HOUR OF MERCY   -   OUR LADY'S  MANTLE
HIS MOTHER WAS DYING   -   HE TOOK AWAY THE PAIN

 I was searching upstairs when I heard my name yelled from outside. At the back of the house there is lake.  I ran out and found the father swimming in the lake and pulling Carolina from the water. He gave her to me and ran in to call emergency. I am looking at her little body in my arms, all blue and bloated, not breathing. This was between 3 and 4 in the afternoon.

Up to that moment I thought I had some control over my life.  I believed in a God but my catholic faith was very undermined by New Age crap. That moment was decisive, I just found out how we are nothing, I was nothing.  For the first time in my life I prayed with the Heart, "God you gave my daughter to me, if you want to take her, do so, your Will be Done, but if you want to give her back please heal her".

While praying in my mind I gave her mouth to mouth breathing. Suddenly she reacted and started vomiting.  Emergency arrived and we were rushed to Miami Children's Hospital. After blood tests and examinations the doctor determined she had been under the water more than 5 minutes.  A doctor came out and told me: "there is only one word to explain Carolina's total recuperation - the word is "Miracle".

She had no brain damage or any other abnormal symptoms.   She stayed two days at the Hospital.
The following day, November 28 at 3 in the afternoon, while I was at the side of Carolina's bed at the hospital, a nun came in the room. She was smiling at me and said,  "I have come to pray for you because Our Lord has granted you a Miracle". Then she gave to me a pamphlet. It was Our Lord's picture of Divine Mercy and the Chaplet. It said,  "Three o'clock is the hour of Mercy" and suddenly I felt an overwhelming Love and recognized God.

God was there.  God is not  a concept anymore in my mind - the crazy mixture of ideas of an impersonal energy - [as] a master or teacher in Jesus.  But for the first time in my life a REAL personal GOD came to me , HE has a face, the face of OUR LORD JESUS. There is no other way to God than Our Lord Jesus, because He IS God. He is one with the Father and the Spirit is with Him.

The Most Holy Trinity Bless you,   Maria Teresa Pringle

TUESDAY 3 MARCH
When a priest visits the hospital he must be ready for anything. 
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Work today has been fun. A Pastor by the name of Matthew - tried to get John in the next bed to agree the Catholic Faith is the religion of Babylon. When I showed up, Matthew said the day of God working miracles has past. I replied, 'do you think God retired? Not possible. I just talked to His Son Jesus and our Lord's Mother, the Virgin Mary. Matthew, Jesus and Mary love you.'
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I thought this guy was going to have a stroke right then. His response later, was to give me a book about, "Roman Catholics and the Bible" by Pastor Matthew! I thanked him and took the book He then told John that Roman Catholic priests do not read the Bible. Matthew asked me if I read the Bible and I said, "yes, in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek!" John laughed and said, "buddy you are barking up the wrong tree  - Father is with a group that is older than the Bible". (Which is true!)
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Then Pastor asked me when I was saved. Told him I was saved 2,000 years ago - when Christ died on the cross and the Virgin Mary stood and watched her son die. He started coughing and said nothing. I must admit I enjoyed this guy! He seemed so shocked! Besides I KNEW he disapproved of our Lady by the tone in his voice - he was not seeking to know the truth.
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At one time this would have made me mad but not any more as the Lord provided love, mercy and grace. I looked at his book. It was self-published. I thought, 'he had it printed for his own ego and profit!'  $29.95 plus $4 s/h - autograph copy for $2 extra. Guess what my copy is signed! A huge book of about 300 pages - poorly designed - a collection of anti-Catholic propaganda from 1400's to present - by people who either hated the Roman Catholic Church or were ignorant of her official teachings.. No mainline Protestant publisher would have touched it - too many false, inflammatory words.

WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH
Pastor Matthew has a church a short distance from my house. He has seen me praying the rosary while walking many times over the years. He is in the hospital for kidney stones. John the fellow I was visiting is in for the removal of intestinal polyps. John was fearful of possible cancer -so was praying the rosary with him tonight.
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Pastor Matthew decided to point out that this kind of praying was idolatry. It would have been far better for him to offer to pray for - or with John. So John asked the nurse for a priest and guess what - I took the call. Pastor Matthew had not spoken to me one kind word ever - just-rude remarks for many years. The people in his church NEVER gave me a moment's trouble EVER!.
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Every once and a while I have to deal with someone like this guy. The nurses and staff that are unchurched are turned off by such exchanges. Most of the time there is laughter over my answers to such people. I just pray the Lord keeps me sweet.
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Today, John is a good match for his roommate. John prayed the Lord's Prayer for a nurse whose mother was sick and in the hospital. Pastor Matthew bellowed about vain repetition of prayers again. John then asked Matthew why he did not pray with the nurse - no answer. Found this out when John paged me to his room. John and I prayed the litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus together.
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Matthew is a captive. He cannot leave the room as he is hooked to all kinds of medical devices. I told Matthew if he loved Jesus he should join us in prayer. Matthew told us we were praying to the wrong Jesus because Christians are not to pray to 'body parts'. I gave Matthew a book explaining the meaning of the Apostles Creed - he took it and said his only creed is the Bible.
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I said, "good let's bury the hatchet and obey Christ and love and respect one another." Then Matthew asked, "Is this why you are not mad with me?" "Yes, Matthew," I answered, "Jesus called me to serve Him and that includes loving you."

THURSDAY 5 MARCH
Thanks for praying for me, guild. Matthew is being carried down the road of deep, deep suffering - to destroy confidence in the flesh. Today he gave me a catalog of various materials he has written over many years...
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We are about the same age. Every book, booklet or article he has written is against something, some one or something some body did or might do. How pathetic he can't even say a good word about Jesus. He wrote a booklet about the length of Jesus' hair of all things! How does he know anything about that!
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Today I dropped in to see John while his wife was there. I gave her a Divine Mercy booklet. Valerie took a beautiful silver and garnet rosary out of her purse - the stones looked like drops of blood in the light. We prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet with John. I was remembering Matthew in prayer because physically he did not look well. Something was very wrong.
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Matthew did not make a single comment. I thought about what Sister Faustina said... "even the most hardened heart will be drawn to Christ through our Lord's great mercy." These two will be together till Sunday or longer. Is this not grand. Sometimes the ways of the Almighty make me smile….
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FRIDAY EVE 5 MARCH
The visit with John and Matthew did not go well. Matthew took it on himself to poke fun at us by blaspheming the Virgin Mary. I told Matthew, "God Almighty will hold you accountable for your words and you better stop." Matthew laughed.  Early evening after I left the hospital for the day, Matthew's kidneys shut down. His blood pressure could not take the strain and he died during the night.
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He leaves behind a daughter who lives in the South West - his wife died four years ago from cancer.

SATURDAY 6 MARCH
Glad the Rosary Work Shop prayed that  Divine Mercy Chaplet  with us for him. You were right to be concerned for his soul. But remember God will be merciful for those for whom we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Not saying much to John as want the Holy Spirit to sort out the message here for all of us. John wanted to pray the  Divine Mercy Chaplet  again for Matthew which we did this morning. John asked me if Matthew would go to purgatory and I told him John he sure needed to.
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The hospital staff that tended to Matthew is very sullen about this - wondering how a minister could say such awful things about the Mother of Jesus.  Lord, heal our hearts and be with Matthew's family and friends as you care for his soul. These words from Ash Wednesday keep running like a train through my mind: "Our merciful Father does not desire the death of sinner but rather that they would turn from their sins and have life...Lord hear our prayer. Holy, Holy, Holy...that which belongs to Almighty God He treasures."
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Only the tribe of Levi could touch the ark of the covenant - and then only in the way God prescribed. The sons of Levi were the priests of Israel. Any one else who touched the ark of the covenant would die. The Virgin Mary is the Ark of the Covenant. Scripture warns us not to be rash with our words. Jesus says we MUST give account for every empty and idle word. Matthew's words were publicly polluting everyone in that wing of the hospital.
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To turn against Mary is to turn against God who created the Virgin Mary to give us Christ - God in the flesh. Life is short. We are all only one heart beat from eternity's doorstep.  Not in any way did the Mother of God desire for Matthew to die. Even death is a mercy because death keeps us from sinning more to earn a greater measure of the just wrath of God for not accepting His grace in Christ.
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Saw John today after lunch. He said Matthew's last words were,
"Mary you are real   -   Where's Jesus?"

 Evidently Matthew found himself under our Lady's mantle.
How she must have loved him when he asked for her son ...

SUNDAY 7 MARCH
Wow! still am shocked that these ramblings from the fire line of duty have been shared by you and used by the Holy Spirit to touch others. Don't forget that the guild made those beads that the Lord is using so powerfully!

 + Fr. Joseph
 Hospital Chaplain

And everyone knew how she earned her wealth.

He was broken - mom was on her way to Hell for sure he thought. I told him we would see about that. I went in the ICU to see his mom. She was in a deep coma, so I took the precious time to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at her bedside. Then I went back to pray with her son. We prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy together. I was compelled to go see his mom again. When I entered the room she woke up and was singing a camp meeting hymn "Love Lifted Me." She told me she had asked the Lord Jesus to forgive every one of her sins and she knew that the Lord loved her. I ran to go get her son to come right away. He heard his mother sing: "When nothing else could help - love lifted me." He realized the Lord had given a great mercy to his mother and he was there to see it. His mother died a few hours later. And I did her funeral service.
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Fr. Joseph
Hospital Chaplain