The Joyful Visitation

(I'm working on the pictures! Will get them posted soon)

You may have to take a couple of days to read this posting. There is just so much to tell.
Get a cup of coffee, tea or juice and enjoy.

About 4 weeks ago Paul and I were at the adoration chapel at Corpus Christi Church. I had given him a book to look at that showed pictures of The Blessed Sacrament Shrine in Hanceville, Alabama. I had looked at the book numerous times before and thought how awesome it would be to go see this shrine that was built due to Mother Angelica, of the EWTN TV station. Her story is so awesome and I admit, since we removed cable TV from our home years and years ago, we knew about EWTN, but have not really watched it except on a couple of occasions while we were out of town and staying in hotels. We were familiar with Mother Angelica most especially after Raymond Arroyo was a guest speaker at the Eucharistic Congress here in Atlanta a few years ago. I am mentioning all of this to let you know how unfamiliar we were with the Shrine (other than seeing pictures in the book about the Shrine) and the few other occasions we were exposed to the life of Mother Angelica.

As I mentioned, I had looked at the pictures in that book and then showed it to Paul. He said he would really like to try to get to that Shrine. I was not sure when we could go, since before Topsail Island vacation, he was not well. I told him we would try to get him over to the Shrine by summer’s end.

In the last week of June, Jon and I were at 6:30 AM Mass and a woman who comes to that Mass also was waiting for me as I got out of my car to go into church. Carol (Garrison) said that she doesn’t usually approach people in this manner, but in her prayers recently, it kept coming to her that Paul should visit the Blessed Sacrament Shrine and so she just wanted to mention it to me in case it was something we should know. I looked at her in astonishment and told her that in the prior week, I had just told Paul that we would try to get him there and he said he really wanted to go see it! How odd that she would mention this to me and I told her that I would make a huge effort to get him there. As I walked into church I recited the prayer we say after every decade of the rosary (taught to us by Patty Palmquist, originator of the Rosary Walkers).

“Oh Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine,
All praise and all thanksgiving, be every moment thine.”

I pictured the monstrance that the Blessed Sacrament is held in at the adoration chapel at Corpus Christi and thanked God for the gift of His son Jesus in the Eucharist. How wonderful are His works. I knew that we were meant to have a ‘joyful visitation’.

I wasn’t sure when we would go, but just left it up to God. If Paul was meant to go, He would arrange it. A couple of days later, Carol’s friend, Pat Denton called me. I knew who she was because she had offered a long time ago to come help watch Paul when I went back to work. I didn’t remember this (not a surprise, since my memory is not so good - smile), but she also brought dinner to our home during that time when meals were being delivered for 3 months. I had also spoken briefly to her on the occasions when I would see her at Mass or adoration. She called to tell me that Carol had mentioned to her how Paul and the Blessed Sacrament shrine had been coming up in her prayers and so Pat said she would be glad to work out the arrangements of the visit to the Shrine. She had been there numerous times before and while she wasn’t anyone important, she knew a couple of other people who were and she was going to try to set up a visit with the cloistered nuns at the Shrine. She knew about Paul and wanted to have the nuns pray over him. She said we needed to spend time praying about that part.

She asked if we could go the first weekend of July for First Friday and First Saturday. I immediately remembered that I had told the extended family that if Paul was well enough, we would come to Topsail Island since they would all be there. They really wanted to see Paul, so I told Pat what I had promised to my own family. She said she would check to see if there was another weekend we could go. She knew there was a place where we might be able to stay, but didn’t know if there were any open weekends this summer. Pat called me back to see if we could go on 7/13 and 7/14. I said if Paul was well, it was a ‘GO’. She then mentioned how wonderful that would be since the 13th was the feast of Rosa Mystica. (The 13th of each month is to be remembered as a day of the forgiveness of offences to Our Lord from the souls consecrated to God. This message was given by Our Blessed Mother to Pierina Gillio while she was praying before the statute of Rosa Mystica in 1983.) I told Pat that that was so amazing because we were allowed to have the traveling statute of Rosa Mystica in our home in the year 2000 – during the week of Christmas! I said that it appears that Our Mother wanted us to remember that. Pat asked that we pray until that time so that we might possibly be able to visit with the nuns.

Paul came back from Topsail in such high spirits and with a positive attitude, so I called Pat and told her I was confident we were going to make the trip. We made our plans to meet at 4 PM and would leave Atlanta. Friday came and Jon found out he had to stay later than he thought and so we didn’t get to leave until 6:45 PM. We encountered terrible traffic due to 2 accidents along the way, (not serious ones, thank God) and road construction. It is normally a 4 hour trip, with a stop for dinner as part of that time frame. It took us 6 hours and so we did not arrive until 12:30 AM. We were exhausted! We had to get up at 5:30 AM to get ready for the 7:00 AM Mass over at the Shrine. Yes indeed, a little sacrifice does a body good!

I was concerned Paul would not do very well since we would have about 5 hours sleep. He had not slept on the trip over. He was the first one up Saturday morning, ready to take his medicine and get ready to go! He did say he felt a little unbalanced, so he held onto Jon’s shoulder for a while that morning. We went to Mass and I could not believe the beauty of the Shrine. The altar is glorious and the monstrance that holds the Eucharist is 8 feet tall and is above the altar. The Poor Clare nuns are cloistered so they are behind the wall of the altar but they can see the Blessed Sacrament from their side. They sang throughout the Mass and in my mind it was like hearing angels from heaven.
After Mass, we were able to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and from behind the ornate wall of the altar, the nuns lead everyone in the recitation of the rosary. Afterwards, we walked around and got some pictures, then went back to where we were staying.

The place where we stayed is named Queen of Peace. It was purchased by a woman, Maria, who came from Las Vegas after her husband died. She named it Queen of Peace after a visit to Medjugorje. She turned the old barn into 4 beautiful living quarters. We stayed in the Padre Pio apartment. There is a main house and an addition to the main house with the names of St. Gabriel the Archangel, St. Michael the Archangel and St. Raphael the Archangel, along with Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fatima (the main house that can be rented also) and St. Francis. The grounds are just beautiful and it could not be a more quiet and serene place to come back to. There are little areas where you can sit and reflect or pray or visit. It is so beautifully maintained too.

We had breakfast and then went back to the Shrine for a very special event. The nuns had been given Paul’s blog site to check out and we were given permission to meet with them in their parlor. We were thrilled about this invitation and we met them at 11 AM. There were about 4 nuns who came into the parlor, but they had to stay behind the wrought iron wall that divided the room in two. As we told them about Paul’s recovery and stories about all those who prayed for him and continue to pray for him and the blessings and the relics that he had been touched with, we noticed that a few more had entered the room. Pretty soon, there were a number of nuns in the room. They were so happy to hear that so many people had prayed for Paul and also loved the story about Fr. Kevin Peek bringing the zucchetto of John Paul II and his putting it on Paul’s head while he celebrated a Mass in Paul’s room. They asked a lot of questions and then they said that they would keep Paul in their prayers. One of the nuns said she will pray most especially for Paul’s vocation to the priesthood, if it be God’s will. The Mother Vicar left the room and came back with a bottle of blessed St. Raphael oil with a prayer to be said when we used it on Paul. She also gave us the name of 2 priests who have the gift of healing. We were told that they had tried to get Mother Angelica to come also, but she was not well. We knew how awesome all of this was, because cloistered nuns do not meet with visitors to the Shrine. They are in seclusion. This was a once in a lifetime occasion for us and we were in awe the whole time! One of the nuns is not a cloistered nun, as her duties require her to do the shopping and the errands for the nuns. She is also in charge of the Novitiates. She was on our side of the room. She said she was so touched by Paul’s story and she held his hands and said she would keep him in her prayers, but she asked him to most especially keep her in his prayers. She then gave Paul a purple piece of paper. It was folded over to make a frame around a little white piece of cloth. She handed it to Paul and said that it was a piece of John Paul II’s zucchetto that she kept with her. She told Paul she wanted him to have it. We could not believe she would give away something so dear to her! Paul took it and thanked her with great sincerity. I stood by speechless (now there’s a miracle for you!). I just looked at Pat, Jon and Carol with a huge smile on my face. A short time later we walked out of the parlor. We got out into the hallway and just broke out into joyous conversation and laughing. We could not believe we had been allowed this meeting. I hugged Pat and Carol and thanked them so much for making all of this possible. Pat told Paul that he was in very good hands since he had so many very holy women praying for him! Paul said, “Don’t I know it.”

At 2:00 PM we attended the healing service celebrated by Fr. Joseph. Everyone present was blessed with the Eucharist and afterwards, Fr. Joseph talked to us and blessed us again. He is a musician too, and said he would pray for Paul to recover so he could play his music again.

We went back to Queen of Peace and had dinner with the realtor who sold the 300+ acres to Mother Angelica. Barbara shared her story of conversion as a Southern Baptist to Catholicism and how she helped Mother Angelica find the property for the shrine. She said that she had no idea that Mother Angelica had only $200 at the time she signed the contract on the property! I asked her if she had known that, would she have taken the time to drive Mother Angelica around. She said absolutely not. She had no idea there was no money with which to buy the property. (I also heard on Sunday, that Mother Angelica did not have any money to pay for the huge satellite dish that was delivered to EWTN. The man was ready to get paid and in the moments following, Mother Angelica received a call from a donor and the money was wired to her account and she was then able to pay the man who delivered the first of a number of satellite dishes so EWTN could broadcast their programs to other areas.) When it came time for Mother Angelica to pay for the property, she had been contacted by a private donor and the necessary funds were there! There were only 5 anonymous donors to the shrine and they remain unknown to this day. The amount of faith Mother Angelica has is beyond words. When I listened to these stories, I realized I had a long way to go in my growth as a faithful servant. But I am so encouraged to work so much harder at it! The awesome faith stories of the realtor and the owner of Queen of Peace and so many others who are connected to the building of this shrine are incredible.

The shrine sits in the middle of the mountains north of Birmingham and there not much more than farms or small homes. It is such a serene and beautiful setting. The story of the beginnings of this shrine is too long to tell. I do know that I will be purchasing books about Mother Angelica to learn more of her faith story. God and one woman began EWTN and the Blessed Sacrament Shrine that followed years later. Awesome story.

After dinner, we drove back over to the shrine for adoration. The shrine is so beautifully lit at night. Inside the sanctuary, it is very softly lit and you can’t help but notice the Blessed Sacrament up above the high wall of the altar. We prayed for about an hour. It was so inspiring to watch the young friars, novitiates and other young men and women who are discerning their vocations as they came in and out of the shrine. They all had this beauty of fresh young faces and a beautiful reverence about them. Paul still is talking about the young men who were altar servers. He said he really enjoyed watching them and how reverent they were. We stopped at the very large statue of our Blessed Mother Mary and as I knelt and looked up, I felt so much that I was truly being looked at by Our Lady herself. It made me well up with tears as I poured my heart out to her like I would if she were there holding my hand. It was so moving a moment for me.
How could I possibly begin to thank Her for all Her intercessions all my life? I could not, so once again, I offered up my family and my life, asking Her to keep leading us to be loving servants of God.

The next morning, we got up at 5:30 AM again. And you guessed it, Paul was first up again. No surprises there. And once again, after Mass we were asked to come back to a different area, where we were told to meet with the Mother Vicar. We held our breath as we anticipated a possible meeting with Mother Angelica. The Mother Vicar was there, along with another nun and they told us that Mother Angelica was still not very well. But we were told that she listened with great interest to Paul’s story and she took her rosary and kissed it and gave it to the nun to give to Paul.. This nun then handed the rosary to Paul. I could hardly speak except to say we were so thankful for this most beautiful gift. Paul was amazed as well and took the rosary carefully into his hands. Then Mother Vicar reached out and took one of Paul’s hands and said that she too was a musician and she wanted Paul to come back and play the guitar or the cello for them. She played the clarinet and she said it would be so wonderful to hear Paul play his music. He told her he would try very hard and would come back. She said she would pray for him and asked him to please remember her in his prayers. She also provided the information needed to contact the priests who had the gift of healing. We spent about 15 minutes talking with the Mother Vicar and the other nun and I hated when the time came for us to leave. I felt so blessed to be in the presence of these very holy women. I knew it was a very special moment for Paul and all of us to be given this privilege.

We walked out into the hallway and Sr. Mary, the nun who gave Paul the small piece of the zucchetto, walked up to us and told us the most amazing story of her grand-nephew, Connor. He was born with a very rare disease and is the 34th person to be born with Marshall-Smith Syndrome. She told us how the baby’s mother was so devastated by the baby’s condition. He was not expected to live as most die of respiratory failure. He has a trachea and a feeding tube and needs a lot of care. Since he requires so much care, Sr. Mary said it would not be possible for him to be flown down to the Shrine for a blessing from Mother Angelica. She decided that she would pray for a way to make that happen. As she prayed, she had the remembrance of a doctor she had known for a long time. She knew he had a private jet. She said she didn’t really feel comfortable calling him and ask for so large a favor. She prayed very hard about it and after 2 days, the doctor happened to call her! He and his wife were going to be visiting the shrine and hoped to visit with Sr. Mary. When they arrived, they talked for awhile about the work he is doing to help stop abortion and then his wife (who is almost deaf) asked Sr. Mary what could they do for her. Sr. Mary was so amazed by the question and so she mentioned the issue of trying to get her grand-nephew to the shrine. The doctor immediately agreed and arrangements were made to fly Connor and his mother to Mother Angelica. Sr. Mary said that when Mother Angelica held baby Connor, it was like seeing 2 saints looking at each other. The baby even smiled. Then Sr. Mary handed Paul the picture of baby Connor being held by Mother Angelica and asked him to pray for a miraculous healing from the Infant Child Jesus. We all looked at the picture and it was beautiful. She told Paul to keep that picture and another one of her, Connor and his mother. She asked Paul to remember them all in his prayers! She talked about how the baby is a victim soul and that Paul too was a victim soul. Their lives were spent in pain and suffering for the atonement of the sins of this world. Again, I was struck speechless and was in awe of everything that had taken place. Another moment where we were so honored by the nuns and the time spent with us all. As we were leaving, Sr. Mary said she too will pray for Paul’s vocation.

It was so hard to leave the shrine. The peace and tranquility we felt cannot be put into words. Because of these dear women, Pat Denton and Carol Garrison, we were able to receive so many blessings. Our heartfelt thanks go out to them. They will be in our prayers too!!

The pictures don’t capture the beauty of the shrine. No one is allowed to take pictures of the sanctuary as there is perpetual adoration. I invite you to visit this place if you ever get near enough. It was well worth the 6 hours it took us to get there!

We had the statue of Rosa Mystica at Christmas time - the time we remember the birth of our Lord Jesus. The first statue we saw at the shrine is the Child Jesus. We were told that it was the Child Jesus who lead Mother Angelica on her journey.
So it is, through our child Paul and the intercession of Mary’s love and prayers, we have been led to a far greater awareness of the gifts of our Catholic faith.

May all of you receive abundant blessings for the prayers you have offered up for our family and the many kind and gracious acts of love shown to us. You remain in our daily prayers. May the Child Jesus bring the healings you need to grow in faith, hope and love.

Peace in Christ,
Jon and Rebecca