December 1, 2015

The Picture that Was Not There

Debbie Gerard returned to the Catholic faith in 1994. The following year, she attended a Marian conference in Rochester, New York and was eager to attend Eucharistic adoration. When she made it to the area designated for this, she found it packed, except for one seat directly in front of the monstrance. She took that seat, but was greatly surprised when she saw a picture of Jesus had been inserted when the Host should have been.

She thought it was just one more change from way things were done in the Church she used to know. Since she had fallen away years before, the Mass was no longer done in Latin, railings were removed from the altar sanctuaries, tabernacles were moved to the side or even behind a wall and people frequently came to church on Sundays dressed in mini skirts, tank tops and similar attire. She simply assumed this was one more change.

On the way home afterwards, she was riding in a car with three other companions. When asked about what they saw, each one confirmed they had seen merely the Host. They then queried her as to why she was even asking. She confided to them that she had never seen the Host, only Jesus. It was then that she realized she had not been looking at a picture placed in the monstrance. She was in fact witness to something seen only by her, a special privilege she was given that day and remembers to this one.

Adapted from Proctor, Sister Patricia, O.S.C., 201 Inspirational Stories of the Eucharist (Spokane, Washington, Francisan Monastery of Saint Clare, 2004) p. 36.

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