An update on the Escarchas...

Golden Escarchas manifested in a

rosary-bead formation while I discussed

the Rosary with a friend.

As of this writing, it's been just about two months since I first witnessed the remarkable appearance of "Escarchas"... and the beautiful shiny flakes of varying colors are still materializing around me and a few close friends with whom I share a strong devotion to our Blessed Mother and the Saints. After seeing them mysteriously appear on multiple occasions and praying over and over to discern them - even seeking guidance from a priest - I'm convinced what's occurring is miraculous in nature and a sign from Heaven. Hence, I've made it a point to note down my observations and thoughts in regards to Escarchas that may interest readers - the list below is based on what I've personally seen and experienced:

+  First, and foremost, the appearance of Escarchas is always unexpected and unpredictable... they can't be "willed" or prayed to appear, but rather, it's really up to God as to when and where they manifest. From what I've seen, this variation of "Manna" appears primarily when there is an atmosphere of Christian faith and spirituality such as during times of personal or group prayer (especially during the Holy Rosary); quiet spiritual reflection; and during and after Holy Mass (especially during the priest's homily, but I've never seen them materializing during the Eucharistic Consecration).

As far as where they appear, I've witnessed their materialization in my home, in churches, at my workplace, and even in my car when I'm driving to Mass, or to speaking presentations and prayer events where my pilgrim statue and/or relics were invited. At these places the Escarchas have manifested on a few of my statues and reliquaries (under the glass covering!)... in my palms... on the faces and arms of friends... on clothing... on furniture... on the floor and walls... and even on my paperwork at my job (significantly, I offer Jesus my daily work every morning).

Golden flakes of Escarchas that appeared

on a friend's face (chin, eye) while we were

faith-sharing, and on a pew during Mass at

St. John Vianney Church in Keolu, Kailua.

+  The Escarchas first appeared as silver and golden flakes, but as weeks went by other colors have manifested, too:  green, red, pink, purple, and various shades of blue. On a few occasions, the Escarchas were even colorless, resembling very small slivers of clear glass. There are a couple of websites that report the colors signify certain meanings, but I haven't experienced anything to the effect that confirmed that theory. I did notice, however, that the gold and silver Escarchas frequently appeared during Mass.  

A small statuette of Our Lady that is manifesting Escarchas on my desk at work.

+  The Escarchas ranged in size and shape from very fine dust-like particles... to gold shavings... to geometric hexagonal particles... and even Rosary bead formations! On one occasion, a red Escarcha was in the perfect shape of a heart (see below), which caught me by surprise and touched me deeply! Stranger still, at two other times, they materialized in the form of crystalline particles resembling tiny bits of coarse rock salt (there was nothing around me that remotely resembled salt), recalling to mind the significance of salt in Sacred Scripture (Matthew 5:13).

I also want to add that although Escarchas have often been described as "glitter", they are not glitter - there are clear visible differences in size, shape, and texture from the man-made glitter seen on crafts and decorations.  In fact, Escarchas are far more delicate looking and they give me the impression of being organic (natural) in composition rather than synthetic (artificial).

This amazing Escarcha is interpreted by

me to be a reminder that Christ expresses

His love for us through the Mass and

the Eucharist.

+  To best describe how they manifest, my immediate vicinity would be clear of any type of small debris, when suddenly, a little "sparkle" of white or colored light will appear out of nowhere only to be replaced by an Escarcha. This process would then repeat itself. I have never seen them falling or "raining" down, as described on other religious websites by witnesses.

Countless Escarchas that appeared on

a friend's arm after she participated at a

First Saturday Rosary for Peace at St.

Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua.

+  The Escarchas, at times, have changed from one color to another. For example, on one occasion while I was at Mass, an Escarcha manifested near my foot. I picked-up the glittery flake with a finger and clearly saw that it was silver in color, and I rubbed it into a crease in my palm as a way of safekeeping it until I could collect it with tape. Later, when I opened my hand, I noticed the same Escarcha had turned bright gold! At least one other person who I shared Escarchas with has reported back to me about its color-changing properties.

Shiny, multi-colored Escarchas I collected

with clear tape in a span of several days.

+  Lastly, Escarchas have sometimes multiplied, and likewise, disappeared after materialization. On a few occasions, I've seen a single flake materialize on the surface of something, and after collecting it with a piece of clear tape, there would all of a sudden be other Escarchas on the same item or on my fingers! Some friends with whom I've shared taped Escarchas with have reported how the glittery particles have later manifested on, or around them, during their personal prayer times, which could also be interpreted as a form of multiplication.

... and opposite of multiplying, I've seen Escarchas materialize only to vanish as mysteriously as they appeared. More than once, I've put my finger on an Escarcha in order to place it on a piece of scotch tape, but when I looked at my finger, the Escarcha was no where to be seen.

Several Escarchas that appeared and multiplied in both my palms after a Mass

at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace

in Honolulu.

I'm quite baffled as to why all this is happening to me and my friends. One website I researched stated that Escarchas are an indication of the Blessed Mother's presence, or even the Holy Spirit. I believe the statement is, for the most part, true... and in my own experiences I feel strongly that they are connected to the Rosa Mystica Devotion, which I promote. But I certainly don't claim to be a "mystic", nor do I feel particularly worthy of having Our Lady or the Holy Spirit bless me in such a manner.

What I do know for sure is that each time I witnessed the appearance of Escarchas, I felt a deep conviction in my soul that God exists and He's very, very close to us; not distant and beyond reach as some people might imagine... and He loves us very much and desires us to know it and sense it tangibly. At the same time, I felt inspired to love God in a deeper manner and my heart was filled with profound joy and gratitude.

The colors in this beautiful photo best

capture the vivid colors of the Escarchas

that I've been witnessing.

I think a dear friend inadvertently hit it on the mark, as to the purpose of Escarchas, when she made a remark to me after I shared a few gold and green Escarchas with her - in a tone tinged with emotion, she said:

"You know what this is?  This is dust

from Heaven... and if the dust from

Heaven looks like this - can you imagine

how beautiful the rest of Heaven must

be?  I can't wait to see it!"

It was at that moment I came to realize that, through Escarchas, Jesus was generously giving us a glimpse - or more like a tiny "sample" - of the beauty,  wonder, and glory found in His Kingdom; the reward that awaits all Believers who are faithful to Him.

A profusion of Escarchas after giving

a talk on the Eucharist, 2/29/2020.

My faith has definitely grown and I, too, am excitedly looking forward to the day when I will finally get to see the full splendor of Heaven in person... and what a sight it will be! Our God is a God of surprises and marvels - Hallelujah... Hallelujah... Hallelujah!

“For behold, darkness will cover the

earth and deep darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will rise upon you and

His glory will appear upon you.”

~ Isaiah 60:2

   

More "Escarchas"...

   

Green and gold Escarchas, collected with

clear scotch tape after they mysteriously

materialized in my bedroom... on my

clothes, a blanket, and a reliquary.

Sunday, 6/24/2012:

I'm not really sure what's going on, but Escarchas - mysterious glitter-like flakes of Heavenly Manna - have again manifested.  This time, the Escarchas appeared in my bedroom... scattered randomly on my clothing, a blanket, and on a 2nd Class Relic of St. Gianna Beretta Molla kept on my personal altar; not a lot, but definitely enough to be clearly noticed by me and by family members who I showed them to.

Unlike the incident that occurred at my workplace a few days ago, this second round of Escarchas were a bright green color mixed with a little gold, rather than silver and gold as in the earlier incident.  According to an interesting article from the popular Spirit Daily Catholic website, different colored Escarchas supposedly symbolize different meanings - Green is for Hope; Gold is for Healing... and on this other website - Visions of Jesus Christ.com - the phenomenon of Escarchas seem to be particularly linked to the Rosa Mystica Devotion.  I have two Rosa Mystica pilgrim statues in my personal custody so I strongly feel, that this time around, the appearance of the Escarchas are connected with Our Lady, the Mystical Rose; a devotion that I love and enthusiastically promote.

A video showing a small sampling of the green

and gold Escarchas I collected on 6/24/2012.

 

Monday, 6/25/2012:

Incredibly, Escarchas made a third appearance... and of all places, it happened at my workplace again.  The Escarchas manifested intermittently throughout the day, but I noticed that they often materialized whenever I happened to be prayerfully looking at a photo of a Rosa Mystica statue that I had on my desk.  More so, I am convinced that this grace has a strong connection to the Rosa Mystica Devotion.

Three trusted coworkers also witnessed the materializations, which were many gold, green, and silver Escarchas... and even a single red one!  The photo below shows some of the Escarchas that I gathered with scotch tape today, including the lone red flake visible to the left of the bunch.

A third manifestation of Escarchas...

a special gift received through Our Lady,

the Mystical Rose.

Again, my spirit was filled with awe and profound gratitude towards Jesus and Our Lady concerning this particular grace - I am also deeply humbled at having experienced this wonder firsthand for a second and third time.  Something in my heart tells me that this is just a precursor of graces yet to come from Our Lady, the Rosa Mystica, so please keep my little ministry in your valued prayers as I continue my efforts to make this devotion more known.  Thank you and God bless you.

"Escarchas" from St. Anthony...

 

Samples of Escarchas, taped to a prayer

card, which mysteriously appeared on one

of my drawings while I was at work.

I experienced something strange, but wonderful,  on the morning of June 20th ... have you ever heard of Escarchas?  "Escarchas" is the Spanish word for "frost" ... but in certain religious circles the same word has also been used to describe small, shiny colored particles - mainly fine flakes of gold or silver - that have materialized at a few Marian apparition sites or randomly during prayer events.  The alleged phenomena is not exclusive to Catholics, but it has also been frequently reported by Fundamentalist Christians at their charismatic prayer services; they refer to it as "Shekinah Glory Dust", or simply "Gold Dust".

I only learned about the phenomenon of Escarchas maybe about a year and a half ago, and I never really knew what to make of it. Largely ingnorant about Escarchas, I figured that it was similar in concept and/or purpose to the mystical sign of "Manna" - the mysterious fluid or solid substances that have appeared throughout Christian History to nourish and/or heal the People of God.  I was also a little cautious about it because I felt that it was a little too "glitzy" to be taken seriously as a spiritual sign, and for the most part, that's what I believed until a couple of days ago ...

     

A few examples of Escarchas - (Left)

Emma de Guzman, an alleged Filipina

mystic, manifests Escarchas on her face;(Center) a framed prayer card covered

with Escarchas from an apparition site

in Venezuela; (Right) a weeping Sacred

Heart statue in Australia covered

with multi-colored Escarchas

 

On June 2o, 2012, while at my place of work, I printed a copy of a drawing that I sketched for my parish priest and placed it face-down on the desk beside me.  A bit later when I picked up the paper to show it to a coworker, she noticed a lite sprinkling of silver and golden particles on the drawing; it resembled glitter, except it was much finer than any craft glitter that I've ever seen before ... plus, there was no container of glitter present anywhere on my desk.

Perplexed, but not thinking much of it, I swiped the shiny flakes off the paper and off my desk, and then noticed additional flakes sticking to both my hands and on the top of my forearms.  When I looked back at my desk, it looked as though there were more flakes so I started removing them with a clear piece of scotch tape to avoid spreading them around.

Feeling a little incredulous, I left my cubicle to speak with a trusted friend and also showed her the shiny particles on the paper and on my arms; the ones clinging to my body appeared to have increased!  It was at that point that I began to suspect that we were witnessing a manifestation of Escarchas.

My friend and I discussed the circumstances in detail and we both concluded that it was perhaps a sign from St. Anthony of Padua; that he was pleased with the drawing I did for my priest (see below) ...

The drawing on which the Escarchas

first appeared on.

 

You see ... my parish priest - Fr. Clarence - is planning to transfer and enlarge our current reliquary-shrine of St. Anthony of Padua within our main church building.  He also intends to incorporate a large votive candle stand so our parishioners will have the option of lighting candles when they pray.  When Fr. Clarence asked for my feedback, I thought it was an excellent idea so I sketched a design of what I thought would make for a wonderful new shrine to our Patron Saint; it was on this drawing that the Escarchas were first noticed.

Later on, during that same morning, a little more of the shiny flakes were noticed on my desk despite the fact that I had taken the extra care of ensuring that it was free of any debris; I would turn away for just a few moments, and when I looked back down at my desk, the shiny substance would be where none had been before!  The scenario played out for about an hour before the flakes finally stopped manifesting.

Reflecting on this recent unusual occurrence in my life, this episode again left me humbled and grateful to God (I couldn't stop thanking and praising Him in prayer!) ... at the same time, although I was deeply impressed by the appearance of the Escarchas, I remain devoutly cautious.  Much prayer is still needed to spiritually discern the full meaning behind this shimmering form of Manna.

It is my hope that St. Anthony of Padua did indeed send the Escarchas to convey his satisfaction and blessings over the plans for his new shrine.  If all goes well, I can't wait for the shrine to be completed by Advent of this year - I anticipate it being a great grace for our community and for our visitors!  May St. Anthony continue to bless and intercede for us.

 

The First Saturday Rosary... and a Signal Grace from the Mediatrix of All Grace

It's been quite a while since I posted about it, but it's still going on.  I'm referring to the First Saturday Rosary for Peace at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua where we're still holding it every month... and blessings continue to be poured out - sometimes visibly.  In fact, at today's meeting, we were surprised by a manifestation of a familiar signal grace - escarchas.  I haven't posted about escarchas for some time, too, but the phenomenon is still occurring, although intermittently.

A few of us regulars at today's First

Saturday Rosary Meeting.

So this afternoon our parishioners met again to pray the Holy Rosary - about 15 of us, despite cold rainy weather today.  Other than the profound sense of peace that descended into the Day Chapel during our prayer, there were no other tangible indications of a divine presence... but after we finished, things took a turn for the extraordinary.

Mary, the "Mediatrix of

All Grace" of Lipa

For this month's gathering, I had brought my recently acquired Marian statue to the meeting - a likeness of Mary, the Mediatrix of all Grace from Lipa, Philippines -  and a friend who was seeing the statue for the first time approached it to get a closer view. As I watched her admiring it, she nonchalantly said, "There's glitter on the Blessed Mother's face." Me and another remaining participant immediately went to look at the image, ourselves, and sure enough, the statue's left cheek was sparkling with tiny silver flakes. I knew right away they were escarchas because the statue isn't decorated with any type of glitter.

Furthermore, as we three looked on, the escarchas multiplied and spread to the right cheek... then to the forehead... down the neck... and onto the Holy Mother's gown. It goes without saying we were awestruck. If I didn't witness it with my own eyes, I think I would be skeptical... but I now know from personal experiences this particular sign really does occur... and it's beautiful! The escarchas were mostly very fine speckles so they were difficult to capture on film, but a few of the larger ones are visible in these two videos...

Some of the escarchas on the

statue's cheek can clearly be seen in

the videos above and below.

I left the Church extra grateful and excited tonight. I encountered Mary through the Rosary in the Day Chapel... then encountered Jesus through the Eucharist during the Mass in the main church.  It was more than a good day!

     

Still-photos capturing just a few of the many

escarchas on the image's cheeks and neck.

PRAY THE ROSARY!

Epiphany Escarchas

This morning, this author drove to St. John Vianney Church in Kailua for morning Mass.  That parish celebrates three Sacraments every First Saturday: Eucharist, Anointing of the Sick, and Reconciliation so talk about graces in abundance ... and yet, today, there was something extra - escarchas.

It’s been a long while since I last witnessed them manifesting so the escarchas went a long way towards making my observance of Epiphany Day special and meaningful.  Here's a brief recap of how it happened ...

I brought with me to the church a Marian icon (shown above) that I hand-burnt, stained, and painted on a wooden plaque in August 2023, and which I titled "Mary, Immaculate Spouse of the Holy Spirit".  I intended to get it blessed by the priest.  

After I sat down in my usual spot, I laid the icon beside me on the pew, and turned away for a bit.  When I looked back at it, there they were - fine flakes of golden escarchas, sprinkled all around the icon.  Here are photos and a short video I filmed that shows just some of the escarchas on the pew ...

I'm pretty certain they're not craft-glitter for the simple reason that they weren't there a few moments earlier.  Given how much there was, I would've noticed them right away.  So I do believe it's an actual appearance of escarchas.

As to the reason why it happened, that I'm not sure.  Perhaps it's a special blessing for the Solemnity of the Epiphany ... or maybe the Lord is kindly acknowledging the work that went into it (it took me about 9 hours to write this icon) ... or perhaps God and/or Mary are pleased with how Our Lady is depicted ... or they could also be affirming the beautiful Marian title - Spouse of the Holy Spirit.  Again, it's a mystery to me but I'm just very grateful to the Holy Spirit and our Blessed Mother for this blessing.

Whatever the reason for the escarchas, I pray Heaven will use this unique image to inspire and bless many souls, particularly to a deeper devotion to the Holy Spirit!

O Mary, Immaculate Spouse

of the Holy Spirit, pray for us!

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!

Marian Apparitions & Saints Speaking Presentation, 3/7/2017: Sacred Heart Church, Waianae

The beautiful shrine to Our Lady of Fatima

at the Sacred Heart Church in Waianae.

Once again, I had the privilege of speaking before parishioners of the Sacred Heart Church in the Oahu Leeward town of Waianae. I had spoke at this parish before, in September 2016, giving them my Saints & Holy Relics Presentation... but this time around I was reinvited to faith-share about Marian apparitions that have occurred throughout the world, and the important message Our Lady has been delivering to earth on behalf of her Divine Son. The presentation, in general, consists of the following:

• Overview of Marian apparitions & Our Lady's messages
• Sharing on several church-approved Marian Apparitions (e.g. Akita, Betania, Champion, Cuapa, Fatima, Lourdes, San Nicholas, etc.)
• Saintly visionaries & their relics (e.g. St. Bernadette, St. Catherine Laboure, the 3 Fatima Seers, St. Padre Pio, & St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

For the past 35+ years I've studied dozens and dozens of the Blessed Virgin's alleged appearances throughout history, and I can testify that I've been blessed in countless ways because of what I've learned from the mother of Christ. In particular, Our Lady's messages have helped me to strengthen my own faith in God, and has deepened my faith-relationship with Jesus, and I am beyond grateful for it. If there's any way I can help others to experience our Heavenly Mother in the same way I have and make them aware of her urgent words of love and warning, I'll do it. Hence, I developed this specific presentation for that purpose, and so far it's been good - my audiences have responded positively, including this latest group at the Sacred Heart Church.

 

The display altar with my ministry's statue

of Our Lady of Fatima and several relics of

various Marian Saints.  Parishioners were

given the opportunity to venerate the

relics after the talk.

And what never fails to amaze me is when strange things happen during the presentations, such as a mysterious floral fragrance when there aren't any flowers around and/or the appearance of heavenly dust - escarchas. Tonight, escarchas manifested, to all of our surprise - gold, silver, red, and green - on a table and on the display altar around my Fatima pilgrim statue, the relics, and other statues on display. I directed the people to collect them and they enthusiastically did so using tape someone fetched from the parish office. One lady stuck her piece of tape with the escarchas to the brown scapular around her neck so she could keep it close to her, as a reminder of how Our Lady blessed us all tonight. What a great idea!

I am well-aware the escarchas appeared not because I'm worthy of these manifestations in any way... but rather, I firmly believe it's because Jesus and Mary are trying harder than ever to get people to commit to the message; granting special signs to affirm the truth of our Blessed Mother's words.

So needless to say, tonight's talk was a success. Based on feedback received, most of the people found the presentation enlightening and, of course, the escarchas brought much joy and excitement; the icing on the cake. My hope and prayer, now, is that this evening will be the awakening of deeper faith in the Waianae community. May Our Lady pray for them... and may Jesus bless them abundantly.

A Friend's Testimonial: Blessings & Signs from Mary, the Mystical Rose

A few days ago, a viewer named "Veronica" from Arizona, USA, emailed me a wonderful and inspiring testimonial in regards to her personal devotion to the Blessed Virgin, under the title of the "Mystical Rose" (a.k.a. the "Rosa Mystica" - click here to learn more). Veronica also included a remarkable video (seen below), capturing one of many recent manifestations of escarchas - glitter-like flakes of manna - in her home that occurred in connection to this most beautiful and sublime title of our dear Holy Mother.

A large Rosa Mystica Pilgrim Virgin statue,

as venerated by Marian devotees in Arizona.

The smaller image is Veronica's personal

Rosa Mystica statue.

Being an enthusiastic promoter of our shared devotion to the Mystical Rose, I asked Veronica's permission to reproduce her email on my blog and to post the above-photo of a large Mystical Rose pilgrim statue that visited in her home, as well as the video of the escarchas.  She graciously consented in the hopes that it will inspire more awareness and devotion to Our Lady.

Veronica's Testimonial:

A Manifestation of Escarchas in Arizona, USA:

A short video of a recent appearance

of shimmering escarchas in Veronica's

Arizona home.

I'd like to thank my new friend, Veronica, for sharing her special experiences with me and for allowing me to post them for others to read, too.  I ask all who view this blog to please kindly remember her daughter in prayer.  May we - who venerate Mother Mary, as the Mystical Rose - be united in prayer for each other and for the salvation and common good of all mankind.

O Mary, the Mystical Rose;

Mother of Christ & Mother of the

Church, pray for us!