Testimony of La Ermita de Lola – Our Lady of Hakuna
"Glory to God—this is the first thing that comes to my lips today as we celebrate one year since our daughter Lola went to heaven. Glory to God because He does everything well, because everything is for the best if we let Him do it. Lola brought us so many good things during her time on earth, so many good things have come from her YES to the divine will and, with her YES, from ours, her parents, who joined in that YES to the will of the LORD. To what seemed senseless in the eyes of the world, bringing a child into the world who would die minutes later. Only He knows the reason for all things.
Letting ourselves be guided is what the Lord asks of us. It is the only thing we can do on our own. We can do nothing else. He guides our steps and shows us what he wants from us as we listen to his prayer.
The last part of the pregnancy was different, we could say joyful. We enjoyed having Lola with us, praising God with her, and everything was easier. The joy of praise filled us all.
“… we went to the clinic for a procedure and, as a result, Lucía went into labor. Providence, the Lord wanted it to be St. Joseph’s Day in the year of St. Joseph, and in the face of the unexpected, it was an intimate moment, without the suffering of waiting. It was relatively quick; we were able to baptize Lola, hold her in our arms, her mother and I, and shower her with kisses. When she heard our voices, she moved her eyes toward us, and in a moment of glory to God, she stopped breathing. She was in our arms for a few minutes and in her mother's womb for a few months because that was her mission: to show us the infinite love of GOD."
Just a few words to explain the Ermita del Lola. It all started with our mother. During Lucía's pregnancy with Lola, she was given a miniature of this beautiful image, which for us is the Virgin of Lola. The fact that we were pregnant was very special at that time. And that embrace she gives to God, to his will, is also the origin of everything. It is a beautiful image by the sculptor Javier Viver. We went to see him and commissioned this carving, and we also told him that we were expecting Lucía.
At the same time, we were looking for a way to build a chapel for the image, and the Lord put the architects Ramos Alderete in our path: Pablo Jaime and Jorge, who, with their exquisite sensitivity, took Lola's story and transformed it into this wonderful chapel project. They explain it much better, but everything makes sense: the Virgin's embrace of God in her womb, the first arch representing the embrace of the family, the second representing the embrace of everyone, an open place for prayer, for her protection, for us to kneel at her feet and pray alongside her as she prays. And the place of Lola and Gloria, at her privileged side. Always by her side, interceding and caring for all of us. Through that opening, the first rays of light illuminate her precious feet, which is where we place all our concerns, our problems, our joys, and our entire lives.
Another day, I had to go for some health tests, and everything indicated that I wasn't well. It was 3 p.m. when Hakuna's mother arrived home, and I thought: My God, what a gift! I left feeling peaceful and calm, and I said to the Lord: Thy will be done, and may everything be for the best 🙌.
A few days later, they called me and told me that I had NOTHING. I couldn't believe it and said, "You've got the wrong file. Look again." "YOU HAVE NOTHING," said the doctor. I thanked God and our Mother, my precious mother, who never lets go of my hand.
