December 22, 2013

As the Bell Rang

Julius Stephi was a twenty-month-old baby. He had meningitis and pneumonia. The agony he experienced was causing him to literally pull his hair out. Three physicians had been unsuccessful in trying to reverse the tide of his illness.

His grandmother, Magdalena Vogel visited him and saw the child’s torment. She then continued on her way to Mass at St. Augustine’s Church in Pittsburgh. As the time of consecration approached, when the priest asks for Jesus to descend and be with his people in the Blessed Sacrament, Mrs. Vogel saw an image in her mind of Fr. Seelos, her confessor from years before. She prayed to him: “Father Seelos, while you were on earth you had the power to change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Now that you are in heaven, you are not less powerful. Please ask God to heal my grandchild.”

While she was saying this prayer, she heard the large the bell ring. This church had a tower and, at the precise moment of the Consecration during the Sunday High Mass, they rang that bell.

After Mass, Mrs. Vogel returned to her grandson. She was met at the door by her daughter. Julius had stopped writhing from pain. He had stopped as the bell rang. An hour later, he woke up. For two days, he had refused all food. Now he was hungry. Julius was again healthy.

(Based on an account stated in My Daily Eucharist II by Joan Carter McHugh, and an excerpt contained there from Nothing Short of a Miracle by Patricia Treece.)

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