The eldest daughter of Maria de Jesus Rodriguez, Maria Palacios, recounts an unusual story about her late mother and her work at the old Shrine of Nuestra Señora de San Juan del Valle
Maria de Jesus Rodriguez, who passed away in 2020, worked in the cafeteria and also in the rectory of the original shrine during the 1960s. “So she got to know a lot of the Oblate fathers,” her daughter recalls.
“My mom … was working where the priests lived, and one day a priest came by. She told him, ‘Well, there’s nobody here. Who did you want to talk to?’ 
“And he says, ‘Well, I want to talk to you.’
“So she sat him down because she was ironing.  ‘Well, I have a lot of work to do, but you can sit down and we can talk.’ 
“So she started ironing.” 

Soon, the conversation came around to Mrs. Rodriguez herself.
“She started telling him, because at that point the other ladies working in the kitchen were really mean to her. They were always putting her down and asking her to do work that was not her work. 
“Because my mom, she felt like because she was illiterate that she was nothing, because she could not read or write. 
“And then this priest started telling her about her life. And my mom is like, ‘How does he know all of this?’ 
“And he says, ‘Well, I just want to tell you that you’re the Temple of God. So why would the Temple of God feel like she’s worthless?’ 
“After that, my mom’s attitude changed. Now she was somebody – she was the Temple of God! So she didn’t take” (the insults anymore.) 
Afterwards, Maria Rodriguez wanted to know more about the visitor she had confided in.
“And then she asked about who that priest was. And they inquired, they called different places. 
“But no priest had come by.”