A Miracle of Water in a Year of Fire
As I write to you today, there are multiple fires burning throughout Colorado and beyond. A dry winter has given way to an alarmingly hot summer and - once again, climate change is on many minds & hearts.
Without dismissing the scorching reality of these times, I want to tell you about a nature miracle that happened a little over two weeks ago during our wedding ceremony.
The miracle is more than the moment I'm about to share - and yet this moment was so generously offered, it feels like a gift to be able to write and share it with you, especially in the midst of so much fire.
But to share it with you, I want to briefly begin at the beginning…
Dane and I met on October 13, 2020 - a day known as Miracle of the Sun, when Our Lady of Fatima (or Our Lady of the Rosary) appeared and left thousands of Portuguese people in absolute awe.
She appeared six times on the 13th of the month to children in Portugal - first on May 13, 1917, then June 13, July 13, August 13, September 13, and finally October 13.
For me, our wedding date of June 13 was an honoring of Our Lady and her mysterious matchmaking ways.
Before our ceremony, I also spent some time communing with the land - asking permission to share this ceremony there and listening for what the land would love and what it might be nourished by.
What emerged from within was a vision of waters being offered to the land - waters gathered from places that were meaningful both personally and to us as a couple - and waters from the river running through the land where our ceremony was held.
We invited some of our loved ones to gather small vials of water from places that held meaning to us - waters from Mt. Shasta where we met, waters from places that feel like soul homes to us both, waters from lands we grew up in, waters from the river Dane proposed to me in - we gathered them all into a chalice for our ceremony.
I asked my dear friend Rochelle to facilitate this water blessing as a part of our wedding ceremony. She said yes and all the details were weaving themselves into place.
And then a few days before our ceremony, we received news that an active wildfire had broken out within a few miles of the venue. While this caused stress & fear & uncertainty in the days leading up to it, thankfully it was contained without harm to people or properties - there was no smoke or signs of fire, you would not know that this fire was just a few miles down the road. And on our wedding day, the mountains of Colorado were somehow bright and blue and beautiful.
When it was time for the water ceremony, we held the chalice of waters as Rochelle invited everyone to bring their hands to their hearts and think of a body of water they love and extend gratitude to this place - to imagine that these waters that you love, love you right back.
beginning of water blessing - as you can see, sun is shining!
She invited a moment of silence to presence the waters with gratitude - and in that moment of silence… the softest cloud began to take form above us.
Rochelle then read aloud the waters Dane and I had gathered into the chalice before us and, just as we were anointing one another and offering the waters back to the land, something awe-inspiring happened.
The softest, gentlest caress of mist blessed our skin - unlike any rain I have ever felt in my life before. These were not weighted droplets. It wasn't a storm. If you could imagine the sweetest, gentlest mist meeting you, loving you, blessing you - it was the softest caress; like a kiss of rain.
It felt like living inside a miracle…like being directly blessed by the waters themselves.
This gentle caress of mist lasted only a minute or two - and only during the water blessing portion of our ceremony - and then it passed! There was not another drop of water the entire weekend. Only in the exact moment we honored the waters were we in turn blessed by the waters.
Dane and I then shared our vows to each other and the union of our ceremony was beautifully complete.
Afterwards, family & loved ones came up to us with chills running down their arms and then looking up and around with jaws dropped asking, Did that really just happen?!!?
Each person had their own experience of what it meant to them - what they felt it was a sign of or a sign from. Some said it was one of the most special moments they had ever experienced.
And to me, this is the mysterious gift of miraculous experiences: they may meet us collectively, yet they speak to us personally. In our shared experience, we are each intimately met by grace granted - by an experience of communion with Love.
This experience had me further reflecting on what can happen when a group of people come together in ceremonial honoring, in gratitude for Nature. That moment where Rochelle guided us to attune to a sacred place in nature and imagine that this place loves you right back …what could we create in a consciousness like that?
In these past two weeks, I have been reflecting on all that it took to arrive at that moment. Even a small wedding asks for so, so much - some ceremonies ask for over a year of presence and tending…some ask for a lifetime!
There will always be things that arise that you cannot plan for or anticipate - an unexpected wildfire around the bend, a storm you didn't see coming, a detour you didn't choose. So much of life is lived in the space between what we hope for and what actually unfolds. And yet, in saying yes to the unknown, there becomes even more space for miracles to meet whatever arises - moments that remind us what matters at the heart of the heart of it all.
I wonder in your life right now, even in the bright, hot, busy heat of summer - what would feel like a miracle? And can you ask for it?
There is a story associated with Saint Catherine Labouré and the Miraculous Medal that speaks of miraculous graces that remain ungiven simply because they are never asked for. How many miracles pass by because we forget to ask for them?
In our world of grief and grit and grace, the miracle may be the presence of Love showing up in the midst of tragedy. The miracle may be a reminder that we are not alone. The miracle may be the sudden and unmistakable feeling that life itself is loving us back.
I opened this letter with fire - with the dry hills and the record heat and a world that is in many places, quite literally burning. And right now, I'm called to return to the waters with you.
If a small group of people, gathered on a remote mountainside expressing gratitude for water, could be met by the gentlest blessing of rain in the midst of fire weather… I wonder what might become possible when more of us turn toward the waters with love.
I want to invite you - wherever you are, however hot or heavy the day - to take a moment in what Rochelle invited us to do:
Bring your hands to your heart. Think of a body of water you love - and offer your appreciation for all it has given you. And when you're ready, imagine that the water you love, loves you right back.
Now, see if you can let that love ripple - moving out across every scorched and smoldering place on this Earth. Imagine the burning hills being met by mist. Imagine the parched, aching ground being kissed by rain ~ the softest caress of mist, blessing all that the flames have touched. Perhaps extend this rippling blessing within your body and heart as well - what places are parched, are scorched inside? Can you allow the waters to meet you here?
Dane and I were married on June 13th - a day Our Lady once appeared, she who is known as Star of the Sea, Our Lady of the Waters…she who soothes, she who loves, she who rises like a sacred spring in parched ground. By whatever name you know this presence, these gifts are freely offered - may we remember to ask and to receive the grace already reaching toward us.
With love,
Madeline
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PS: If today's story spoke to you and you're called to immerse yourself into a deeper practice of communing with the heart of Nature - I have a few offerings on the horizon!
Nature Communion: Awakening Earth Intuition Retreat - October 25-28 at Kripalu in Stockbridge, MA; join me for this 3-day retreat devoted to listening to the heart of Nature. Through breath and inner communion, we will create space to listen to Earth in changing times.
The Holy Well: openings for 1:1 mentorship for a September start.This is a dedicated 1:1 space for seasons of healing & courageous change. When what once felt certain no longer fits and you're finding your way through the unknown - The Holy Well awaits. Learn more here.
Finally: this song recently released and it's a beautiful hymn to and for water! I may include it in the upcoming Angelic Breath Healing class I'm offering on July 12th :)