A Gentleman in Mourning .... (a Padre Pio story)

In the lunch room of Our Lady of Grace hotel at San Giovanni Rotondo, I saw at a little table a gentleman dressed in black, obviously in mourning. Yet the expression on his face was radiant, as if reflecting a great inner joy. It struck me as a strange contrast. I did not have the opportunity to speak to him in the hotel, but later on we were in the same compartment on the train during the return trip.

As often happens, some travelers asked those of us who had boarded the train to Foggis whether we had been to see Padre Pio. When we said yes they asked us to talk about him. The gentleman in mourning did not hesitate; he told the following story:

A few days ago they killed my only son, who was barely 16 years old. I was overwhelmed with sorrow, and it seemed as if I could never again rise from my despair. Nobody could console me. However, some time ago a friend of mine told me about a certain Padre Pio, but I didn't want to hear about him then. For years I had abandoned my family, my wife, my daughter and my son-and I lived with a woman. My life was in chaos; nothing was sacred to me anymore. And then, all of a sudden, misfortune !There I was, oppressed by such despair that the memory of Padre Pio's name seemed like an anchor of salvation. I felt as though I might be able to find a bit of comfort from him from him alone !How this thought came to me, I do not know. But I could not resist any longer and took the first train that went south from Milan. I was finally able to meet Padre Pio yesterday. I got on my knees as if to go to confession but without the slightest intention of making a real confession-and I said to him Padre Pio, they have killed my only son!

I said this because I wanted a word of comfort from him. But Padre Pio, looking at me sternly, had only this brief question for me- " And that's not enough for you ?" I was struck by these words, and I understood in an instant what I had not understood in many years. My entire life, with all its errors stood before me. Yes, Padre Pio! I answered. What are you waiting for? he asked me. I understood what he meant by that and I asked him if he could hear my confession.

Since then I have been the happiest man in the world, in spite of my great mourning. I had hoped to find comfort and consolation from him, but he gave me much more: he completely transformed me. Now I'm going back to my home, to my wife, to my daughter.I'm going home with a serene heart.

Those who are forgiven much, love much ..a story from Korea

Recently I visited Fr. Raymond Spies in Anyang. He told me that, when one goes to Naju, he should not go just to see the Blessed Mother's tears and tears of blood but to reform his life based on her messages. I would like to introduce one soul who has become a new person thanks to the messages from the Blessed Mother of Naju.

I first learned about Naju through the Blue Army in 1987. It was before the Chapel was built. I wanted to do some good work and guided one poor soul to Naju. She was a 17 year-old girl by the name of Theresa. She quit school during her senior year in the junior high school (9th grade) and began leading a dissolute life. She not only smoked and drank but was into narcotics also. She was suffering from severe hallucinations. She became a prostitute. Her parents spent every day with tears and pains. People were avoiding her and deserting her as a delinquent person. I brought her into my house, thinking that she was Jesus or the Blessed Mother.

After we came back from a visit to Naju, we were reading the messages together. She asked me what sacrilegious communion (mentioned in the message on June 5, 1988) meant. I explained it in detail and asked her to examine herself. She said that sometimes she hid some of her sins during Confession because of shame and received Communion sacrilegiously. She shed tears of repentance. She has been reading the messages every day and makes frequent confessions. Before, when I asked her to pray the rosary together, she was trampling the rosary down. Now, she prays fifteen decades for the conversion of sinners. She is changing every day through the messages. She says that everything has changed 180 degrees.

Before, she almost went to jail several times for stealing, but now she refuses to take gifts of money, saying that she is afraid of committing sins if she had money. She does not watch TV or video any longer. She says that she promised to the Lord and the Blessed Mother not to watch TV or video. She is leading a life of offering up beautiful roses to the Lord and the Blessed Mother by making sacrifices and reparations, saying that she had more sins than anyone else. She is making strenuous efforts to practice the Blessed Mother's messages. She prays the rosary fervently for the teenage girls who are committing sins as prostitutes without knowing that they are committing sins. She says that she will spread the Blessed Mother's messages to those girls, too.

Gabriella Chang, Inchon

Souha’s most beautiful confession.

A group came from the Middle East to spend a few days in Medjugorje, wanting to make a holy pilgrimage. Among them was Souha, a married woman whose husband is a doctor. She came without him because he was working.

Souha had a secret that left her without peace. Soon after her arrival, she went to see a priest from her group and confided to him that she had an abortion. The child that she was expecting was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome, and she and her husband did not want him. They decided together to have him removed from the womb and had an abortion performed. Her heart was still restless however and Souha asked the priest, “It’s not a sin, is it?” The priest answered, “But yes, my daughter, it is a sin! A grave sin! You must go to confession!”

Souha was not convinced and she shut herself within her denial. Yet she asked the Blessed Mother for a sign to know whether she should confess this act.

In the evening, at the apparition of the Gospa on the hill with Ivan, Souha was with her group. As soon as the Blessed Mother arrived, Souha unexpectedly bent over with her nose on the ground. She remained like this for a while and when she came back up after the apparition, her friends saw her crying. She told them, “Please call a priest, I must go to confession right away!”

I do not know what happened to her during the apparition, her friends respected her secret, but Our Mother acted.In tears, Souha made the most beautiful confession of her life. Yes, she touched the horror of sin and it made her cry. She accepted God’s mercy towards her. Her inner peace was at last restored. Now she is free! What a contrast on her face! What light! She witnesses to her friends that she feels a deep joy, as never before in her life.

In Medjugorje, some pilgrims groups have a fine tradition. The guide suggests that each pilgrim receives the responsibility of praying for a particular person of the group during the whole pilgrimage. Thus the first or second night, each one must draw from a little basket the name of another pilgrim. That evening, out of the 150 people in the group, who received the name of Souha and the call to pray for her? A young woman with Down’s syndrome!

That same night, Souha’s husband called, and after hearing his wife’s story, tells her, “You know, I am calling you because I find it strange that you are over there praying to God, while I am here performing abortions. It is not right!  Today, I have decided not to that anymore.” He also was crying over the phone. The whole day, he had the feeling that something was happening to his wife and he was ready to take this giant step professionally. Souha could not believe her ears.

This happened last August. Now Souha, her husband and their children are living differently, they put God in the first place. They practice the sacraments and go to Mass almost everyday. They give testimonies. After this memorable pilgrimage, they were wondering how to make reparation for such a past when they suddenly received a call from an orphanage needing help. Sisters were asking them to care for an orphaned child. They saw this as the answer from God, they were grateful to Him and decided to do everything in their power for the child.

And what has become of the aborted baby? In Medjugorje, Mary says of these unborn children, “They are with me”. This child is certainly praying for his parents and for all his little companions who, today, are programmed never to see the sun.

I am asking myself the question: did the baby really have Down’s syndrome? For I see more and more examples of wrong diagnostics: many mothers decide to keep their child whatever the handicap, and often, the child is born perfectly normal. Bizarre! To be meditated!

 But God is wonderful! For this family, He changed evil into good. Now hundreds of children (perhaps even thousands) will never be aborted by this doctor who now fights for life.

 “Dear children, tonight I invite you to pray in a special way for the unborn children. Pray especially for the mothers who kill their children. Dear children, I am sad because so many children are killed. Pray that there are no more such mothers in the world.” (To the Medj. Prayer group, 3 03 90)