For nearly four years, Mothers of Major and Minor Seminarians (MOMMS), has upheld a tradition of remembering mothers of seminarians.
The group sends a statue of the Virgin Mary to each mother upon their son’s ordination to the priesthood as a reminder that her son will be watched, guided and protected as he serves Christ and the Church.
Recently, the group broke with tradition and sent a statue to Catherine Phillips, mother of Daniel Phillips, a first-year seminarian who died in a car wreck Dec. 17. Phillips, who Bishop Anthony B. Taylor said in his funeral homily undoubtedly attained priesthood in heaven, was a popular and faith-filled member of his seminarian class.
“(The Blessed Mother) is the patron saint of our prayer watch,” MOMMS co-founder Angie Elser wrote in a note accompanying the statue. “We pray that the statue will be to you, and your family, a visual reminder of Daniel’s dream of priesthood.”
Bishop Taylor blessed the statue, Our Lady of Grace, which features a rosary holder at its base.
“The statue means a lot to me because it shows that everyone is praying for our family and for Daniel,” said Catherine Phillips, a member of Assumption Church in Booneville, her voice wracked with emotion. “We miss him.”
She said she continues to pray for the seminarians every week, although in the wake of her son’s death, such prayer is “not the same as it was, although I wish it were.” Still, she takes strength in knowing Daniel has realized God’s purpose for his life.
“God created Daniel to be the person that he was,” she said. “God entrusted this child to me and I, along with his dad, tried to raise all of our children with Christ at the center of their lives.”
