Holy Relic Visitation: Our Lady of Fatima Prayer Group, 9/24/2016

There was a tangible excitement in the air as we started our prayer meeting tonight.  I think it was partly due to what happened last month - when I witnessed our host family's Rosa Mystica statue moving its mouth, as though Our Lady was reciting prayers along with us.

I noticed our prayer members were a little more attentive and focused on the statue ... and the fervor in their voices and demeanor was definitely turned up a couple of notches while we prayed.  I must admit - I was excited, myself, but alas, nothing unusual happened with the statue this evening.

Still photos of our host's Rosa Mystica

statue, showing the opening and closing

of its mouth.

Yet, despite all the extra devotion displayed, it wasn't just over the statue - I think the other reason for the expressive piety was because it may have finally dawned on most of our members (after four years of monthly meetings) just how exceptionally blessed we are by the Blessed Virgin Mary; that for some bewildering reason, we've been graced with many extraordinary manifestations of her maternal presence ... and I state that with no sense of self-importance; it's just the truth, given all that we've experienced throughout the years (e.g. fragrances of flowers, appearances of escarchas, and the transfigured face of the Rosa Mystica statue).

So as people prayed tonight, they did so not as though they were praying to a God who was distant from us ... or calling to the Blessed Mother up in Heaven somewhere; rather, I got the impression that people prayed today with wide open hearts and with a heightened conviction that Jesus and Our Lady were right there beside us in our little circle of prayer.  It's how we should've been praying all along... and how we should continue to pray in the months ahead.

Celebrating the presence of God in each

other, via our fellowship dinner.

At the end of the Rosary, I didn't detect any hint of disappoint in peoples faces over not witnessing signs tonight.  Instead, I think the added fervor resulted in people leaving the Gruber Home more uplifted than usual; joyful and unburdened from a month's worth of life's daily trials.  Indeed, it was a much greater blessing than seeing the statue move again.