Admission of Innocence, chapter 1, part 7
Gerry stared after Peter as he left the room. Then he turned to look at Damien, raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner.
‘Don’t worry. He’ll be back.’
‘But … who’s Mary? I thought you said his wife’s name was Bernadette.’
‘Ah!’ Damien smiled enigmatically. ‘Peter has a special relationship with Our Lady. He’s off into the church to have a word with her.’
‘How d’you mean?’ His friend stared in disbelief and astonishment. ‘You’re joking, right?’
‘Wrong. What’s up? Prayers to Our Lady are hardly revolutionary, are they?’
‘I – I suppose … Look, I know that the church has always accepted the idea of … but, in this day and age! I mean …’
‘Come on, Gerry,’ Damien chided gently. ‘You’re not telling me you don’t say the Hail Mary or –’
‘But that’s different! It’s all part of a long-established liturgy. It’s … and to be honest, I do have trouble justifying it to our ecumenical colleagues. But, actually praying to a saint – and expecting an answer – that’s just too … And I thought you said Peter was a new convert. This is more the sort of thing I’d expect from my Irish granny!’
‘Well, of course, converts are always the most extreme and the most enthusiastic, aren’t they?’ his friend smiled back, amused at his brother priest’s apparent discomfiture with this aspect of traditional Catholicism. ‘But in Peter’s case it’s not that. He chose the Catholic Church precisely because it’s the only one that takes the veneration of Mary seriously, and he has a special reason for that.’
‘Oh? Enlighten me, do.’
‘Last summer – not the summer just gone, I mean 2017 – his baby granddaughter was snatched from her pram. During the period when she was missing, Peter wandered into St Cyprian’s. His step-daughter, Lucy, wanted to light a candle for them and he came with her. We’ve got a rather unusual Madonna-and-Child statue – I’ll show you it later. The infant Jesus has dark skin and curly black hair. According to Peter, he’s the spitting image of Peter’s son Eddie – the one whose baby went missing. Anyway, Peter was standing there looking at it when Our Lady spoke to him, and he promised her that he’d become a Catholic if little Abigail came home safe.’
‘Whew!’ Gerry whistled through his teeth. ‘And I gather the baby was recovered OK?’
‘Yup! The police tracked her down and got her back safe and sound a couple of days later. So you can see why Peter feels a special bond with the BVM , can’t you? He’ll be there now, checking what she thinks about this story you’ve just told us.’
‘But …,’ Gerry began, unsure what to make of this. ‘But … surely he can’t really …? I mean … Look Damien,’ he began again, speaking more seriously now, ‘are you sure he’s the right man for this job? You don’t think maybe he could be past it? I mean, a man who talks to statues is hardly going to carry much weight with the lawyers, is he? Or the jury, for that matter.’
‘O ye of little faith!’ Damien sighed, but with a smile on his face. ‘Trust me – Peter has got his feet very firmly planted on the ground. He’s exactly the person you need: bags of experience in the police force and total commitment once he makes up his mind to something. And he is absolutely not going ga-ga, however much he may remind you of your Irish granny!’
to be continued ...