Raised from the Dead by Saint John Bosco

"The usual snare with which the devil catches the young is to fill them with shame when they are about to confess their sins. When he pushes them to commit sins, he removes all shame, as if there were nothing wrong with it, but when they are going to confession, he returns that shame magnified and tries to convince them that the priest will be shocked by their sins and will no longer think well of them. Thus the devil tries to drive souls to the brink of eternal damnation. Oh, how many lads does Satan steal from God." Saint John Bosco

If you prosper while in a state of mortal sin you are not blessed by God, You have separated yourself from God. As God the Father revealed to Saint Catherine of Siena, if a person in a state of mortal sin prospers materially on earth from their effort He will allow it because He is just. And Satan will leave the soul in relative peace fearing that if he disturbs the spiritual slumber of the person they might repent and turn to God. The Evil One sits back and waits for the death of the person then claims his prize, their soul. God is merciful, when we repent.

'We should all realize that no matter where or how a man dies, if he is in the state of mortal sin and does not repent, when he could have done so and did not, the Devil tears his soul from his body with such anguish and distress that only a person who has experienced it can appreciate it." St. Francis of Assisi

Raised from the Dead by Saint John Bosco

Once during Saint John Bosco's lifetime, a fifteen year old boy, Charles, who lived in Turin was about to die. He requested to see Saint John Bosco, so as to hear his confession, but the saint could not make it in time. So another priest heard the boy's confession and the boy died.

When John Bosco returned to Turin, he set out at once to see the boy. He was told that the boy was dead, but he insisted that it was "just a misunderstanding." When he got to the boy's house, and after a moment of prayer in his room, John Bosco suddenly cried out: "Charles! Rise!" To the utter amazement of all present, the boy stirred, opened his eyes, and sat up. Seeing John Bosco, his eyes lit up.

"Father, I should now be in Hell!" gasped the boy. "Two weeks ago I was with a bad companion who led me into sin and at my last confession, I was afraid to tell everything. Oh, I've just come out of a horrible dream! I dreamt I was standing on the edge of a huge furnace surrounded by a horde of devils. They were about to throw me into the flames when a beautiful Lady appeared and stopped them. 'There's still hope for you, Charles,' she told me. 'You have not yet been judged!' At that moment I heard you calling me. Oh, John Bosco! What a joy to see you again! Will you please hear my confession?"

After hearing the boy's confession, John Bosco said to the boy, "Charles, now that the gates of Heaven lie wide open for you, would you rather go there or stay here with us?" The boy looked away for a moment and his eyes grew moist with tears. An expectant hush fell over the room. "John Bosco", he said at last, "I'd rather go to Heaven." The mourners watched in amazement as Charles leaned back on the pillows, closed his eyes, and settled once more into the stillness of death.

The Trap

A trader from Genoa had to visit Foggia to negotiate an oil sale. One of his friends who knew he had been away from the church for a long time planned to lay a trap for him. He asked him to make a detour to San Giovanni Rotunda to deliver a letter to Padre Pio, hoping that his friend would meet the priest. He agreed and went to the monastery to deliver the letter and wait for the reply. 

When Padre Pio saw him , he approached him and asked “what do you want ?” He replied he was just waiting for a reply to the letter. “Ah Yes the letter” Padre Pio replied “But what about you, Don’t you want to go to confession ?”

The man admitted that he had not practiced his religion in a long time. Padre Pio asked him “how long since your last confession ?” I was 7 years old said the trader. The priest looked at him as though he saw into his soul and said “how long do you intent to live this disgusting kind of life ?” 

In a flash the man saw how his life had been lived without God, repented, went to confession and was filled with Joy. He stayed on another week and attended the Mass each day.

Healer of Souls

This week the relic of the Incorrupt heart of St (Padre) Pio was at Manila Cathedral on its way around the country.  Crowds, too numerous to count braved the weather in long queues to venerate the relic.

He is very much loved; a saint for our times as he was such a contradiction to the ways of the world.  It seems that his incredible gift of being able to read souls was matched only by his capacity to suffer; with both the stigmata and enduring the constant attacks of the devil. Perhaps that was the price of such a gift in that he had to suffer in order to set his penitents free from bondage, to obtain for them the gift of conversion.

One wonderful story, told by a lady who confessed to him, was about a hidden sin she had. She went to confession to him and after she had finished he asked if she had anything else she wanted to tell. She said ‘no’ and he asked her to return the next day. She confessed other sins and was asked if there was anything else ; again she responded ‘no’ and was asked to return the next day. On the last day, he mentioned the date and time when she had an abortion, and then he told her what her aborted son would have been had he lived, the destiny that was lost when his life had been extinguished. That revelation showed her the gravity of the sin and she was repentant and reconciled with God.

St. Pio reveals to us the gentleness and mercy of a God so much offended but always willing to forgive at the slightest opening of a repentant heart.

The wonderful thing about our saints though is that their mission does not end in death, it is ramped up a notch; the miracles abound all the more when they are born into heaven.

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.

Don't feel sorry for yourself anymore !

A woman I was acquainted with who lived at San Giovanni Rotondo, had suffered badly from rheumatism for some time. One day, with great exertion, she dragged herself into church to go to confession to Padre Pio. After confession she lamented over her pains and asked Padre Pio to help her. 

He gave no answer. She was offended and said 'Ah Padre Pio, don't you have any compassion for me ? I suffer so much. Include me in your prayers! Before he closed the grates of the confessional, Padre Pio said to her 'Don't feel sorry for yourself anymore' 

 A bit disappointed and also a bit offended, she left the confessional, but she had barely taken her first steps when she observed to her amazement, that she had no more pain and could walk easily.

Padre Pio's own words about confession.

"It is a tremendous responsibility to sit in the tribunal of the confessional."

"God runs after the most stubborn souls. They cost him too much to abandon them."

After a day of confessions: "Oh the souls! if you knew how much they cost!" 

"The sight of so many souls who wish to justify their evil ways pains me, exhausts my brain, and tears at my heart."

"Before reproaching a soul, I suffer it first. But it is not I who act, but He who is in me and above me."

"Sin to confession to sin without repentance is a deception of conscience; in essence a sacrilege."

"Among you I am your brother, on the Altar I am your victim, in the confessional I am your judge."

"Confession is the purification of the soul." 

Confession should be made no later than every eight days."

"Do not dwell on sins that have been already confessed. Jesus has forgiven them."

"Place a tombstone on the confessed sins, just as the Lord has done."

"I want to help Jesus in the tremendous task of man's salvation".

"The mercy of God, my son, is infinitely greater than your malice"

Fruits of Medjugorje...

 
Battistina is definitely an Italian woman of our time. She is a 47-year old internet-based accountant. When her partner invited her to go to Medjugorje, she was not very interested. Then, one morning, on her car radio, she heard the song, often played by Radio Maria that had irritated her so much for years when she was looking for a program. Unexpectedly that song moved her deeply; her tears flowed continuously, without any apparent reason. She understood that the Blessed Mother was calling her. But I will let her tell her own story ...

"Since a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in July 2012, everything has changed in my life, nothing is like before! My conversion happened during the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. There were thousands of us outside around the Rotunda. Suddenly I found myself on my knees and I had the feeling that I was holding my living heart in my hands. I saw my entire life scroll down before my eyes. I clearly saw the good and the bad, and everything that seemed good at the time was becoming bad. I started to feel a great pain about my divorce.

How could I have broken a promise made in front of God? These words echoed in my mind, 'let no one split apart what God has joined together'. I then understood that my serenity was only in my mind because my heart was ice-cold. I had always felt I was on the side of the "righteous" and that I was a victim. Suddenly I saw how hard my heart was, I saw the suffering of my 4 children, what my father and my in-laws had endured, and I especially saw that I was not at all a victim.  Actually I had never forgiven anyone. When my oldest daughter, 9 year-old and in 4th grade, had insisted on doing her first Holy Communion, I had told her it made no sense; and my last child had not even been baptized! I saw all the New Age books that I had bought over the past 20 years. How could I have spent all that time reading and taking courses on self-development, things that only ended up pushing me away from God and my family?

The pain was getting stronger and stronger and little by little I found myself with my face to the ground.  I told myself, 'Lord, let me die here, because I am not worthy of even lifting my head from the ground'. At that moment I felt something like a huge hug filled with love, and a joy that is not of this world. And I told myself, 'During 18 years I thought I had given my children everything, but actually I had not given them anything because I had not given them this. So if I stay here to pray for them for the rest of my life, would that not be better than anything that I could do if I went back home? If I, as a mother, the soul of the household, had cultivated prayer instead of cultivating useless things, my children would still have a united family today!'

I understood that when you make the decision to shrug off the cross of marriage, you are actually putting it on your children's shoulders.

Then I felt that I had to keep the promise of faithfulness in marriage, so I decided to make a vow of chastity. I offered this to God so that a thousand families would not separate. My life partner felt the same way. He also told me that we should consecrate ourselves completely. Some priests told me that the vow of chastity was not necessary, others that it was just something we had made up, but I was quite certain and determined because it seemed so little in comparison with the infinite mercy that I had received.

My children thought I had become crazy because I was going to church and hung up a crucifix in the living-room. My eldest daughter was very irritated by my enthusiasm, and she told me, 'So what about all the things you've been telling us for the past 18 years?' 'I am sorry,' I told her. 'I was mistaken!'

In November I went back to Medjugorje with my 4 children so that they too would have an understanding and wisdom. I was very hopeful that they would meet the Lord. I was watching them from a distance, and waiting I thought, 'But if I, their mother, with the little love I am capable of, am so happy to see my children pray, how much happier must our Heavenly Mother be? And how unhappy will she be for her children who get lost!

During the pilgrimage all of my children's hearts were touched. We started studying the Catechism together. Nine months later, the youngest, 10 years old, was baptized, and all my children received Holy Communion during the same celebration. This was the most beautiful day of my life! It was as if I could see them all being reborn at the same time. My partner and I stayed together for a year, living like brother and sister. But every day I was asking God to be able to understand what His will was, whether we should stay close to support one another, or be separated completely. I kept that doubt in my heart for a long time but little by little the Lord led our paths to grow apart because of work.

After my conversion, I contacted my ex-husband again. For nine years every telephone call had ended with yelling on both sides; so for a year we did not talk to each other, and he would communicate with me through the children. When I recognized my mistakes,I looked at his faults as the consequences of my own, and then my resentment disappeared. I was the one who should ask for forgiveness! Little by little I started to feel the deep bond of marriage, sealed by God, and to feel once again a spouse. Yet I did not understand it. I asked a priest if it was all right to feel that I was a spouse, even though my husband was bonded to another person and had a son. The priest answered that the sacrament of marriage was indissoluble before God.  

Now the love that I thought had been cancelled or even had never existed, I found it once again intact in the depths of my heart. I keep it in its purity and I pray every day for the conversion of my ex-husband and for all the families. I thank Jesus and Mary for the infinite grace that my family receives every day and I continue onward on this path of conversion."

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)