Holy Relic Visitation: Our Lady of Fatima Prayer Group, 4/27/2013

 

At tonight's prayer meeting in the Gruber

Residence, we honored one of my favorite

Saints of all time - St. Gemma Galgani,

the "Passion Flower" of Lucca, Italy.

Just a very small group of us were able to get together tonight to pray the Holy Rosary at the Gruber Residence; three people to be exact.  Although to the naked eye it appeared to be just a few of us in the living room, there were clear indications that we also had unseen, blessed company joining us for prayer.

Even before the Rosary began, me and our host, Dre', were pleasantly surprised by the appearance of escarchas, which seemed to have materialized just about everywhere! The glitter-like manna manifested in various sizes on different parts of the table where we were sitting; on Dre's cheeks and forearm; on my t-shirt, over my heart; and finally, on my forehead above the left eye. Incredibly, not only were the escarchas in the form of the usual fine flakes of green, silver, and gold... but a few of them even seemed to have facets on them, which gave them the appearance of very tiny gemstones!

  

Some of the Escarchas that manifested

at tonight's meeting (circled): on the table

where we sat during prayer time and one

that appeared on my forehead while I

was sharing about our monthly Saint.

(click on the photos to view larger)

I speculated these new variations of escarchas had something to do with the Saint whose bodily relic we venerated this month: St. Gemma Galgani (d. 1903, see the photo below), a beautiful lay-mystic and stigmatist from Lucca, Italy, who I have especially  honored as  my personal Patron Saint for over 20 years.  The Saint's name, coincidentally, means "gem" in Italian so I believe tonight's manifestation of the gem-like escarchas were a special reminder from God of St. Gemma's spiritual presence in our midst. Although we've witnessed escarchas several times before, their unexpected appearances - whatever the circumstances - never fail to awe and humble us, and we felt a little overwhelmed this evening but in a very good way.

Also, the personal petitions we prayed out loud tonight were more intimate than usual and truly inspired by the Holy Spirit, as we were all edified by the words that we each offered to God.  The meal we shared afterwards was, as always, more than satisfying... and I left the Gruber home at the end of the night an uplifted and very contented pilgrim.

Thank you, Jesus... thank you, Mother Mary... and last, but not least, thank you to my dear sister, St. Gemma!

St. Gemma Galgani,

pray & intercede for us!

Rosary & Dinner with Bishop Larry

 

 

Praying the Holy Rosary in the lovely

garden shrine at the Kailua home of

the Cobb-Adams Family.

 

Last night a dear friend of mine invited me to participate in a Rosary Prayer Meeting and dinner at her Kailua home to which our local Bishop - his Excellency, Bishop Larry Silva - was also invited to attend.  It turned out to be a beautiful evening; the prayer time was meaningful and the food was just awesome!  I even had the blessed opportunity to sit down with Bishop Larry and "talk story" with him for quite a bit, which was a personal highlight for me. 

 

Guests enjoying their dinner after the

prayers... and me and my friend, Anna,

hanging out with Bishop Larry.

I found the Bishop to be personable and down-to-earth as he shared with me about his childhood in Kailua and California... and I was also very impressed by his ability to recall every person's name who he was introduced to at the event.  His patience during the many, many picture-taking requests at the end of the night was almost saintly, in my humble opinion, and it endeared him to the people present.  God bless, Bishop Larry... and may the Lord continue to guide him as he leads our Diocese of Honolulu.

 

... and a special "Mahalo" to our hosts - Monica Cobb-Adams and her wonderful family - for inviting us to their gathering!  Their expression of faith and public devotion to our Blessed Mother and the Holy Rosary is truly an inspiration and a blessing for our Kailua community!
 

Monthly Messages from the Queen of Peace of Medjugorje: April 2013

 

Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us.

 

Our Lady’s Monthly Message on April 25^th:

"Dear children! Pray, pray, keep praying until your heart opens in faith as a flower opens to the warm rays of the sun. This is a time of grace which God gives you through my presence but you are far from my heart, therefore, I call you to personal conversion and to family prayer. May Sacred Scripture always be an incentive for you. I bless you all with my motherly blessing.   Thank you for having responded to my call."

 

Our Lady’s Special Message to Mirjana on April 2^nd:

"Dear children, I am calling you to be one with my Son in spirit. I am calling you, through prayer, and the Holy Mass when my Son unites Himself with you in a special way, to try to be like Him; that, like Him, you may always be ready to carry out God's will and not seek the fulfillment of your own. Because, my children, it is according to God's will that you are and that you exist, and without God's will you are nothing. As a mother I am asking you to speak about the glory of God with your life because, in that way, you will also glorify yourself in accordance to His will. Show humility and love for your neighbor to everyone. Through such humility and love, my Son saved you and opened the way for you to the Heavenly Father. I implore you to keep opening the way to the Heavenly Father for all those who have not come to know Him and have not opened their hearts to His love. By your life, open the way to all those who still wander in search of the truth. My children, be my apostles who have not lived in vain. Do not forget that you will come before the Heavenly Father and tell Him about yourself. Be ready! Again I am warning you, pray for those whom my Son called, whose hands He blessed and whom He gave as a gift to you. Pray, pray, pray for your shepherds.   Thank you."