In a Column of Angels

December 25, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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Karen was relatively new to the Catholic Church in the 1990s, having just joined a year or two before. It was on one particular day that she asked God to show her what really took place during the transubstantiation at Mass. Instantly, she saw the Holy Spirit coming down very quickly, in the center of a column of angels.

While we celebrate the time that God came among His people, over 2,000 years ago, to a place 1,000s of miles away, should we not be even more grateful that He comes among us, now, wherever we may be when Mass is said.

Adapted from: Proctor, Sister Patricia, O.S.C., 201 Inspirational Stories of the Eucharist (Spokane, Washington, Francisan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2004) p. 21.

She Wanted Him to Leave Right Away

December 24, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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Before Father Anthony entered the seminary, he dated a girl named Carrie in Pittsburgh. He was getting more and more involved in his parish and this caused some friction. They were partially broken up at the time of this story.

Early one Saturday morning, Anthony was engaged in Eucharistic adoration. It was about 1:45 a.m. A lot of noise began to come from the back of the church. He turned and saw that it was Carrie. She sat in the pew behind him. This was very unusual for her. She said, “Come with me, I have to talk with you, I am very upset.” He replied that he would soon, but she would have to wait until 2:00 a.m., when the next adorer arrived. It was not appropriate to leave the Lord alone.

She then began to scream and got even more upset. For eight minutes, she railed that he did not love her and other similar things. She never would look directly at Anthony and when he moved toward her, to offer some comfort, she repeatedly backed away. Although there were only a few minutes remaining before he could go with her, she suddenly left.

The next adorer arrived two minutes early and Anthony quickly left himself. He drove to his home, which was only half a mile away. He knew Carrie lived six miles away and would not have had a chance to get there yet, but he called her anyway. He intended to leave her a message. To his surprise, Carrie answered the phone when he called.

She sounded like she was being aroused from a sleep and, when he explained the reason for his call, she replied that she had no idea what he was talking about. She explained that she had been out with some girlfriends the night before, but they had all gone home early. She had been in bed since 10:00 and had not gone anywhere.

There was much of this experience that had not made sense to Anthony at the time. Why did Carrie not look at him in the church; why had she kept backing away when he approached? Also, why was she so insistent he leave with her right away, when to do so would have been an act of great disrespect for the Lord?

He has often wondered when he had been visited by the devil that night.

If this was a work of his imagination, would he have imagined Carrie doing the things she did, things that surprised even him? That is a possibility.

Also to be noted is that Anthony had been instrumental in having Eucharistic adoration started at his church. He was immersed in a journey that eventually led to the priesthood. If the devil was to pick a time for visiting him, this was an opportune one.

This Christmas Eve, we are well aware there is a good deal of malevolent behavior in the world. Many recent events in the news speak of man’s inhumanity to man. Like Father Anthony, however, we have a Real Presence to which we can turn, a Presence here among us now because of the night, so long ago, when He first came to be among us.

Adapted from: Proctor, Sister Patricia, O.S.C., 201 Inspirational Stories of the Eucharist (Spokane, Washington, Francisan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2004) p. 24.

There, Now You Can Sing

December 23, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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Madeleine used to go to daily Mass. Afterwards, she would go into a small chapel that was part of her church and, with no one else there, would sing hymns of praise to the Lord. He was not exposed as in Eucharistic adoration, but that did not matter to her. She knew He was there in the tabernacle all the same.

She also thought that perhaps His Blessed Mother was there, but was not sure. She had read a message supposedly from the Holy Virgin, as related by a visionary at Medjugorje. The message said, “I am wherever my Son is. He waits in every tabernacle, and I am there beside Him.”

One day, she awoke with laryngitis. She could make no sound except a raspy whisper.

She went to Mass as usual and then the chapel. She spoke to the tabernacle, telling Him that she was sorry but that she could not sing today. Then, she felt a presence “swoosh” next to her and felt a “warm softness” in her throat. She also heard a “lovely feminine voice” say, “There, now you can sing to my Son.”

Immediately, she could talk and sing. Her laryngitis was gone.

Adapted from: Proctor, Sister Patricia, O.S.C., 201 Inspirational Stories of the Eucharist (Spokane, Washington, Francisan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2004) p. 105.

St. Dominic and the Boy Who Fell from His Horse

December 22, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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One day, the nephew of a bishop was thrown from his horse and badly mangled. He lay dead in the square outside a building in which St. Dominic happened to be. Immediately, there were calls for Dominic. The body was brought in and laid before him.

Dominic ordered that the body be moved to a room where he then offered Mass. Witnesses testified that they saw him raised off the ground during the Mass. He commanded the boy, “Young man, I say to thee arise.” The boy did rise, restored to life and without any injury.

It is reported that hundreds of people saw this take place.

Based on an entry in My Daily Eucharist II, by Joan Carter McHugh, and an excerpt contained there from St. Dominic by Sr. Mary Jean Dorcy.

The Sweet Smell

December 21, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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One night, a woman has something weighing on her mind very heavily. She went to confession and prayed that it would be a good one. It was. She came out feeling no longer sick, but healthy.

Then, she knelt in a quiet and dark chapel, before the Lord in Eucharistic adoration. She quickly sensed a strong smell of flowers. It caused her to open her eyes and look around. She looked behind her and in back of the altar. She found nothing. Then she happened to move closer to the Eucharist itself and noticed the smell was stronger. The realization struck her that it was the Eucharist itself that was the source of the sweet smell.

Abbreviated and adapted from: Proctor, Sister Patricia, O.S.C., 201 Inspirational Stories of the Eucharist (Spokane, Washington, Francisan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2004) p. 95.

One of the Oldest Churches in Rome

December 20, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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“Santa Pudenziana is one of the oldest churches in Rome. According to a great number of historians, the Roman Senator Pudente gave hospitality to the Apostle Peter in his home, which stood exactly where the church’s foundation lies. The name of the church is said to derive from the name of the Senator’s daughter: Pudenziana.

“Pudenziana and her sister Prassede, although never martyred, became famous because they wiped off the blood of the martyrs after they were executed. The church is adorned by numerous Roman mosaics from the early Christian era and was constructed in 145 A.D. on the site where there stood the house of Senator Pudente, according to the wishes of his daughters Prassede and Pudenziana. On the altar steps of the Caetani Chapel, constructed by the Caetani family, to this day there is the imprint and the stain of Blood left by a Host which fell from the hands of a priest while celebrating the Mass. The man was overtaken by doubts about the Real Presence of Jesus in consecrated Host, and immediately after the consecration, he inadvertently let the Host fall to the ground, where the imprinted mark is still visible today.”

Surce: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/english_pdf/Rome3.pdf

She Needed To Go To Church

December 19, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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Kathy was brought up as a member of the Church of Christ. Her husband, Craig, was Catholic. She had attended Mass with him a number of times, but had taken no steps toward conversion when her son, only six months old, contracted spiral meningitis. The doctors attending him in the hospital told her that he had only a ten percent chance of surviving the night.

She told her husband that she needed to go to church and pray. She knelt before the Blessed Sacrament and asked only that His will be done and that He might help her with the strength to accept it. She also promised that, if He did save her son, she would raise him as a gift back to Him and proceed at once with her conversion.

When the doctor came in to talk with her the next morning, he said that her son had survived the night by the power of God, not by anything he or his staff had done.

Kathy immediately became a believer in the healing power of the Eucharist.

Abbreviated and adapted from: Proctor, Sister Patricia, O.S.C., 201 Inspirational Stories of the Eucharist (Spokane, Washington, Francisan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2004) p. 263.

Plegile’s Request

December 18, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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In an account handed down by Paschasius Padbert from about the ninth century, a certain priest by the name of Plegile asked the Lord to be able to see him in the Holy Eucharist. The priest did not doubt the Real Presence, but rather made his request out of a longing.

During Mass one day, the priest knelt down after the consecration and made the request again. Upon arising, he did indeed see Christ, who appeared in the form of an infant. The priest then asked the Lord to conceal Himself once more in the normal form of the Host, and the vision ended.

Many other persons who were there also witnessed this miracle.

Source: Mueller, Michael, C.S.S.R., The Blessed Eucharist Our Greatest Treasure (Charlotte, N.C., Tan Books, 2011) p. 166.

Divine Mercy Sunday

December 17, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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Mary Ruth belonged to the Pentecostal Church. Her sister, Alice, was Catholic. On Divine Mercy Sunday, 1999, Mary Ruth accompanied her sister to a Mass because this particular feast day meant a great deal to Alice.

Mary Ruth, however, became very ill. Alice summoned Karen, a nurse with thirty years experience, to help Mary Ruth in the rest room. The nurse first noticed that Mary Ruth was very pale. She then determined that Mary Ruth was hemorrhaging rather severely and was about to go into shock. She immediately wanted to call for an ambulance but heard a voice say, “Trust in My mercy.”

Karen doubted this experience and prayed to God. She told Him that if Mary Ruth’s diastolic blood pressure is above 50, she would do whatever He asked. When she took the blood pressure, it was precisely 50. The bleeding slowed and a wheelchair was brought for Mary Ruth. She wanted to return for the rest of the Mass and those attending her complied with this request.

The priest processed around the arena with an elevated Host in his hands. When he got to Mary Ruth, he stopped in front of her and held it there for some time. Mary Ruth got out of the wheelchair and dropped to her knees in reverence. She had an inclination to do this but had no understanding of the Real Presence or what it was that she was in fact reverencing.

Mary Ruth recovered fully and, after Mass, drove home with her sister.

Adapted from Proctor, Sister Patricia, O.S.C., 201 Inspirational Stories of the Eucharist (Spokane, Washington, Francisan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2004) p. 213.

The Multiplication at the Chapel

December 16, 2015 by · Leave a Comment
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While on a trip to visit relatives, Rose Mary Danforth from Jacksonville, Florida decided to visit a Marion chapel in Champion, Wisconsin, about fifteen miles northeast of Green Bay Wisconsin.

The history of this chapel dates to 1859, the year of several apparitions of the Blessed Mother to a woman named Adele Brise. These apparitions have been formerly approved by the bishop of the Diocese of Wisconsin.

In 1871, the great Peshtigo Fire ravaged 1.5 million acres of northeastern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, killing approximately 2,000 people. In little Champion, Wisconsin, residents gathered at the chapel. Adele Brise, now Sister Adele, and others processed with a statue of Mary around the chapel. The fence surrounding the chapel fire was singed, but the chapel itself was spared.

Over the years, there have been numerous reports of physical healings and other special events. The day that Rose Mary Danforth visited the chapel, she became witness to one herself.

At the time of her visit, a wedding crowd gathered and she decided to stay for the Mass. As the priest began the Liturgy of the Eucharist, he paused and then made an announcement. When he was at the rehearsal the night before, he had neglected to check the number of hosts available for the wedding. Now, he realized he did not have enough. The church was filled; people were standing in the aisles and the crowd even spilled over into the parking lot. The priest declared that, when the consecrated Hosts ran low, he would raise his hand to signal those in the next pew not to come forward.

Rose Mary went up and received Communion. Then people in all the other pews did the same; then those standing at the back of the church did the same; then those standing in the parking lot did the same. When the last person received Holy Communion, the priest had a big smile on his face.

Adapted from Proctor, Sister Patricia, O.S.C., 201 Inspirational Stories of the Eucharist (Spokane, Washington, Francisan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2004) p. 222. Additional source: http://shrineofourladyofgoodhelp.com/index.html.

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