[Five Spiritualities Testimony] I Asked Forgiveness by Washing My Daughter-in-Law’s Feet, Just as I Learned in Naju

My name is Clara Lee from Incheon, South Korea. When I first came to Naju, I was running an employment agency. I had been doing it for about 22 years. At that time, I didn’t know much about the outside world. I was very gentle and naïve, and I had taken over the agency without much experience. Because of that, people looked down on me.

The person who first brought me to Naju had worked at my agency, and she later came to work in our office. Early in the mornings, twenty or thirty women would come and sit on the sofas, waiting for jobs. After she visited Naju, she would come back overflowing with joy and excitement.

At that time, there had been a negative declaration that people were not allowed to attend church if they went to Naju. But whenever she returned from Naju, she was so excited that she would talk about it openly in front of everyone. She would boast about how wonderful it was there. I told her not to say such things, because the parish was opposed to it, and I warned her never to talk about it. But whenever she came back, she couldn’t contain her joy.

Whenever she tried to tell me about it, I wouldn’t even listen. Still, every month she faithfully brought me the water and the newsletter. I drank the water, but I threw the newsletter straight into the trash without reading it. I did that for a whole year. Exactly one year later, she told me that there was a special feast day coming up and that if I went, I would receive many graces. She urged me to come.

I felt so grateful for her sincerity in bringing me the water all that time that I finally decided to follow her. When I arrived here, it felt truly wonderful. At that time, I was still innocent and spiritually rather pure.

But after running the agency for so long, my personality changed. People looked down on me. When job requests came in, I was supposed to assign them properly, but whenever the phone rang, the women would jump in and say, “I’ll go! I’ll take it!” without even listening to me. From that point on, my temper worsened.

If someone broke a promise, lied, or deceived others, I wouldn’t let it slide. I became rough, almost like a gangster. My personality had changed that much.

Later, when my son entered his first year of college, he started dating a girl very seriously. She was a future daughter-in-law, but their relationship became excessive. Then his report card arrived, and his grades were B-, B-, B, and B, the lowest in his class.

I decided to make them break up, and I called the girl. I told her not to see my son anymore, and I even said that if she did, I would kill her. Then she handed the phone to her mother, and I said the same thing to her.

Eventually, they got married, and all this time I’ve continued going to Naju. I listened to Mama Julia’s messages without missing a single time, I began to feel that her words carried even greater weight than anything else.

And each suffering of Mother’s felt to me like the very suffering that Jesus endured for us, suffering He accepted without any sin of His own. It was as if Mama Julia was receiving those same sufferings. My heart would ache so deeply that tears would flow. I would think, “She must be suffering like that because of my sins. She’s completely innocent, just like Jesus.” Even at home, whenever I thought of Mama Julia, I would begin to cry. “It’s because of us, because of me, because of my sins,” I would say to myself.

Last Chuseok, our children and my daughter-in-law all gathered together. Then this thought came to me: “I need to apologize to my daughter-in-law. This is not how someone who follows the spirituality of Naju should live.”

I resolved in my heart, “If I live according to Mama Julia’s words and follow the spirituality of Naju, then I will truly become a proper child of God and a daughter of the Blessed Mother.” For several days, I prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to be with me.

After we finished a meal together, I warmed some water in a washbasin and placed it under the sofa. Then I called my daughter-in-law over. She asked, “Mother-in-law, why are you doing this?”
I said, “Because I want to wash your feet.” She was shocked. I told her, “Come, sit here. Yes, sit down.” I took off her socks and gently washed her feet in the basin. As I did, tears began to fall.

“I was wrong. Please forgive me. I’ve committed many sins, knowingly and unknowingly, and I treated you terribly. I’m so sorry.” As I washed her feet, she began to cry, and I cried too.


After I finished, I called my son over. He came and said, “Mom, what are you doing? Why are you acting like this? What did you do wrong?” He started scolding me. I said, “You sit down too. I’ll wash your feet too.”
At first, he refused. So I said, “I’ve committed so many sins against you…

Then he quietly held out his feet. After I finished washing them, his eyes were filled with tears.

So just going to Naju isn’t enough. What truly matters is living the spirituality of Naju. Every single word of Mama Julia’s message pierces my heart. I realize how wrongly I had lived before.

I’ve been going to Naju for 17 years, and I truly understand what genuine repentance is. As I practice the Five Spiritualities and reflect on Mama Julia’s words, especially the daily retreat “the Little Soul’s Life Prepared by the Lord” these days, I read them every day, and it feels like I’m truly learning and growing.

When we live according to Mama Julia’s words, we no longer envy the rich of this world. Even though I don’t have money now, I’m so happy. Sometimes, even when I’m alone, I shout, “Alleluia!” and say, “What a great honor it is that I have been chosen to know Naju. It’s an incredible blessing. Even if we were to die tomorrow, we would have no regrets.”

After the Holy Image of Jesus of Mercy in Glory came to our home, many good things have happened. In the evening during Mass, my husband nudged me and told me to look. So I looked to see what he was talking about and saw a statue of Our Lady of Naju placed below the Jesus of Glory and Mercy. She was looking at us with sorrowful eyes.

That evening, my husband repented. He said, “Perhaps the Blessed Mother looked at me like that because I haven’t been praying.”

From the next day until now, he hasn’t missed a single day; he prays for over an hour every morning. Praying every day truly changes a person. As he continued praying daily, he gradually changed. He became gentle, completely different from before.

Our son had taken after his father’s temperament. He was very difficult and often said hurtful things to his wife. It became so painful that my daughter-in-law even considered leaving the marriage.

But now their family is truly happy. My son even said, “I think the Blessed Mother has been with us.” Those words would never have come out of his mouth before. He told me, “Mom, once I decided to endure and change myself, everything became peaceful. Our whole home became peaceful.”

I said, “That’s the spirituality of Naju!” He said the whole world felt peaceful and that he was happy. Surely this is the blessing of the Lord and the Blessed Mother upon us. That’s what I firmly believe.

I lived wrongly in the past and hurt many people, but without the Lord and the Blessed Mother, our family could never have changed like this. Not only our household, but our son’s family is now happy too.

My daughter-in-law once rated my son 40 out of 100; now she says he’s 98. Our whole family is joyful.

Through Mama Julia’s offered sufferings, we are living in this happiness. I’ve come to realize deeply that I must change first. Thank you. 💘

Clara & her daughter-in-law

December 8, 2022

Clara Lee Young-hwa, Incheon, South Korea

💖What are the Five Spiritualities?💖

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