Ireland
Responses to Totus2us podcasts given by Irish people with Christian names beginning with N to Z - many thanks to you all ♥
Niall 
"Our Lady means a lot to me: not only is she my mother but I've entrusted my vocation to her. At a stage of my life, I had decisions to make regarding entering seminary and what I did was I'd always a devotion to Our Lady but I consecrated myself to Our Lady and I entrusted all my past achievements and all my past experiences and all my future experiences and any of my future decisions, I entrusted them all to her. Since I did this I had a radical change in my life in terms of not only my devotion to her but also my devotion to Jesus, because anything that I've asked with a contrite heart Our Lady has provided for me and it has strengthened my relationship with Jesus, my devotion to the rosary daily, also it strengthens my faith. Our Lady has become a mother for me, a spiritual mother in many, many ways."
Niall 
"Mary is my mother, my spiritual mother."
Niall 
"When I was about 25, I started praying the rosary and again the rosary introduced me to Scripture and the mystery of what happened 2000 years ago. So when I say that I really trust Mary, in funny way she never really shows up herself, but whenever I do Marian things, like pray the rosary or go to Marian places, like I've been to Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje, special things happen and I grow in my love of God, and my trust in God grows and my joy grows, and I'm always just left with this flavour of Mary that she's been around in some way, even though I'm not looking directly at her, her trace is left there and it's a wonderful, motherly trace."
Nuala 
"Mary is for me a mother. Since I lost my mother when I was born (she was taken to heaven), I've looked upon Mary as my mother all my life and she has helped me, protected me and guided me as a true mother. Thank you, thank you Mother Mary, our Queen and our Mother but, as St Therese says, more a mother than a queen. Thank you, Mother Mary. Amen."
Brother Oisín Emmanuel CFR 
"Asked to speak what Our Lady means to me, I would say: a dear and close friend, the closest friend outside of the Trinity; a mother that I can always run to and cling to and hold on to; and in my walk with Christ, she is my example, she is the one I learn how to become a Christian more than any other saint. She's the one who teaches me to be silent in suffering, teaches me how to pray, teaches me to be attentive to God and to others, teaches me to be patient, teaches me to be generous and teaches me to love."
Brother Oisín Emmanuel is a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal.
Ollie & Bridget 
Ollie: "Quite honestly, thanks be to God, I never lost my faith along the way and it’s still as strong as ever. 40 years of marriage we, myself and my good wife, still pray together. The rosary is very, very dear to me and if I didn’t say a rosary in the day, something would be wrong. ...
Bridget: "I pray to Mary every morning and night and I’ve done that with my husband for the last 40 years."
Ollie & Bridget celebrate their wedding anniversary on St Patrick's Day.
Patricia
"I think with Mary her role is always to focus on Jesus."
Patricia 
"Each day we offer up everything to Our Lady, who is dearest to her son and nearest to her son."
Father Pat 
"When Patrck was alone on those hillsides, Slemish it was in County Armagh, he had noone to turn to for help but God. Patrick found God in his loneliness there. In fact Patrick needed those 6 years to mature, because at the end of the them he had become what we might call a holy man. He eventually escaped and found his way back to Wales. He became a priest and then a bishop. He writes in his Confessions: 'After I had come to Ireland, I daily used to feed cattle, and I prayed frequently during the day. The love of God and the fear of Him increased more and more, and faith became stronger and the spirit was stirred, so that in 1 day I said about 100 prayers and in the night nearly the same. So that I used even to remain in the woods and in the mountains; before daylight I used to rise to prayer through snow, frost and rain, and I felt no harm, nor was there any slothfulness in me as I now perceive because the spirit was then fervent within me.'"
Canon Pat Browne is parish priest at Holy Apostles Catholic Church in Pimlico, London.
Patrick 
"Mary has always been special. I was in Medjugorje in 2005, my first time there and it was a lovely experience, you know. Yeh, there’s just a feeling of the heart, it just brings you back to the place."
Brother Patrick 
"Just to say about Mary, the most wonderful title: the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus. My prayer is that this concept be better understood in the world, for the peace of the world and for justice in the world."
Patrick 
"Our Lady is our mother of all her children on earth."
Peggy 
"I owe Our Lady so much, because I lost my daughter last year to breast cancer and I thought I would never ever get over it, but I said the rosary every day to Our Lady and now I can cope. And I know she's with Our Lady, so that means a lot to me. She's done a lot for me, Our Lady, and I could never forget her."
Father Raymond 
"Our Lady makes man aware of his vocation to participate in the life of the Blessed Trinity … She is the reason why so many people can return with tenderness and belief in the mercy of God. She is the person who says to everyone 'Do what my son says.' She is, in the words of so many saints of the Father, 'the easy door to get into heaven'. And this is our hope. This is a story that Padre Pio used to tell: One day Jesus was walking along in the gardens of heaven. He saw some undesirable people in the gardens. He said nothing but in the afternoon he said to St Peter, when he saw how they'd multiplied a hundred fold, 'Why are there so many undesirables in heaven?' And Peter said 'It's not my fault. I am keeping the gate but whenever I'm at the gate, your mother comes along and opens all the windows.'"
Rita
"I first went to Medjugorje in 1988 .... From there on in, my life has been with the Blessed Mother, no matter what comes, no matter what happens in my life, because I know of the love the Blessed Mother has for me, and that she loves everybody. She's a mother, she's a perfect mother, and her motherly love is so beautiful and it has brought me to God the Father, brought me to Jesus, and to knowing the Holy Spirit."
Rob 
"I love Our Lady."
Robert 
"I really pray to the Mother of Perpetual Succour in Clonard Monastery in Belfast and whatever I need, she gives me."
Rosemary
"I love to say the rosary because I have discovered that in praying the rosary it is like comparing this holy cord to the umbilical cord of the mother's womb that feeds the baby in her womb. Our Lady, through these great mysteries, feeds us and conforms us more and more to the image of her son."
Sarah 
"I was diagnosed with breast cancer some years ago and 10 days after my operation I was in Lourdes. The surgeon told me that the type of tumour I had .. the cancer medication would have no effect. So I dedicated my life and I promised Our Lady that I would return to Lourdes for five consecutive years and she has taken care of me. I've never taken medication for the cancer and she's taken care of me every step of the way and that's 14 years ago. She's my mother and that's the highest thing I can say, that she's my mother and I love her."
Sarah 
"Mary is a very special person in my life because I would pray to Mary for special things that I look for and I believe that she keeps everyone safe."
Sarah
"When you pray to Our Lady I think that there is kind of more steadiness to your faith, it gets more consistent. I think it's very easy to be up and down about God, and kind of blowing in the wind, and I think Mary steadies me a bit, or a lot actually. The main prayer that I say at the moment, apart from going to Mass obviously, is the rosary. I try to say it every day and I find it unbelievably helpful for me."
Siobhan 
"Mary is the most tender of mothers as, at the foot of the Cross ,she received us. And she is also a fantastic model of humility as shown at the Annunciation. And as I’m standing here for the Good Counsel Network, a prolife organisation here in London, that's a particularly special mystery for me, the Annunciation, just the acceptance of God's will and how she has demonstrated that in her own life so perfectly. It means that she is not only a mother to me, she's also a role model."
Sue 
"My mother prayed to Our Blessed Lady so much and gave me hope and faith to believe in Our Blessed Mother, and she draws me here [Medjugorje]. She’s an inspiration in my life and without her I could not go on. I just love her totally."
Susan 
"Our Blessed Mother to me is my protector and my best friend. And I feel that when I am in need, she is my comforter. Our Blessed Mother, pray for us all who are in need. Amen."
Suzanne
"Our Lady to me is my mum. I think she is really the perfect model of how best to love people as a young woman today."
Teresa 
"Of course I love Our Lady of Knock, she is our rose. But I love Our Lady so much that there's a European network for the Marian shrines of Our Lady and I am trying to get to all of those places. I have covered at least covered twelve different countries already - that's how much I love Our Lady!"
Thomas 
"I always pray to Our Lady because I’ve got 3 sons and they won’t go to Church, and I have to pray to her that they'll come back again and be good Catholics."
Tim 
"I’ve been in the Legion of Mary for the last three years and I’ve learned that Our Lady is my protector. And also I've learned to love her and the importance of Our Lady - that the world needs to recognise her as well as recognising Jesus."
Tina 
"Our Lady, she’s wonderful, she’s the Mother of Holy God, isn’t she! She's everything in the world to me, and anything I ever ask her for favours, for my kids or for myself, she’s always there for us, body, soul and spirit. And she comes with her Baby Jesus to us. She means so much to me: she's my mother, and she's all our mother."
Tommy 
"Hi Mary, Queen of Knock, pray for us all!"
Tony 
"Mary is the mother of everybody, so we should look to her as our mother and treat her as if she were our earthly mother."
Veda 
"Mary is our mother and the more we give our life to Jesus and come to her, she brings us straight to Jesus. She never praises herself, she never gives glory to herself. Mary is full of humility from the word go, when the angel came to her and said she's to be the mother of Jesus. … I love Mary, even in my weakness."
William 
"Mary is my mother and she’s the mother of Jesus. And without her we would be all lost because only for her Jesus wouldn't be here. So, thank you Mary for saying yes to the angel and saying yes to God."
William
"I always love Our Lady and it cannot be any other way, not for me anyway."
Willy 
"I’ve great trust in Our Lady."