First Saturday Parish Rosary at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 6/6/2015

   

My pilgrim statue on display in the Day

Chapel of St. Anthony of Padua Church,

Kailua... and parishioners venerating the

statue and the relics after the prayers.

My Rosa Mystica statue looked glorious at today's gathering for the First Saturday Rosary for Peace! The statue's plaster features softened, it's complexion became dewy and rosy, and there was even a subtle glow that seemed to surround it.  I see this statue every day so I immediately knew it wasn't the norm.

A large group participated this month and there were several new faces in our Day Chapel.  The prayer gathering proceeded, as usual, with me sharing about a Saint before we began the Holy Rosary.  It was St. Marcellin Champagnat (d. 1840, right photo) - the founder of the Little Brothers of Mary, a.k.a. the "Marists" - who we honored this month, along with a 1st Class Relic from his body.  This particular Saint was a French priest who was once called upon to minister to a dying 17-year-old boy who knew nothing about the Lord, or the Faith.  It broke St. Marcellin's heart and he resolved to do all that he could to teach people, especially the youth, about both.  Hence, his congregation was founded for this specific and worthy purpose.

In our own way, we can all imitate St. Marcellin in his charism of teaching the Faith to others.  If you're reading this blog, chances are you are more knowledgeable about the Faith and traditional Catholic Devotions than the average Catholic.  We all have the capacity to share our spiritual knowledge with others who are ignorant of God, beginning with our own families, and especially with our children.

At the end of our prayer meeting, at least four of our regular participants commented to me about the exceptional appearance of the statue; the visible transformation in the image was apparently noticed by others, too.  In addition, there was something else that came to our attention after we finished - a single chair in the front row of the Day Chapel was discovered to be mysteriously covered with sparkles.  We knew for sure it was Escarchas when the substance began multiplying right before our eyes.  The few of us who witnessed it were in awe... and we speculated that perhaps our Blessed Mother had actually "sat" in the chair during our prayer meeting (I stress the word "speculated").

The Escarchas also manifested on the palm of my right hand, and on the hands and arms of another participant (see the video below).  It was mystifying, to say the least... but we took it as another small confirmation (along with the changes in the Rosa Mystica statue) that Our Lady's spiritual presence was with us today in a very special way.  Thank you, Blessed Mother!

Escarchas appeared on a participant's hands

and forearm after the prayer meeting ended.

The next First Saturday Rosary will be prayed on Saturday, July 4th, beginning at 4:25pm.  All are welcomed to participate, as we intercede for World Peace and our personal needs.  Directions to St. Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua may be found here.