During my time with @JesuitRefugee Service in Nairobi, I helped refugees earn a living by making handicrafts. One woman, a Ugandan refugee, made embroidered pillows, with religious phrases on them, in Luganda, Swahili and English. One day she brought one in that stunned me... 
...It had a small spelling error in the English (Sarah spoke four languages, by the way). On a pale blue pillow was the legend, "Immaculate Heart of Mary, be our refugee." Now I know that the word in that traditional prayer was usually "refuge." But I loved it.
On this Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and #WorldRefugeeDay, we ask for her prayers, using the prayers that Pope Francis introduced today.
"Mother of Mercy, pray for us."
"Mother of hope, pray for us."
"Comfort of Migrants, pray for us."
"Mother of Mercy, pray for us."
"Mother of hope, pray for us."
"Comfort of Migrants, pray for us."
And then one from my friend Sarah:
"Immaculate Heart of Mary, be our refugee."
"Immaculate Heart of Mary, be our refugee."
Image: At the JRS Mikono Centre handicraft shop, with Cesaire Mukamwiza Kanjoui, circa 1993. Photo by Michael Coyne. #WorldRefugeeDay
