First Saturday Parish Rosary at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 6/4/2016

The Rosary for Peace was very well-attended this month.  In the last few months, our regulars have been bringing their friends to our first Saturday devotion... and these friends have been coming back, which is really nice to see, as it confirms something positive about our parish's monthly devotion.

Easily, over 20 parishioners and guests attended our June prayer meeting, which I consider a good turnout.  And I think a growing interest in the Saints is a big part of it - people really do seem to enjoy listening to stories about the lives of the Saints/Blesseds that are shared each month.  As an added bonus, they also get to see, in person, rare [genuine] physical remains of the holy person they just learned about, without having to travel to a religious shrine halfway around the globe.  This month was no different.

Today I shared about St. Germaine Cousin with the prayer participants (read about her here).  I could tell early on that many people did not know who she was prior to today... but as I relayed the Saint's bio to them, one could see emotion in peoples' faces as I spoke about the cruel abuse and the indifference St. Germaine endured from her family and from her townsmen. Then, as I switched the topic to Germaine's many reported miracles, the expressions changed to wonder and cheer... especially when it came to the anecdote of the Saint parting the waters of a swollen stream in order to make it to her parish church for Mass.  How could one not be filled with awe after listening to a wonderful story like that?

When our prayer was done, a small crowd gathered at the display altar to get a closer view of a 1st Class Relic of St. Germaine - small particles of her bodily remains (pictured above) - that I had brought into our Day Chapel.  It was satisfying for me to watch the excitement of the parishioners as they prayed with hope and blessed themselves with the relic; to see them making a personal connection with the little sainted shepherdess... and perhaps even finding the moral encouragement from her faith-example to live better lives; to maybe be Saints, themselves, which is exactly why God gifts the Church and the rest of the world with such inspirational role models.

And lastly, escarchas - glimmering "manna" from Heaven - were again witnessed this afternoon. This time, the escarchas were manifested as red and silver flakes (Divine Mercy colors!) and were discovered on both my palms after the prayer meeting; always an unexpected blessing from both our Blessed Mother and Jesus.

The next First Saturday Rosary for Peace will be prayed on Saturday, July 2nd, beginning at 4:25 pm. All are welcome to "meet' a Saint (make a new friend from Heaven!) and to participate in our powerful prayer for much-needed World Peace. Every participants makes a big positive difference!