Ten years after her passing, the Servant ofGod MariaEsperanza is remembered for her great love for the Church
Bishop Georges Kahhale, the Greek-Melkite Catholic Exarch in Venezuela and member of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, celebrated Mass on August 7, 2014 at the chapel of the Eastern Cemetery. In an interview he said he had visited the Sanctuary of Betania since the 80s every first Thursday of each month to honor Our Lady Mary Reconciler of All Peoples. He asserted: “Maria Esperanza planted in every heart love for the Virgin. In the Eastern rite we call her the ‘Theotokos’, the Mother of God. So, it is enough to say this about her: She has helped us love the tenderness of the Virgin Mary so much, much more than anyone else we have met.”
Several priests came from Italy and the United States to honor her memory and concelebrated in the company of several Venezuelan priests. As always, the Betania Choir, directed by Prof. Maria Auxiliadora Bianchini de Leon accompanied the Eucharist with its music, sharing with so many family members, friends and acquaintances of the Servant of God. Attendance was massive with Venezuelans and sixty pilgrims from the communities of Betania Argentina, United States, Cayman Islands and Peru, that is to say, from Betania: I, II, III, V, VI, VII, X, XI, and XIV.
Father Timothy Byerley said that she always led a life in full conformity and obedience to the Catholic Church and that she could not consider being devoted to God without loving our mother Church. He also declared to the media: “The world is divided in many ways and here in Venezuela a flower called Maria Esperanza bloomed to announce the message of reconciliation which is the solution to the problems we find in families, in this country, and around the world. This is why the message of reconciliation is of great importance right now.”
Her widower, Mr. Geo Bianchini, reminded everyone that we are in the world to win souls for God and to evangelize.
With this purpose, the Mother of God invited us to follow the Lord in the Wedding at Cana and continues to do so in her apparitions in Betania: “On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. And they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the feast had all been used, and the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said, ‘Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ (Jn 2:1-5).”
