A repost for Throwback Thursday….by Leane VanderPutten

Thursdays are busy days around here. The day starts off with the kids and I going to Mass and then to Legion of Mary. We get home late in the morning to do our chores, etc. Later on, in the early evening, I head back to our parish for the Senior Legion of Mary with my husband and the older kids.  I am the President of both Praesidiums, at this time.

The week prior to this last Thursday, our talk at the Legion was about Sacramentals, their efficacy and importance. I usually follow a book to give the talks but randomly decided on this subject and kind of “winged it” by describing some of the most important Sacramentals. Of course, the Miraculous Medal was one that was reviewed.

Fast forward to the next Thursday (this past Thursday), as we were on our way to the Senior Legion of Mary, I got a call on my cell phone from our pastor who wanted me to pass on some information to the members of the Legion of Mary. Then he asked me if I had heard about a grand baby of one of our parishioners. I said I hadn’t heard anything. He proceeded to tell me that the little 4 month old baby was diagnosed with the most aggressive leukemia one can get. After I expressed my concern, Father proceeded to tell me that the family had laid the Miraculous Medal upon the baby and the baby was completely cured!!! Father choked up as he told me. It was awesome!!!

I relayed the story to the members of the Legion of Mary. It struck me that we had just randomly talked about the Miraculous Medal the week before.

This same day, Rosie, who as some of you know, has been recovering from an intense illness, had been battling a threatening headache all day. Her headaches, once they get full-blown, are no joke. She took a Tylenol and came to the Senior Legion of Mary.

That evening, the pain of the headache was increasing and she had to take a major dosage of Tylenol (something we very much dislike to do but have had to rely on through this illness).

A couple of hours later she woke me up, it was around midnight, and said her headache was not lifting. I told her to give it another half hour and then I said if she was desperate she could take the max dose of Ibuprofen (I have had to do research on this to see if it was okay, because of the intensity of these headaches).

At this point I will tell you a little bit about Rosie. She is a good sufferer. She doesn’t complain for the most part and seems to be able to take a lot. We have had to battle these headaches throughout her sickness and they are very difficult to overcome. When they are beyond her endurance, and she is voicing it, I know they are bad….

So… when I was woken up by sobbing this same night at 3 am, I knew it wasn’t good. She was on the couch in extreme pain, bad enough she couldn’t get up to get me. It seemed nothing was working and I couldn’t give her anything else as we had exhausted the amount of painkillers she could take. She couldn’t talk or move her head because of the pain.

I thought of using Epiphany water or the Padre Pio prayer cloth I have…..

Then I thought of Father’s story about the little boy with leukemia and I took my scapular off that had the Miraculous Medal pinned to it and, with a confidence that surprised me, I placed it on Rosie’s head. The sobbing quickly decreased and within seconds Rosie was quiet and laid there with her eyes closed.

In trepidation I asked her if her headache was gone. She said…..yes.

Tears started to roll down my cheeks as I sat there rubbing Rosie’s head. A few minutes later I got up to get something from the other room. I started to hear crying again and I thought, “Oh no! It’s back!”

I went to Rosie and she looked up at me and said through her tears, “Do you realize that as soon as you laid the medal on my head my pain disappeared??!!” We both were crying by this time. Afterwards she told me she felt a soft brushing go across the side of her cheek to the back of her head, taking the headache with it.

It wasn’t long before Rosie fell into a peaceful sleep…..

Not me, though! I was too excited!  I didn’t think I should wake hubby up so here I am telling you the story. I will take a nap later. 🙂

I have used Sacramentals on Rosie before. I know that this is always an efficacious thing, but I don’t “see” the results. This time Our Lady reminded me, as she said at Guadalupe, “Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.”

We must understand that medals, scapulars, holy water and any other type of Sacramentals are not amulets for our protection.  They are consecrated objects that indeed help when the wearer has faith and tries to live a life of virtue.

“Of themselves, the Sacramentals do not save souls, but they are the means for securing heavenly help for those who use them properly. A sacramental is a sacred object or religious action which the Catholic Church, in imitation of the sacraments, uses for the purpose of obtaining spiritual favors especially through her prayer. A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to help devotion, and thus secure grace and take away venial sin or the temporal punishment due to sin.” – Fr. Arthur Tonne, 1950

We have so many treasures in the Catholic Faith. And, unfortunately, in the last few decades, they have become “buried treasures”.

It is up to us to learn about them, use them, teach our children about them and spread the good news! This should be common knowledge throughout Catholic-dom!

I will be posting about some of these Sacramentals in the future so you and I can more familiarize ourselves with them. Knowledge is power!

“Holy water is water blessed by a priest with solemn prayer, to beg God’s blessing on those who use it, and protection from the powers of darkness. Have some holy water in your home. A holy water font is part of the equipment of a complete Catholic home. Use this powerful sacramental to help you keep clear of sin, and strengthen your desire to serve God in the name of the holy sign of the cross. Amen.” – Fr. Arthur Tonne, 1950

A couple of beauties for St. Valentine’s Day!

Fully lined, quality material, made with care and detail!

Sweetheart Apron! Feminine and Beautiful! Available here.

Queen of my Heart Apron! Available here.