be a tingle of joy in Maria’s toes.
We walked slowly toward someone wearing a pair of fancy slippers.
Maria genuflected and bowed as she greeted him, “Your Holiness”.
We were in the Vatican and met Pope Pius IX.
What an honor!
I’ve neglected to tell you about my twin.
As you know all shoes are born twins.
One of us alone wouldn’t be very useful!
“Righty” wore out before I did.
She blamed her cracks and wrinkles on all the genuflections.
I guess she was right since while she bends out of shape,
I get to stay straight.
Maria loved to visit her Eucharistic Friend
and every time there were genuflections.
I don’t know were “Righty” ended up.
It would have been nice to spend our retired years together.
So you can see that I have had a pretty good life
and my friend Maria just kept on working for the honor of God.
