First Saturday Parish Rosary at St. Anthony's Church, 8/3/2013

         

Our featured holy person for this month

was Bl. Euphrasia of the Sacred Heart, who in

her lifetime, displayed a special love for Our

Lady and the Holy Rosary.

On a few occasions, I've been tempted to take our First Saturday Rosary gatherings at St. Anthony of Padua Church for granted.  Don't get me wrong - it's a wonderful devotion in our parish and I will continue to facilitate it for as long as I'm allowed to by our priest.  I simply love it and I continue to encourage our parishioners (and even non-parishioners) to come pray the Holy Rosary with us on these consecrated days.

But there are times when everything else going on in life seem to drain me and I have to make just a tiny bit of an effort to get myself going to the church to get things ready for the Rosary Meeting. I often find that it's during these times God often surprises us with something wonderful to encourage us... and then I feel uplifted and refreshed again.  That's exactly how it was  for me at today's Rosary for Peace.

The gathering, as a whole, was again very nice.  The holy person I shared about was an indigenous Indian woman - Bl. Euphrasia Eluvathingal of the Sacred Heart (d. 1952) - and the people gathered were especially interested in learning about her since I'm usually sharing about Saints/Blesseds from European countries, but have never about anyone from India... so it was something new for all of us.

After the prayer ended, several people, including a visiting participant from the mainland, came up to the display altar to get a closer view of the bodily relic of Bl. Euphrasia and to ask questions about her life.  We also passed around the veil-relic of the Blessed Mother for the people to venerate.  What happened next was completely unexpected... and really strange, but in a good way.

The Blessed Mother's veil-relic (left)

and the relic of Bl. Euphrasia of the Sacred

Heart, as displayed during this month's

Rosary for Peace.

I noticed that one of our regular participants - "Roxy" (not her complete name) - seemed particularly reflective while she held the Virgin's relic in her hands.  After she replaced the reliquary on the altar, she stepped back a little and we heard a grinding noise under her foot, which sounded as though she had stepped on a rock.  Sure enough, when Roxy stooped down to pick it up, it was a small pebble, which she suddenly dropped into my palm.  Without thinking, I blurted out, "Oh, it looks like a baby!" since it had an uncanny resemblance to a human fetus.

Roxy gasped with surprise and she leaned in to take a closer look at the pebble.  She then confided to us that the reason why she was a little emotional a few moments before, while holding Our Lady's relic, was because she had been praying for the Blessed Mother's help to overcome a medical issue so she could conceive a baby!  Our jaws dropped and we all looked at each other, and then at the pebble, with bewilderment; it really looked like a tiny baby curled up like how they would normally be at that size... plus, to top it all off, fine silver escarchas were also seen sprinkled in both her palm and mine!  Wow, I thought to myself... God had "surprised" us... yet again.

A participant, holding a pebble resembling

a human fetus (compare to inset), which

she found under her foot, after she prayed

to the Blessed Mother for the grace

to conceive a baby of her own. 

I put the pebble in Roxy's palm and told her to keep it... and that she should have confidence in Our Lady's intercession and in the goodness of God.  Whether or not the pebble is a definite sign that she'll conceive a baby, is still to be seen, but after all the extraordinary graces - "little signs" - I've witnessed and/or experienced in connection with praying the Holy Rosary, I wouldn't be surprised at all if in a couple of months we get word that Roxy is expecting.  Mary's intercession through the Rosary is that powerful... and I'll be sure to post an update if Roxy happens to get pregnant.

Anyhow, the next Rosary for Peace at St. Anthony of Padua Church, Kailua, will be prayed on Saturday, September 7th - the eve of the Feast of Our Lady's Nativity.  All are welcomed to participate in our prayer, beginning at 4:25pm, as we venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary and wish her a very Happy Birthday!