At 83, woman acknowledges that ‘Mary was just my life’
This statue of the Blessed Mother can be found in St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Church in Floyd County, where 83-year-old parishioner Mary Becht leads a rosary group every Tuesday at 1 p.m. (File photo by Natalie Hoefer)
(Editor’s note: In honor of May as the month of Mary,
The Criterion recently asked readers to send in their stories of the impact of the Blessed Mother on their life and their faith. This week presents the first of four installments featuring the responses received.)
By Natalie Hoefer
At 83, Mary Becht says she knows the Blessed Mother has been with her every step of the way—through childhood, adolescence, motherhood, marriage and even now as a widow.
“My devotion to the Blessed Mother reigned in my life back to when we prayed the rosary for an end to” World War II, says the member of St. Mary of the Knobs Parish in Floyd County.
As she started dating, “I would pray for Mother Mary to find me a good Catholic man. And so it happened,” says Becht.
Richard Becht knew the moment he saw Mary when she was 16 years old that he would marry her, she says.
“He had a good Catholic upbringing, went to Catholic school, prayed the rosary and always carried the rosary with him,” Becht recalls. The couple married when Mary was 18 and Richard was 19.
Within 11 months, their first child was born, with “six more beautiful children following,” she says. “When the twin boys were born, we had five children under the age of 4.
“Each child I had, I knew Mary was right with me in my labor and other difficulties I had. Mary was my go-to,” says Becht, who now has 25 grandchildren and 59 great-grandchildren. “I prayed the rosary every day. I just knew she understood my problems.”
As her children grew, Becht had time to become more involved in the parish with her husband. She also had more time for retreats, including Cursillo.
Through those experiences, she says, “Mary drew me closer to her Son. I believed in Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, but I never knew him as my personal savior. Mary led me to Jesus.”
After 60 married years “of much happiness, joys and sorrows,” Richard died in 2016.
Becht never stopped praying her daily rosary. In late 2017, “I really felt the Blessed Mother was asking me to start a rosary group,” she says. “It took about three months before I answered.”
The call came to fruition in February 2018. Since then, a group of “very faithful people” have been meeting at St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Church on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. to pray the rosary. The regular attendees “always welcome anyone who wants to come pray with us,” she says.
Looking back on her 83 years, the truth is obvious to Becht: “Mary was just my life.” †
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