Many say the Grace of God no longer operates in the modern world. I do not believe this. I have seen grace working wonders inside souls.
I am among the privileged souls chosen to be a custodian of the many Pilgrim Fatima Statues that travel the country as an initiative of the America Needs Fatima campaign. I say privileged because it has not only been a great benefit to my own spiritual life but for countless others who have had the grace and privilege to receive the Blessed Mother, manifest in her Pilgrim Statues, into their homes.
One such visit among many truly exemplified this reality for me. It was a visit to a modest, unassuming home with the hostess and mother of five adult children, all present with rosaries in hand.
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I could not help but notice that some children had tattoos and body “piercings,” which I normally do not find among everyday devotees of the Rosary. Notwithstanding, I sensed an atmosphere that expressed profound piety.
The visit proceeded with the reciting of the Holy Rosary, a video presentation on the Fatima message and the filling out of intentions envelopes that are taken to Fatima, Portugal. It ended quite naturally with the family expressing heartfelt gratitude for Our Lady’s visit.
As I gathered up my materials, I chatted with the hostess, who confided to me how her deceased husband had spent his last days. He was a sports enthusiast and trained his boys in boxing. His Sundays consisted of going to Mass and spending the rest of the day with sports.
On Holy Days of Obligation, his wife would remind him about going to Mass. However, he would usually cut her off and say, “Look here, I go to Mass on Sunday, and that’s it!” She prayed many Rosaries for his conversion.
One day, her mother accepted the invitation to receive our Fatima Pilgrim Statue in her home. Our hostess recounting this story planned to attend. As Providence would have it, the hostess and her husband had a previous engagement on the same date to attend a meeting at their local school.
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She and her husband decided to split up. She would go to the school meeting, and her husband would oblige his mother-in-law by putting in a polite appearance at the Fatima event “as long as she doesn’t harangue me about praying the rosary.”
Thus, her husband went to the event when something very unusual happened. Unlike himself, he was quiet and observed the proceedings and devotions most attentively.
His mother-in-law was so surprised by his unusual, mute behavior that she called her daughter to ask if her husband was alright. She said she had never seen him like that and wondered if he was ill and possibly “suffering from a heart attack.”
At the conclusion of the evening, the husband spent some time kneeling in quiet prayer in front of the Pilgrim Statue and then departed. Upon his arrival home, his wife was equally concerned when he remained for some time in his truck in the driveway without coming immediately inside, as was his custom.
Our hostess was expecting the worst from this turn of events. She thought he must be fuming and that she was going to get an earful. Much to her surprise, he entered the house and declared with deep emotion, “I just met the most beautiful woman in my life!”
From that day forward, he was a changed man. He gave up his obsession with sports and would often steal away to visit Our Lady at a shrine or a nearby church. His conversion was so profound that he started bringing a pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima to homes. The hostess pointed to the statue her husband had used for the visits. It was a traditional one molded in plaster.
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Years after this transformative visit with Our Lady, he announced to his family that he was going to die on a First Saturday—a day so special to Our Lady of Fatima. That is exactly what happened, as his family was gathered around his bedside praying the rosary.
Yes, the graces of God and the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Spouse of the Holy Ghost, are still very much at work in our world and bearing unexpected fruit.