If you've been following the saga of Crockett Nicolas, then you know that on September 3, 2005, he was run over by a hit and run. I have mourned his loss. I have grieved deeply. I have prayed many prayers.
Sunday before Christmas, I prayed and gave Crockett to Jesus' mother, Mary. As a Catholic, we revere her as Theotokos -- mother of our Lord Jesus. She is the mother we cling to when our own birth mothers cannot or will not offer us succor and comfort.
We ask her to join us in prayer requests we make to her Son. If you're not Catholic, that may make no sense. "I go straight to Jesus when I pray." Well, we do, too, but we have His Blessed Mother assisting us. It's like asking your sibling or parent to accompany you when you go ask an elder brother or your father for something. So maybe it makes some sense after all? It's nice to know you can have someone standing with you when you make a request. Especially if that request is made to God through His Son, Jesus. And especially if that someone is Jesus' own mother.
I was driving to Vigil Mass on Saturday before Christmas, thinking of Crockett, as I usually do, and the thought came to me that I could release Crockett to the Blessed Mother. (God gives us the desires of our hearts. Doesn't mean God gives us the desires we put in our hearts. It means God puts His desires in our hearts.) So I prayed a simple prayer, "giving" Crockett to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. After Vigil Mass, driving to pick up my cousin for our usual weekly evening out, my heart felt 'lighter' and my spirit was more joyful.
Each day during the week, I thought of my gift to the Blessed Mother and how giving Crockett to her to care for brought closure to my grief. On Friday morning, prior to waking, I had a very vivid dream. In full and living color. It was daylight. I was standing in the drive, near to where Crockett was run over. Crockett was there in front of me and was about to walk out into the road (where the blood stain was still visible). I called to him "Crockett Nicolas, get back here!" He turned his head and looked at me with a very curious look. Suddenly, I was seated on the front steps and Crockett jumped into my lap. He put his haunches on each leg and his paws were on my shoulders. I was staring straight into that lighter 'bib' on his chest. And I noticed, he was not wearing a collar or tag.
Crockett is not mine any longer. I love him forever. That will never change. But he's not mine. He belongs to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. He is hers. And he showed me that in the dream. The collar I purchased and the rabies tag from the Veterinarian's office are gone. He roams heaven and doesn't worry about cars.
Driving back from Florida on Tuesday after Christmas (where I'd gone over Christmas vacation), I looked up and saw a cloud in the sky in the shape of a woman with a head-covering, feeding treats to the shape of a dog. I immediately knew the dog was Crockett. And I assumed the shape of the woman was me. Wrong assumption. I looked again and the clouds moved so that the lips of the woman changed and appeared to be 'saying' something. And what my heart heard was that the cloud-woman was Mary, the Blessed Mother. She was giving treats to Crockett. After all, Crockett is her dog now.
If it's a sun dog, is it Crockett? Or have you, too, given a dog to the care of Mary, Theotokos?
If you look closely, on the left near the bottom corner, facing you, you'll see the form of a woman and a cat on the woman's left (your right) at the middle bottom of the image. What else do you see? Let your heart guide you.
The Mary who laid her Baby in a cradle in a stable loves all animals. If you are grieving the loss of an animal, consider offering that animal to the care of Jesus' Mother, Mary.
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