Part Two of the book

Help from Heaven

(Answers to Prayer)

copyright 2012     Mary Ann Matulis

No petrol left in the desert

A family (mother, father and small children) were travelling by car, in the Australian outback, on a visit to a relative. About one hour from their destination they ran out of petrol. They were in a deserted area and also had no money left, and were waiting until pension day, to receive an unemployment benefit payment. The wife said that she would pray to Our Lady for help. The husband expressed his dismay by saying, “Is God going to supply a petrol bowser?” He then told his wife to pray, while he walked ahead to try and find a petrol station. One was found. He explained to the owner that the family car had broken down, and that they had no money to pay for petrol until their unemployment benefit cheque arrived. He asked if he could have some petrol and pay for it on the return journey. Normally such a request would be refused, because the person obtaining the petrol would probably never come back to pay for it. The owner of the petrol station supplied the petrol and the family payed for it on the way home.

A pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Charbel

Jason suffered from frequent convulsions, which were brought about by his asthma. His mother, who came from the same village that Saint Charbel was born in, took Jason, who was then about eight years of age, to the tomb of Saint Charbel in Northern Lebanon and prayed for Jason’s healing there. Jason who is now an adult, never again suffered from convulsions.

A marriage healed

Maria and her husband had applied for a divorce. He had already moved on with another woman. Maria was desperate for a reconciliation and to give their marriage a fresh start and a new life, so she started praying for and to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, asking them to obtain this favour for her. Maria had lost all hope that her husband would ever leave his new relationship, and return to her and try to save their marriage. Her prayers were answered, and she is very happy because her husband has returned to her, and is working to heal their marriage.

Registration woes

My husband and I were trying to set up a personal login account (for me) with a government website. Although both of us are computer literate, this proved to be a real challenge. We supplied the website with the information that was required, i.e. extract of birth number, Medicare details and other information. We were rejected for registration on the website many times. A message was put up on the screen that our information was not correct. In addition a message was put up a few times, that we were rejected for taking too long! This was supposed to be because of security concerns. It is not surprising that we took too long, because the information required was contained in a number of documents, and we had to scramble through them to find the information that the website required. 

Hours were wasted on this job. We were at a loss as to what to do, because as far as we were concerned, the information that we had supplied was correct, and there was nothing more that we could do. I went into the next room and quickly said the Mother Teresa Express Novena, (the Memorare prayer said nine times in a row) for a solution. As soon as the novena was completed, my husband called out that the registration had been accepted!

My husband tried a different approach. On the website registration application, it said that there was a choice of either; extract of birth number, or birth certificate number. I had shown both of these documents to the government department on different occasions. On the website we kept supplying the extract of birth number, however in my case, they wanted the birth certificate number, not the extract of birth number. Naturally the website would not let me know that. When the birth certificate number was supplied all was well.

Help with a house sale

We have been offering many novenas to various saints for three years now, for the sale of our home in a small town. Over two years ago we moved to the city, and have been struggling to meet the payments. We offered a Mass for a soul in Purgatory three days ago, and that day we were due to meet a couple at our home, which is an hour out of town. We forgot our keys and had to come back to get them. The roads were supposed to be not good for travel, because there had been freezing rain, so we thought that we would end up not going, but thanks be to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, we went and as we drove, we decided to offer a Rosary for the relief of the poor souls in Purgatory, asking them to obtain the favor of the sale of our home.

We managed to get there. The couple loved the house and told us that they would put a down payment to hold our home until the middle of December. Thanks be to God and to the poor souls in Purgatory for their help.

About six months ago we had car trouble. It was going to cost us more than five hundred dollars to fix. We didn’t know how we would be able to afford it. Out of the blue my husband's parents presented us with a cheque for one thousand dollars. They told us that they received some money from my husband’s grandmother’s estate, from the sale of her land. She has been deceased for a number of years now.

I found out today that my mom had her come to mind to pray for, at the same time that we received the cheque. This is another miracle of intercession through the poor souls in Purgatory. They need our prayers, our Masses and offerings for their release, in return they will help us a great deal as Saint John Vianney said!

We would love to have this published, so that many people will see the importance of praying for the poor souls. (Debbie)

A gift of oil and coal to heat up a freezing house

One winter when the temperature was way below zero, we ran out of heating oil, because of that  we couldn’t heat up the house. We had no coal and couldn’t afford to buy any heating oil or coal until a week later. I prayed for and to the Holy Souls in Purgatory and asked for their help and around three or four hours later, I got a phone call that my uncle wanted to buy us some heating oil and coal because it was so cold. I was so thankful.

I remember that day well, it was so cold and rainy and got dark pretty early. I was walking home from town feeling chilled to the bone; not looking forward to going home to a cold house, where there was no heat, so I stopped in at a church on the end of my street and prayed and begged for about half an hour. I was so thankful when I got that phone call saying my uncle was getting us heating oil and coal. If we had waited a week in those temperatures without heating, we would all have become ill.

French Knitting

I logged onto the internet to find out how to do French Knitting. From the information that was supplied, I made myself a home-made knitting spool, (which is also known as a Knitting Nancy); with an empty cardboard toilet roll, some sticky tape and four paddle pop sticks. The video demonstrated what looked like a really easy technique to do French Knitting, but unfortunately when I tried to do it, I failed big time. I kept trying, but all I got was a bunch of knots and a headache. When I went to bed that night, I asked the Holy Souls in Purgatory, (who I pray for frequently) to please teach me how to do French Knitting. The next morning I watched the instruction video again, and also watched some other videos on how to do French knitting.

It worked. I managed to produce some very nice French knitting. A couple of weeks later, I purchased a packet of four different sized circular plastic knitting looms, (which ranged in size from 13cm to 29cm in diameter). I thought that the transition would be easy, but it was not. This time I asked the Holy Souls in Purgatory to teach me how to knit on a circular loom. They helped me to understand the instructional videos, and now I have the confidence to do more advanced knitting techniques.The Holy Souls in Purgatory are very good teachers. They certainly know something about knitting on a loom!

The Holy Souls in Purgatory also helped me, to learn how to knit properly, (on a long narrow loom). The knitting was not coming out well. I promised the Holy Souls in Purgatory, that I would publish the favour, if they helped me to knit well on the long loom. It took a few days and the watching of a few more instructional videos on the internet, but The Holy Souls in Purgatory came through for me. My husband commented that the knitting looked professional, like it had been done on a machine!

Financial help for the trip

My name is Philomena. I read the book; Help from Heaven (Answers to prayer) a couple of days ago. I am interested in all the accounts of the wonderful answers to prayer, but especially those which were granted through the intercession of my patron saint, and also the favours which were granted through the intercession of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. At the time that I read the book, I had just been confirmed to go on a trip to Israel. There were some elements in this which were providential. My testimony after reading the book is as follows. I decided to say the Saint Gertrude prayer for the relief of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, together with prayers to Saint Philomena. I did this for most of the day - yesterday. While I was at the hairdressers,

I offered up all the pain that I was undergoing, (when I was having my hair braided), for the relief of the poor souls in purgatory, and in virtue of the Precious Blood of Jesus. I asked the Saint Philomena and the Poor Souls to intercede for me, so that I could obtain some pocket money for the trip. In my prayers, I asked them to intercede for me to the Sweet Little Infant Jesus of Prague, because earlier this year, I entrusted all my finances to the little king. I had no money to spend in the Holy Land.

Today I received an envelope with money worth close to fifty dollars. A few minutes later, two of my colleagues asked me about my trip to the Holy Land. I told them about the donation which I had just received. They had an intense discussion, and then they said that they could not let me travel without their contribution. Both of them have promised to given me fifty dollars, so now I am assured of one hundred and fifty dollars. I am now praying for some additional funds, so that I can buy some devotional items in the Holy Land. I am confident that Our Lord will grant me this favour also. Philomena  (Uganada)

Peter’s conversion

Peter a non-practicing Anglican, was married to a Catholic lady. Every Sunday he drove his wife to Mass, and then he sat in the car and read the newspaper, until Mass was finished. His wife was one of two people, who had a caretaker key to the church. (The Blessed Sacrament was not reserved there during the week, but was only brought there on Sundays for Mass, by the priest who lived a few miles away).

During the week Peter took the key, and went down to the church and sat in there and prayed. (No one knew about this. He told me about it himself). His wife and children prayed for many years for his conversion. Their prayers were answered. Peter was received into the Catholic Church a few years before his death at the age of 86.

Alcoholism and serious health problems

Kath prayed to Saint Philomena, for the healing of her father-in-law’s alcoholism, and also for the healing of the serious health problems which had resulted from his drinking. Both of these favours were granted. In addition, he stopped verbally abusing her family, for having had more children than he thought to be acceptable. He started visiting his grandchildren and became content.

In remission

Dianne’s niece Lee, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Dianne made a 54 day Rosary Novena for a healing. On the last day of the novena, Dianne received in the mail, a letter about a mammogram, that she had a couple of months earlier. It said that there was no cancer present.  Dianne took this as a sign, that her niece would be okay. Lee went through chemotherapy and is now in remission. Several years down the track she is still well.

Healing from gangrene and also from staph infection

My mother suffers from diabetes. She had a cyst taken off the finger next to the thumb. This is no big deal for those of us without diabetes. I took her for a check up and when the doctor unwrapped the finger, it was black from the tip to the first knuckle and had no feeling at all. It had gangrene, what we did not know at the time was that my mother also had MRSA, which is a staph infection. I began to pray to Saint Rita for the healing of my mother’s finger. The next week I took her back to the doctor. 

He unwrapped the finger and the flesh was pink and there was feeling in the finger. This was even though she had a staph infection. On account of the infection her finger should have been removed. When we found out that she had staph about three weeks later, I again prayed to Saint Rita for healing for my mother. She was given antibiotics, but before we caught it, my mother already had boils going completely down her legs and again remember that she had diabetes. (Things like this for a diabetic are always life threatening.) Within the week my mother was healed again. I thank Saint Rita for her intercession and I believe that without Saint Rita’s help my mother would have died. Saint Rita’s feast day is celebrated on May 22.

An unexpected win

Joni gave a donation to; Aid to the Church in Need, (on behalf of the Holy Souls in Purgatory.)  A small portion of this was for Mass offerings. About three hours later the phone rang. It was the local supermarket owner, ringing to tell Joni that she had won a prize valued at $1,000.00 in the customer promotional draw. (This was just $100.00 short of her donation!) She was very happy to win the prize, but the real thing that made Joni happy, was that the win signified, that her donation had really helped the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and it showed their speedy and obvious gratitude for the help that she had given them.

Employment obtained

The following account comes from an email that I received. Dear Mary Ann, Firstly I need to sincerely thank you for compiling the "Help from Heaven" book and putting it up online. It has come into my life at a time, when I had totally lost all hope and faith. I came across your website last week, and was extremely touched by the various miracles that have been granted to people. I have been looking for a miracle in my life for the past two months. I quit my job of five years recently, because I was not happy working there anymore. I have been desperately looking for another job, and have had many interviews, however nothing materialised.

On your website, I came across the story of Saint Therese helping the lady to find a suitable job. It gave me some hope, and I started a novena to Saint Therese and Saint Philomena three days ago. I applied for some more job opportunities online yesterday, and within two hours of applying, I got a call from one of the companies, asking me to come in for a meeting today. This morning I met with the company’s representative, and the interview was successful. I am speechless with gratitude, and have realised that prayer is powerful, and that it really works. I thank Saint Therese and Saint Philomena for their intercession in obtaining this blessing for me. Thank you again and God bless. (Sheryl)

A speedy recovery

My aunty was eighty one years old and was close to death. We prayed for her on May 25, 2002 at the Mass, which was held for the members of The Association of St. Philomena at Guildford, (Sydney.) Our chaplain also said Mass for her on Friday the 31st of May. She made a good recovery and was discharged from hospital on the 4th of June.  (Mary Ann) Australia

Cancer in remission

Novenas were made in honour of Saint Philomena, for a man who was in hospital suffering from cancer. He explained that while he was alone in his room, he felt a pair of hands pushing down upon his chest. After this event his cancer went into remission.

A bunch of trouble makers

We were on holidays and were staying at a rented house near the beach. Five days after we arrived, a group of men moved into one of the rental houses nearby. On the first night they screamed and kicked up a racket. The next day was even more upsetting. They ran around the balcony without the benefit of clothes. There was even worse behaviour  than that. We closed the blinds so that we would be spared these sights. I thought that our holiday was as good as ruined. I prayed for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and asked for their intercession to fix the problem. That night they made a bit more noise after they returned from their late night outing. From then on there were no more problems.

A pilgrimage to Lourdes

Tricia used to pray for a healing of her disabled children. Many times she said the Rosary with tears in her eyes, begging Our Lady for help. On some occasions she used to ask Our Lady, to let her visit Lourdes in spirit. She received special consolations on these occasions, and felt as though she was really there. Never did she believe for one minute, that she would be crossing the world, to actually be there in person. Her health problems alone would have ruled this out, to say nothing of the other obstacles. Some years later, she was given a free trip to France and Italy. Tricia spent three days praying at the famous Sanctuary of Our Lady in Lourdes, France. Tricia’s family now has a beautiful Lourdes shrine in their backyard.

An emergency dental appointment

Jana rang up the dentist and asked for an emergency appointment. She was given one for ll.30 a.m. the next day. She gratefully accepted this, but she really needed one at least an hour earlier, because of another appointment that she had to attend too. She placed a petition note about this under her statue of Saint Philomena, and also wrote out a prayer in her appointment diary, which reads as follows: “Mary Help of Christians, pray for us, and come to my aid in this Lepanto situation.” Then Jana started to say the Rosary, (which she offered for the relief of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and for her other intentions, including obtaining an earlier dental appointment.) 

She had just concluded two decades of the Rosary when the phone rang. It was the dental surgery. They had had a cancellation, and were able to give her an appointment an hour earlier than the previous appointment. Jana’s problem regarding the timing of the appointment was solved.

Food poisoning

A seminarian, who was suffering from a dose of food poisoning, developed stomach cramps and vomiting. During this ordeal he fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke an hour later he was in good health. He later learned that his friends had gone into the chapel during his illness to pray to Saint Philomena for his recovery.

A painful infected molar tooth

I received the assistance of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Some years ago, I was out of work and in dreadful pain because of an infected molar. I promised the Holy Souls in Purgatory that, I would have three Masses offered for them if they helped me. Within a very short time, a friend of mine arranged for me to see a dentist friend of his at no charge. He looked at the tooth and determined that he could not perform the extraction, so he asked for a favour from an oral surgeon friend of his, who performed the extraction for free. The Holy Souls in Purgatory can and do intercede for us. (This testimony is from a friend on a Catholic forum).

Washing machine trouble

The following account was received on received on email. Dear Mary Ann, This story is long overdue. My washing machine broke down a while ago. A technician came to my home, to take a look at it. He said that there was something wrong with one of the parts, and that it would take two weeks to order the part in. The cost was about two hundred dollars. He told me to call the company, and said that he would fix the machine, when the spare part arrived. I started praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and also asked them to intercede for me regarding this matter. About an hour later, the washing machine started to work. E.D. (Canada)

How I came to know Saint Philomena the Wonder Worker

In 1976 a Carmelite priest started up a club for singles. I was then twenty years of age. In early May of that year our club attended a dance some miles away. I met my husband Chris there. He joined our club. I liked him very much, but he took no interest in me. He also thought that I was too young for him anyway. (There is an eleven year age difference). To make matters worse I was extremely shy. By September I had made no progress in getting his attention.

A novena was needed. I went down to a Catholic bookshop, (in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta) during my work lunch hour. I asked the shop assistant for a novena to a good miracle working saint. She was very busy with customers who were picking out First Holy Communion gifts, so she pulled out a box full of prayer cards and leaflets and told me to go through it and select whatever I needed. I then found a leaflet on Saint Philomena the Wonder Worker. It had a novena, some sketchy information and a black and white picture on it. The most important bit of information on it was that Saint Philomena is a wonder worker, and that she works miracles of every kind for people in every class of society. I felt an instant strong connection with Saint Philomena, as though she was in the room with me.

I had never heard of her before, although I know now that my great aunty Rose’s second name was Philomena, so that implies that my Irish great grandmother (who had migrated to Australia) had known about Saint Philomena, and my mother has since told me that the Church of Saint Brigid, which was built in the middle of the nineteenth century which was near our home, (on the corner of the street that we lived in) had at one stage had a statue of Saint Philomena in it. (This must have been when I was very little, or even before my birth because I had absolutely no recollection of it). I made the novena to Saint Philomena in September 1976 for a boyfriend. I did not specify anyone in particular, and Chris took me out to the pictures the following month on October 15. Saint Philomena was fast!

We were married on December 3, the following year. In December 2012, we will celebrate our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. We have five children (three girls and two boys). Since then Saint Philomena has done a great deal in my life and I have seen her work wonders for me and for many others. (Mary Ann Matulis)

Healing of cysts

There was a large cyst on the side of Kerri’s face. People kept commenting on it. Her doctor suggested that she have plastic surgery to have it removed. Kerri prayed a novena for the relief of the Poor Souls in Purgatory, and gradually the cyst went right down. The need for surgery was no longer there. Since then people have asked: when she had the cyst removed! Kerri continued to pray novenas for the relief of the Poor Souls in Purgatory, asking for their intercession, and more cysts on other parts of her body (arm, back, etc.) have either gone down or have gone completely.

Trouble on a social networking website

Ingrid posted a few links on a social networking website. In a short while, she received an email warning her, that if she posted any more links, that her account would be closed. She was baffled by this, because it was obvious to her, that other people posted many more links than she did, and that they were not censored. The number of contacts, which she had on the website, kept increasing, but because of the censure, Ingrid was afraid to even give someone her email address, because it might be counted as a link, and the whole account would be closed down.

This situation dragged on for well over a year, and Ingrid was upset and frustrated, and did not know how to remedy it. Finally she sent a prayer petition for help, to the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal in Paris. Over the next few days, she felt a strong urge to post a link in order to test the waters. She resisted this, but several days later she gave in and posted a link, then several more. Nothing happened!  The warning that she had received in the email, turned out to be an idle threat with no real substance in it.

Money for return fares

A married couple from New Zealand, who were on holidays in Australia, had used up all their money. They had no money left over for their return air fares to New Zealand. They attended a Mass. After the Mass they had a chat with some of the people there. They admitted that they were in this mess. They were advised to pray to Saint Philomena. Later on a man who they had never met before drove up and handed them the exact amount needed for the air fares, and then he drove off without an explanation!

Meniere's disease

Not all healings meet the strict criteria of the Lourdes Medical Bureau; however they are still answers to prayer. This testimony shows how Saint Philomena sometimes works through a series of natural events to bring about a healing. Seventeen years ago, a Sister of Mercy, (from the North Coast of NSW) wrote to me asking for prayers to Saint Philomena for her health. Sister had a longstanding devotion to Saint Philomena, and would have already been praying for a healing. She described her symptoms to me. Sister had been going from doctor to doctor for twenty six years. They had failed to diagnose the cause of her very serious illness, and because of this, they were unable to relieve the terrible suffering that this disease had caused her.

She described her symptoms to me in the letter. I suspected it to be Meniere's disease, because my mother had suffered from what was probably the worst case of this disease in Australia, and had come very close to death, due to it being undiagnosed, and even worse still; being mistreated by doctors. Their mistakes caused my mother's illness to become even more serious. Mum was finally diagnosed by a specialist at Prince Alfred Hospital, who had some simple techniques to deal with it, and she recovered from the illness. (The specialist ordered an emergency transfer from another hospital to try and save her life.)

I telephoned my mother after receiving the letter and read out the nun's symptoms to her. She said that she believed it to be Meniere's disease. She told me the strategies and treatment used for this disease. I wrote them down and typed them up. The next day a nurse named Philomena (who is a friend of mine) telephoned me, (in regard to some Saint Philomena devotional matters.)  I asked her opinion of the symptoms and without any hesitation she said that it sounded like Meniere's disease.

After that I telephoned the Tinnitus Association of NSW for information brochures on the disease. (I had heard a radio interview with them a week before, that is where I got the idea that they might be able to help in the matter). They sent me information on the disease and things which might be done about it. I posted all this information to the nun and she took it to her doctor, who was not at all that impressed with the recommendations, but let her try anyway. She followed the advice and received a healing. (My mother passed away in June, 2010 from an unrelated medical condition.)

Agoraphobia

A lady from a nearby suburb, who had suffered from agoraphobia for ten years, came to me for a book about Saint Philomena and a novena card to her. She came with her husband to give her the necessary support to make the trip to Westmead. She had prayed to another saint, (who is also a great Wonder Worker) for ten years, but had not received a cure.

Soon after praying to St. Philomena she was cured and was able to go out freely. She took up a job as well. (There is nothing wrong with the other saint's intercession. I can vouch for the fact that his intercession is very good). Prior to the illness this lady was very active and was involved in many activities, including playing netball and transporting elderly people in her car to Mass and to other places.

Agoraphobia stems from severe panic attacks, that occur just about anywhere and at any-time. As a consequence of these attacks the person becomes so disabled that they become afraid to leave their own home. (Mary Ann)

Saint Philomena and the examinations

A lady shared the following story with me and gave me permission to tell it to others. Her name is Philomena and she has been a devotee of her patron saint for over seventy years. Her daughter was studying at university and the exams were imminent. She knew that there was no way that she could pass the exams. Her mother prayed hard for the intention and then Saint Philomena appeared to her wearing a crown. Saint Philomena had long hair. Saint Philomena simply said that the lady’s daughter would pass the exams.

This story comes from a very down-to-earth sane intelligent woman. Philomena informed her daughter that she would pass her exams. The daughter demanded to know how she could possibly know that. She told her daughter that someone had told her that. Philomena’s daughter pressured her to reveal who had said that to her. The mother said that she was a bit shy about revealing who had said this to her.

After much pressure she let her daughter know about the vision of Saint Philomena. The daughter passed the exams just as her mother had said she would. This had a great impact upon the daughter. The daughter had stopped going to Mass some time previously. Her mother has been praying for her conversion. Philomena's daughter is very impressed by what her mother has told her. She is now reconsidering her position in regard to going to Mass, whereas before she refused to consider that.

A real surprise

The afternoon before the present pope was elected, a priest friend of our family, (an American in Rome) left a message for me on Skype. This priest knew Cardinal Ratzinger personally. The message read something like this: “tomorrow Cardinal Ratzinger will be elected pope. He will be known as Pope Benedict XVI.”  I did not know how to respond to this comment, so I said nothing. I got up early the next morning to listen to the news.  Was I surprised!  I asked the priest how he knew, and he said that he had received a sign. I did not ask for any further explanation. (Mary Ann)

Employment with specific conditions 

Monica was in need of a job so she prayed for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and asked them to intercede for her, so that she would find employment. She specified in her prayer a job at a particular shopping complex located in a nearby suburb, near the railway station for easy transport. The favour was graciously granted.

A  wedding veil for Saint Philomena

I had a church sized statue of St Philomena in storage. When I came to the shed where the statue was kept, there was a nice surprise. Spiders had spun St. Philomena a full length wedding veil !  It had a long train and also went over her face down to the floor. The statue could be seen through the veil. It was a great sight. The veil was spun over the crown of roses on the statue’s head. I only wish that I had taken a picture of it. (Mary Ann)

Protection from Hurricanes

Several years ago the gulf coast was on the bulls eye, to have a direct hit of a category 4 hurricane. It was to hit the city that my sister lives in. Lots of people had left. My sister and her husband had to wait until the last day, because he is a profession that required him to stay longer. I prayed to Saint Rita, because Rita is my sister’s middle name and her confirmation name. I asked Saint Rita to protect them, and the city that they live in. At the last turn the storm went to the left and hit an unpopulated area. What is amazing is they own property near the direct hit, but nothing was moved or damaged on the property, or the housing on it. They never had to leave their home either.

Here is the second part of my story. I have a brother who lives in another gulf coast state, who was in the direct line of hurricane Rita. The storm did extensive damage to the area around where he lives, but nothing but one clay pot was damaged. He owns a plant nursery and none of his plants were damaged. This protection was also through the intercession of Saint Rita. She is my mom's favorite saint. I got her a bust of Saint Rita several years ago. It was touched to a first class relic; a leg bone of Saint Rita . My family loves Saint Rita.  K.B. Texas, USA.

The wedding dress

Three of our five children, (two girls and a boy) were due to make their Confirmation on the same day.  I wanted the two girls to have a white dress and a veil for the occasion. My second daughter was able to wear the same dress, which her older sister had worn for her First Holy Communion, but we did not have a dress for the older daughter.

My husband gave me a spending limit for the dress of thirty dollars, to purchase her one. Mum and I tried in vain to find a suitable white dress in this price range. One night I wrote St. Philomena a petition asking for her help in this matter. Time for a solution to the problem was fast running out. I placed the petition under my big statue of St. Philomena.

The next morning my mother telephoned, and made the unlikely suggestion that we should try the St. Vincent de Paul opportunity shop. I reluctantly agreed, thinking that the solution would not be found there. We drove down and first attended a Mass celebrated in the convent chapel. 

We then went to the St. Vincent de Paul shop and there was a long rack of wedding dresses. There was a sign above the rack clearly indicating that they were ninety dollars each; sixty dollars over my spending limit. I asked the lady the price anyway, hoping that the price might come down just a little.  She said that the wedding dresses were ten dollars each. I pointed to the sign and told her that it said wedding dresses ninety dollars each.

The lady kept insisting that they were ten dollars each, even though I kept pointing out the sign with the ninety dollar price tag for the wedding dresses to her.  Finally we purchased one of the wedding dresses for ten dollars, since the lady had firmly decided that was the price. Since I had done my best to convince her that the dresses were actually ninety dollars each my conscience was clear.

My mother cut off some of the fabric from the dress below the knee and hemmed the dress, making it into a three quarter length dress. (It was a perfect fit for my oldest daughter and looked wonderful).

Surrender to God’s Will

Lisa ran a devotional group for many years. She eventually turned this apostolate over to another lady. In all those years, Lisa and her husband had never once missed one of the Masses and meetings of the apostolate. No one else even came close to that record. A few days before the next Mass and meeting of the group, Lisa had surgery.  She was back at home recuperating. The night before the Mass she felt very ill and was in pain.

Lisa was very distressed, because it seemed to her that she would not be attending the Mass and meeting of the group for the very first time. She prayed for pain relief, and that she would be able to attend. Things did not get any better. Finally she addressed this prayer to God; “Lord I accept that I will be too ill to go tomorrow, but please relieve the pain.” The next morning Lisa made up her mind to rest after the ordeal of the previous night. Her husband went down to the church to help with the preparations. He came back after an hour, and begged her to attend the Mass and meeting, because the number of people there on that occasion was low. She reluctantly agreed. Things went very well for her, much to her surprise.

Healing through the use of Holy Water

My brother John dropped a heavy machine on his ankle, while at work on Friday. He was in a lot of pain and could hardly walk. He telephoned us on Saturday afternoon, and told us about the accident. My husband went to visit John, and brought him some Holy Water. (The Holy Water was blessed with the traditional formula). Before going to sleep on Saturday night, John rubbed some of the Holy Water on his foot, and blessed himself with it on the forehead.

When John woke up the next morning, his foot was healed. A friend of mine blesses herself with Holy Water whenever she has a headache, and the pain stops quickly, In a similar case, one of my daughters had a headache, and I gave her Holy Water to bless herself with, and the headache healed up almost immediately.  An online friend has had toothaches healed immediately through the use of Holy Water. She has also had other pains healed through its use as well.

In the traditional blessing formula for Holy Water, which is the ones that the priests of the FSSP still use, here are some of the petitions that the priest makes to God, when he blesses the water.

“O God, ….grant that this creature of Thine (water) may be endowed with divine grace to drive away devils and to cast out diseases, …”

Worse that looking for a needle in a haystack!

Wendy put her glasses on the bedside table. A few hours later when she put them on again, she discovered that one of the lenses was missing. Wendy had carried the glasses into  the room in her hands, so she had been unaware, that the lense had fallen out. If she had been wearing them at the time, she would have been aware of this immediately. The big problem now was to find them quickly, before someone stepped on them, and the lense got broken.

Wendy sent up this prayer repeatedly to  Saint Anthony, “Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around. Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, somethings lost and can’t be found.” She asked Saint Anthony to find the lense quickly, and to protect it from being broken. Wendy and her husband searched the carpeted floor in a number of rooms for the lense.  Glass on carpet is very hard to see. It is so easily camouflaged. About fifteen minutes later, her husband spotted the lense on the floor, just as he was about to put his foot in that spot! He got a small screwdriver and put the lense back into the frame.

The choir

Anna was organizing Divine Mercy Sunday devotions for her group. She had asked several choirs if they could help out, but they were all unable too. She mentioned this to her friend Cathy. Cathy promised to say the Mother Teresa Express Novena, (the Memorare prayer said nine times in a row) for a solution. She said the novena, and also prayed for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and asked for their intercession to obtain the favour. Anna found a suitable choir a couple of days later.

The washing machine

About three weeks ago my washing machine developed a problem. It always stopped after the first part of the washing cycle. I do many loads of laundry each week, so this was a real nuisance. I had to keep going back to the machine, and checking to see if it had stopped. Then I had to manually move the dial on to the next section of the wash cycle. I asked my husband to find the washing machine warranty document, so that we could check if the machine was still under warranty, and also to find out the details of who to call to come and repair the machine.  My husband searched for several days but could not find the document. Then I said the Miraculous Responsory of Saint Anthony asking for his help to find the warranty. We did not find it, but the next day the washing machine worked properly and it no longer needs to be repaired! (Mary Ann, the editor of this book)

Denture trouble

Cilia’s denture developed a crack, which was starting to expand. She was worried that it would eventually brake, because this had happened with one of her previous dentures. She booked an appointment with the dentist to have it repaired. The dental technician mended the crack; but when she got it back, the denture did not feel good at all. The dentist and the dental technician did not know what to do. The fit of the denture really bothered Cilia. She had never had trouble like this with a denture before.

For the next week Cilia could hardly eat on account of the poor fitting denture, and she lost a few pounds in the process. She got quite hungry, and was very upset with this situation. (She had prayed to lose some weight, but not in this way, nor in the flu which followed!) Her speech which had always been good was now poor. She was really struggling to speak properly, and was very concerned about the situation. Her lip also hurt. Six days later she had another appointment with the dentist. A different dentist and dental technician were on duty that day, than on the previous appointment. They took great care to deal with the situation, and worked with the denture until it seemed to be much better.

This worked for a few days. Cilia was at last able to eat more food, but unfortunately for some reason, her speech was only good for some of the time, and worse still, her gums started to hurt, and again the denture started to fit badly, although she still could eat some food. Cilia suffered most of the day from this situation. The next morning, she prayed for the Holy Souls in Purgatory (in honour of the whole court of heaven, especially Saint Rita, the saint of the impossible), by saying the Holy Name of Jesus devoutly on each bead of her Rosary. Cilia asked the poor souls for their help regarding the situation. At the end of this she felt no better, and her speech still did not sound right, however a short while later, the denture fitted well and her speech came out easily and well (for the most part) for the rest of the day.

The next day Cila encouraged by the progress, again prayed the Holy Name of Jesus on her Rosary beads, for the relief of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, in honour of the whole court of heaven. She had no problems at all. Celia had previously read a book which is entitled: The Wonders of the Holy Name. This helped her to understand why the Holy Name of Jesus is such a powerful prayer.

The situation improved greatly. The next day there were no problems at all. The problems came back, and this situation lasted for a few weeks. She struggled to hide her off and on again speech problems from others. An idea then came to Celia. She realized that if she was suffering from this problem, so were many other people all over the world, and that many of them were suffering much worse from this, and from speech problems, eating problems and gum troubles etc. due to poorly fitting dentures, which could not be easily remedied. Celia started to pray both for herself and for people all over the world in a worse situation than herself, because of trouble with dentures. Relief came almost immediately. Soon she was completely out of trouble, and no longer prayed for herself regarding this matter, but for the other people in this predicament.

She now applies this prayer technique to many other situations, and asks Our Lord and the saints to help, heal and strengthen people all over the world who are going through whatever difficult situations that she finds herself in. On reflection about this situation, she realized that this technique is very much like something that occurs at Lourdes and at other Catholic Shrines. Very sick people who comes to Lourdes often temporarily forget, that they came there to ask for a healing, when they look at the other sick people, and see someone much sicker and more in need of healing than themselves. It sometimes happens that this results in the healing of the person who is praying, (although they did not pray for themselves, but for another person to be healed.)

In Celia’s case she did not actually forget her own problem, but like the Lourdes pilgrims who came there to ask for a healing, she prayed for those in more trouble than herself. Maybe this was an inspiration from the saints and the Holy Souls in Purgatory. She promised the Holy Souls in Purgatory, that she would publish the favour if it was granted, which it has been.

Help to increase business in a difficult economic climate

I have been praying for and to the Holy Souls in Purgatory for many years, and have had so many favours granted. I read Maria Simma's book about the visits that she received from the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and it inspired me to pray even harder. I am self-employed and live in Northern Ireland.

The global recession is really starting to hit us now, and I became very worried that my business was going to be affected. I carry out allergy testing and give nutritional advice - a job which I love. The diary looked very empty last week, and I was so worried that I would have no income to bring home. I felt increasingly desperate, so I begged the Holy Souls in Purgatory to intercede on my behalf, and I promised to have some Masses offered for their relief.

When I rang the clinic to check my diary, I discovered to my delight that my diary is almost full of patients! Today I had a patient who is a religious sister and we had a great chat. When she asked me where she should pay, I explained that I don’t charge members of religious orders. She threw her arms around me in gratitude, and I told her that she had to remember me in her prayers. She promised me that she would do this.

I offered this up to Our Lord, and asked that these prayers be offered for the relief of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Whenever things look really bleak the Holy Souls in Purgatory always come up with the goods! I believe this one hundred percent, and nothing can shake my faith in God's Mercy.  S. L. (Northern Ireland)

Files retrieved after a computer crash

I prayed fervently for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, particularly the Rosary, following a laptop computer crash, and asked for their intercession to retrieve my emails and files. A few online friends also prayed some Hail Marys for the intention. My husband worked hard at trying to fix up the problem, and even rang Dell for technical support. That did not bring us the needed help. One of the problems was that the start-up disk was corrupted, and my husband did not know where he could obtain another one. He then thought of the start-up disk for an old computer, which we once had, which has since gone to the one of the council pickups of old electronic equipment. Even though the disk was unrelated to this laptop computer, it worked, and the files were retrieved and safely placed on another laptop. Thank you Holy Souls. (Sharon)

The healing of Anorexia Nervosa 

Rose was suffering from Anorexia Nervosa. Theresa a friend of Rose’s mother heard about this and commenced a novena in honour of Blessed Mary MacKillop to obtain a healing for Rose. Theresa travelled the one hour trip to Sydney on the train each Monday of the novena, to attend an early morning Mass at the shrine of Blessed Mary MacKillop. Half-way through the novena, it became more difficult for Theresa, because of a train strike. She could still catch a train to the city, but from there on she had to deal with unfamiliar bus routes, however she still managed to get to the Masses on time. Another event also happened half-way through the novena.

Rose was rushed to hospital because she was dying. A doctor at the hospital helped Rose face up to what she was doing to herself by excessive dieting. The doctor asked her to have a good look at herself in a full length mirror and then asked her this question: “What do you see?”  Rose’s answer was “skin and bones.” This was the breakthrough that was needed. Rose was out of her denial about her dieting and what it had done to her. By the end of the nine week novena, Rose was eating normally. She was healed. Since then she has completed her schooling and has obtained employment and is doing well.

A severely impacted wisdom tooth

Vicky’s face swelled up overnight on the left side. It was very painful. She did not know what had caused this, and was very alarmed by the development. Vicky said the Divine Mercy Chaplet several times on the same day for help. She then paid a visit to the doctor. While she was waiting to see the doctor, Vicky and her husband decided to visit a pharmacy to obtain some pain relief tablets. The pharmacist was shocked by the size of the swelling on Vicky’s face and remarked that it must be very painful. While she was in the pharmacy shop Vicky was stunned to see a picture of the Divine Mercy, up on the back wall.

Never before had she seen any kind of religious picture in a pharmacy and certainly not one of the Divine Mercy. She took this as a sign that she would be helped, and pointed the picture out to her husband. The doctor said that she had an infection, and he prescribed a course of antibiotics and ordered x-rays. Later-on a 3D scan confirmed that her severely impacted wisdom tooth was infected, and that a cyst had formed around it. It had been known for about ten years that this tooth was a real problem.

Every dentist who had ever seen it on x-rays said that it was the worst impacted wisdom tooth that they had ever seen. In fact Vicky had become uneasy about this matter about six months before the infection set in, and had started praying to Saint Rita (the saint of the impossible) that the dire consequences predicted by dentists regarding this tooth would never happen. This in itself was a bit strange, because on the last visit that Vicky made to her mother, before her mother’s death, Vicky mentioned the concerns about the wisdom tooth to her mother for the very first time. Her mother brushed this off with; Oh that is nothing. I have had that for 50 years and nothing ever happened. Vicky was temporarily reassured by this and then felt the need to pray to St. Rita about the matter.

No one wanted to operate to remove the tooth, because the operation ran the risk of having Vicky’s jaw broken, (because of the thin bone in the jaw), and of having her face permanently numbed, because the tooth was very close to a nerve. The infection forced the issue. There was no longer any choice. The failure to operate ran an even greater risk than operating. If left alone, the infection could have gone done to Vicky’s heart and killed her. What a terrible choice! The operation was scheduled and Vicky continued to pray. One night on the way to the vigil Mass, she said a prayer to Saint Therese asking for the success of the operation. On the way home from Mass, she found a number of roses on the footpath (sidewalk), that made up a small bouquet.

On the day of the operation Vicky was asked to sit in the TV room with other people, who were waiting to be operated on; while waiting there she asked Saint Therese for a sign that the operation would be successful. Finally the time came to be prepared for the operation, but to her dismay there was no sign. After all the preparations were done, Vicky’s was placed on a bed, and wheeled into a small cubical just outside the actual operating room. She looked at the wall just beside her bed, and the wall was completely covered with a picture of roses. The operation was a complete success with no complications at all. (Roses are a well-known sign from Saint Therese.) Vicky had also prayed for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and had asked for their intercession for a successful operation. The operation was performed on All Souls Day and from this, it is clear that the Holy Souls in Purgatory had indeed interceded for Vicky.

Tinnitus

I was suffering from tinnitus, (ringing in the ears), along with other unpleasant symptoms. The tinnitus was really getting to me. I prayed to Saint Rita for help. Some time later, a friend who knew of my problem, emailed me a link, to a radio program transcript on the subject. It was explained in the program that some tinnitus is caused by the brain misinterpreting incoming sound frequencies, and that as a result, it produces tinnitus, and that the ears are not causing the problem in these cases. (I am not a medical person, but this is how I understood the article.) This explanation is very different from conventional medical advice on the subject, (which blames the problem on the ears), and which tends to leave little hope for chronic tinnitus sufferers. This lack of hope for a healing often cements their problem, when it could be helped considerably, or even completely eliminated. 

It was explained in the radio transcript, that there is a program in America, based on this idea regarding tinnitus, for sufferers of the condition, which takes about a year to complete. This was absolutely out of the question, because I live in Sydney, Australia and did not have a year to spare anyway. I read the radio transcript article carefully several times, and then I made a little speech to give to my brain whenever the problem of tinnitus rears its ugly head.  “Brain I know that my ears are okay, and that you are misinterpreting incoming sound frequencies and that as a result you are producing the tinnitus, so now that I know what you are up to, I order you to stop doing that!” Guess what? This works! I reapply the technique whenever necessary, and the problem clears up quickly.

The following testimony came to me on email.

St. Anthony comes through yet again!

I misplaced several thousand dollars. I looked everywhere, and repeated looking through every nook and cranny in my house, but to no avail. Finally I asked Saint Anthony for guidance. He led me to the linen cupboard. I had looked there many times, and had even unfolded every item, so I was skeptical when I was led there. Mary Ann I tell you it was like the money was planted there! I couldn’t believe it!   S.Y. (Australia)

The healing of family relationship

Kim's family refused to have anything to do with her for a whole year due to their own disturbed attitudes. Kim was really distressed. She offered up a whole month of  her merits for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and repeated this offering for nine days in a row, (as is the custom when saying a novena). On the tenth day she was reconciled with her family.

Healing of depression

A man who lives in Australia, was suffering from severe depression. His wife decided that they should travel to Lourdes France, in order to seek a healing there for her husband. (No doubt this decision was easier than usual, because the husband and the wife had originally come from France.) They travelled to Lourdes and spent a couple of days there praying. They also attended the Eucharistic blessing of the sick while they were in Lourdes. The man is now well and no longer suffers from depression. In gratitude for this favour, the man and his wife donated a tablet, which has a thanksgiving message to Our lady inscribed on it.The tablet is kept in her Sanctuary in Lourdes.

My life was spared

I was first diagnosed with high blood pressure in 1999 at the age of 17. This was during routine medical tests at school. I did not have any major symptoms or health issues, and was not advised to do anything about it at that time. I remained healthy for a number of years. In 2009 I was inspired to start the Uganda Youth Ministry Association, www.uyma.org. I was then working with the National Water Corporation and I hoped to use a percentage of my monthly earnings to run this ministry. It was the love of my heart! Just a month after my commitment to do the ministry work, on the night of the third of October, I was attacked by robbers. They broke into my room at around 3 am when I was in a deep sleep. I remember them standing on top of me with knives and torches. They told me not to make any noise if I wanted to have my life spared. I did not make any noise, but deep in my heart I cried out to Mary for help. She saved my life. The robbers fled; taking with them much of the property, but thankfully they left me unhurt. On the nights that followed, I started to have disturbed and interrupted nights. I would often wake up shouting and struggling to catch my breath. I did not know that I needed medical attention.

Months later, I started to have severe pain in the chest and heart palpitations. In addition I could not sleep well, and I was in severe pain for 24 hours. At this point, I sought medical attention. The doctors said that I could be suffering from pneumonia. I was given antibiotics, but my condition deteriorated. I was at the point of death. I remember requesting the Sacrament of the Sick, and also asking Mother Mary to strengthen me so that I could accept her Son's Will for me. During one of the nights that followed, I had a moderate heart attack, but in a ‘dream’, I saw Mother Mary entering my room and helping me hold my Rosary. I immediately recovered from the attack and found the rosary between my fingers; immediately I started reciting it. On the night of the 15th of August 2010, the Feast of Assumption, at around 3am, I had a very severe heart attack.

All I can remember is seeing myself (in a dream) kneeling, and Mother Mary beside me. I was repeating after her as she recited the Rosary. Beneath her feet, I could hear devilish groans. I remember recovering from the attack with a loud shout," Thank you Mother Mary." The next day, I was inspired to have ECHO and ECG tests done. The doctor diagnosed a moderate heart failure, then I went to the national heart institute where I was started on medicines; now two years down the track, there is a great improvement in my health, and I only have some minor complications, and I am happily carrying out my youth ministry work promoting devotion to Jesus and to Mary. Because of this health issue, I lost my job. God has given me friends and favour. I always get my daily medicines with ease because of the donation of friends. Mother Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

Near the pool

When our family was searching for a house to buy, we had many specific requirements; including special education schools, because of our children’s learning disabilities, the proximity of a Catholic Church within a short walking distance, where the parish is orthodox, being near a railway station and a bus route because I, (the mother of the family) did not, and still does not drive a car, although my husband does, a house big enough to take the seven of us, a public library nearby, a local shopping centre with a post office, a bank, and also being near a public swimming pool. My constant prayer to Saint Therese was; “Please get me a house near the pool.” Saint Therese must have a sense of humor, because the only suitable house, in the only suitable area came equipped with a large in-ground tiled swimming pool!  (We got all our requirements met, except for a local public library. We do not have that in our local area, but there is one in a nearby suburb which is easily accessible by train.)

A super speedy answer to prayer

Lee said the Mother Teresa Emergency Novena, (the Memorare prayer said nine times in a row for an intention) for a job which she desperately needed. While she was praying the eighth Memorare her phone rang. When she finished the novena Lee checked her messages. There was a job for her!  Lee had applied for the job on the previous day and had not even been interviewed for it. The employer wanted her to start the very next day!

A Saint Philomena statue

A friend asked me to pray that he would obtain a statue of Saint Philomena. I prayed for this intention for a year. One day my friend was walking past a second-hand shop, and he spotted an eighteen inch statue of Saint Philomena, which he purchased. Later on he gave it to me.

Saint Philomena’s playful side

I prayed for nearly two years to obtain a big ‘impossible’ favour, but nothing happened, and it looked as though the favour would never be granted. One afternoon as I was lying on my bed having a nap, I spoke to Saint Philomena very directly regarding the petition, in these words, “Well, are you going to do it Saint Philomena?” Soon after speaking these words, I fell asleep. My radio was on. About twenty minutes later, I woke up startled to hear a country western singer singing these words. “Are you gunna do it Philomena?” Saint Philomena’s well known playful side was in full swing. She was giving me back my own words! Straight after that, another striking sign was given to me relating to the petition. The big impossible favour was granted a few months later. *gunna as you probably know, is slang for going to.

The Holy Stairs in Rome (Scala Santa)

I was taken to visit the Holy Stairs in Rome. They are in a building, which is located near the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. At the top of the stairs there is a papal chapel. The stairs were brought to Rome from the Holy Land by order of St. Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine. The stairs are climbed on the knees as an act of penance. Once you start to climb, there is no turning back, because there are many pilgrims behind you, who are also climbing the stairs on their knees. You must go up to the top. I was not coping well with this, and felt nauseated. I sent up a quick prayer to Saint Philomena for help, and then I settled down and was able to complete the climb.

The novena for the healing of autism

Some years ago, I started on our family website, a Novena to Saint Philomena the Wonder Worker for the healing of autism. It was a relatively small apostolate. A few years down the track, a priest who is a friend of our family went to Lourdes, France and became one of the official chaplains there. During his time there, he took the names of the people who have autism, who were enrolled in the novena to the grotto at Lourdes for us. I started praying many novenas to help spread news of the apostolate to more people. I asked the Holy Souls in Purgatory to obtain this favour for me and offered prayers for them. During this time, I sent an email about the novena to a man who is the owner of a very popular website, which concentrates on Catholic subjects.

I never received a reply from him. One Saturday morning many months later, I downloaded my emails and much to my surprise, an avalanche of emails came in regarding the novena. The emails just keep pouring in. I was astounded and did not know what to make of it. Then I decided to check my website statistics, to see if they could shed any light on the situation.  The popular website was promoting the novena! The website promoted the novena for several days, and also a few months later, the website again promoted the novena for a few more days. The novena took off in a big way and it has never looked back. It seems to have a life of its own. The emails connected with it, come in just about every day of the year. The priest at Lourdes had been there for two years and was leaving to go back to the USA, so I started a continuous novena to the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague for a replacement priest at Lourdes to help out with the autism novena. Father left Lourdes and my prayer seemed to have gone unanswered. 

A lady from Sydney, sent me a little statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague in the mail. I thought that it was a sign about my novena. Then an idea came to me.  I wrote an email to the head of the English speaking chaplains at Lourdes and he accepted helping us with the autism novena! About a year and a half later, I sent him one of the regular emails with the names of people enrolled in the novena, and was surprised when another priest at Lourdes answered the email.  He explained that the other priest had returned to London, and that he was now the head of the English speaking chaplains at Lourdes. He said, and this is without me even asking, that he would help out with the autism novena! In addition he has a special interest in the autism novena because of a friend of his. The Holy Infant of Prague actually got me two chaplains at Lourdes! Prayer support and Masses for the novena are coming directly from Lourdes, France.

Below are some of the testimonies which have been sent to the autism novena web page.

Autism novena testimony 1

I found your novena last April, after our grand-daughter’s pediatrician gave a diagnosis of autism, following testing. If she did have autism, it was mild and she was high functioning.

I prayed the novena and in August, eight months after the first diagnosis, she was tested again, and the results were that she is not autistic. There were several traits in her personality and actions that seemed to indicate that something was wrong, but in a matter of a few months she has changed drastically.

Just recently she went to a speech therapist and we were told that she was a little behind in maturity, but in some ways she is very bright with a great sense of humor. I won't go into all the things that indicated to me something was terribly wrong, but believe me she is not the same child.

I am so grateful to Saint Philomena and to you, and to all the people who pray the novena. I will always say the prayers for all of the intentions of the novena. Praise God! Thank you, sincerely. T.N., AZ (USA)

Autism novena testimony 2

My daughter-in-law called me in tears of joy, to tell me that her son followed a direction for the first time last week. He had emptied the pantry out, and she told him "you need to put everything back" and to her surprise he did. The prayers are working! Here is an update: he said Mommy on Mother’s Day. V.I., California, (USA)

Editorial note: Regarding the previous testimony; for those of us who live with autism, we understand why this development is so wonderful. For those who have never lived with autism, and whose children go from one achievement to another, it might not be so obvious. It reminds me of a testimony, that I read once about a Down’s Syndrome girl, who was not potty trained at the age of four. The mother made a novena to St. Philomena, and soon after the novena, the little girl was potty trained.

Although I have not lived with a child with Down’s syndrome, my experience with autism helped me to understand and to rejoice with the mother. What a wonderful mother's day present to hear your autistic child say mommy, (or mummy for Australian mothers). Seeing your autistic child progress in learning and speech beats flowers and chocolate. (Mary Ann)

Autism novena testimony 3

Nicholas is a bright college junior with Asperger's syndrome. Our families became friends in the waiting room of one of the group therapies attended by Nicholas and my son.

Nicholas had been looking for internships without success for over a year when I enrolled him in the novena in April 2010. A couple of months later, he was accepted into one of the most prestigious summer internships available in his profession! And he loves it! Thank you so very much for organizing this powerful prayer chain! God bless you and yours. Angela (USA)

Autism novena testimony 4

I enrolled my son in the novena four months ago. He is being home schooled now, and there has been a remarkable improvement in him, since I added his name to your prayer list. His speech is also improving every-day. I know it is because of the prayers. D.G. (South Africa)

Autism novena testimony 5

I first saw your website, and started praying the novena about a year ago. My grandson is doing much, much better. Thank you for this website. N.R. (USA)

Autism novena testimony 6

I participated in the novena to Saint Philomena the Wonder Worker, these first days of November, praying for all those who have autism and their helpers, and there has been significant progress in the health of my grandson, (who has severe autism) and also in the health of his mom (my daughter). Their doctor noticed progress! I will continue to pray. God bless you and I will keep in touch. K.F.

Autism novena testimony 7

Please pray for my son. Pray that he continues to do well. We are so blessed with his progress. D.J.

Autism novena testimony 8

Thank you so much for providing the Saint Philomena novena and for all the prayers. My four year old son Alexander was diagnosed with PDD-NOS a year ago. I began praying the novena about six months ago.

I have noticed an improvement in his behavior and in his communication. In addition, I was able to get him into programs, which I was originally told were nearly impossible to get him into. I was able to get him ABA therapy within only a couple of months, when I was originally told that there was a one year waiting list.

Also, I was able to get him to be seen at the university by one of the developmental pediatricians, when I was once told that it was nearly impossible because of the waiting list. I truly believe that these doors opened up for me because of the prayers. Thank you once again. (USA)

Autism novena testimony 9

Three years ago I had my grandson enrolled in the novena, and also his cousin. My grandson is doing fantastic. He has had early intervention since he was about twenty months old. He is four years of age now.

He reads and speaks well. (There is still a little work needed.) He never ate solid food and is now doing so. He is so happy and lovable. He's just doing great. We hope that he will be able to go to regular school, either next year or the following year.

I am so grateful to God, to St. Philomena and to all my prayer partners across the world. Thank you so much for starting this wonderful Novena. P.M. NY USA

Autism novena testimony 10

It has been at least eight months, since I added my daughter to the list for the Novena for the healing of autism. I want to thank you and Saint Philomena. My daughter has started to sleep again, and her terrible violent meltdowns have disappeared.

Since she was diagnosed four years ago, she stopped sleeping, and life became very difficult for her and for her brother, for her father and for myself. Light is shining once again in our lives and for that I thank you and Saint Philomena. M.C.

Autism novena testimony 11

I enrolled my son Joseph, in the autism novena last January. Joseph has experienced tremendous healing since then. Praise Jesus!

His communication has taken off in a big way, and he is tolerating breaches of his restrictive diet much better. He is really relating to his little brothers, too, which is such a joy to see!  Right now, he is going through a bit of a regression--I have hopes that it signals that deeper healing is taking place. On our long daily car ride to Joseph's ABA therapy, we pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

After we finish the Chaplet, Joseph has recently begun ASKING to pray "Our St. Philomena Prayer." It's become part of our daily routine. It's great that he is able to actively participate in something that has brought such blessing to our family! God has been so good to us.

Our whole family has been strengthened in faith, hope and love. We continue to pray the novena for all affected children and their families and carers. ….. (Emily)

Autism novena testimony 12

Thank you! This is my second year saying the novena, and there is such a change in my son and in my family. A.G. is my four year son. He was diagnosed with autism at two and half. He barely spoke more than twenty words and was violent.

I believe that God blessed him and healed him. He talks and plays with friends and uses the bathroom by himself. Thank you God. Thank you. (Margaret)

A healing at Lourdes, France

An autistic boy from London was prepared by a priest to make his First Holy Communion. A year later he was taken to Lourdes, France and received the sacrament for the first time while there, after that he started making eye contact with people and also started speaking. Since then his speech has improved a lot.

A tiny flower!

On October 1, the feast of Saint Therese, I was in the parish church waiting for the Mass to start.  Two of the young boys at the parish school walked into the church for a visit.  They walked past the many people who were there, and went straight up to me, and handed me a tiny flower and then they walked away!  I was stunned, as I did not even know these children. I sat there with the flower in my hand looking bewildered at it, and asked myself why these boys have given me this tiny flower. As I pondered this question, I suddenly realized that it was a Little Flower, the name which many people apply to Saint Therese!

Healing of bipolar disorder

My niece was diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a psychiatrist in the Philippines. When we went to Saint Rita’s shrine in Philadelphia, I prayed for all those who are sick, and for whom there are no known treatments available in our country. I obtained some blessed oil from the shrine and sent it to my niece’s father (my brother) who helps out in the chapel of Saint Rita in our city, and asked him to put the oil on his daughter and to pray the prayer of Saint Rita for her: after a day or so she became well and no longer takes any antidepressants. Saint Rita also interceded for my nephew. (A devotee of St. Rita)  USA.

Editor’s note: A lay person is allowed to put blessed oil on a sick person, as long as it is clearly understood that he/she is not administering the Sacrament of the Sick, which of course is reserved to a priest.

The Confessional queue

I was attending a talk by a renowned Catholic speaker from the USA. The speaker announced that a priest was hearing Confessions at the back of the hall. I was grateful for this opportunity. My husband asked me to wait for a while before joining the queue. Finally I went to the back of the hall. To my dismay, there was already a long queue, lined right up a ramp, which led to the room where Confession was being held. When I arrived there was already someone in the Confessional. This confession went on for a considerable time, and those waiting were a bit on edge.

After I joined the queue, I looked up the ramp and all I saw was men. Being a woman I felt awkward and out of place.

In addition the slowness of the first Confession, made me wonder how long it would take to clear this queue. An idea then came to me. I asked my guardian angel to ask the guardian angels of all the men in the queue, to please let me be the first in the queue because I am a woman; the ladies before gentlemen rule. (Manners and chivalry are a thing of the past in my country. Jump a queue, and you will quickly be made aware of people’s displeasure!)  After a while, the man at the top of the queue, came down the ramp and told me to go the top of the queue!  Despite my prayer, I was stunned. I asked him to repeat that, just to make sure that I had properly understood him.

Assured by his answer, I walked up the ramp past all the men. On the way up the ramp, I asked them if this was okay. There were no objections. They had obviously seen the man telling me to go up to the top of the queue. Also on the way up, I saw that there had been one lady in that queue, who had been hidden from my view. I wondered why my guardian angel, had answered my prayer, in view of the fact that I was not the only woman in the queue.  It then occurred to me that the lady was younger than me!  My guardian angel was applying another rule of good manners; older before younger!

Roses at the railway station

I was teaching kindergarten Catholic Scripture and during the class, I gave one of the little girls a picture of Saint Therese. She looked up and asked me who this was, and I told her that it was Saint Therese. Then she said “She is beautiful, just like you!” (I don’t consider myself to be beautiful, but it is nice to hear someone say that anyway.)  When I got home I told my family. My son blurted out: “wow, that kid sure needs glasses!” A few years later I was suffering from continual dizziness, vertigo and nasty symptoms including severe pain and burning on the right side of my face. I prayed a lot to saints including Saint Therese. On one occasion I went down to the railway station to catch the train. My daughter Anne was with me at the time. I found some roses on the seat.  I wondered whether this was a sign from Saint Therese. When I got on the train, a lady looked over at my daughter and me, and asked me if Anne was my daughter. I replied that she was. Then the lady said: “She is beautiful, just like you!”  I took the hint. The roses came from Saint Therese. It took a long time but I was healed of my illness.

Speech becomes clear again

My autistic son John is prescribed various drugs to control his behaviour and epilepsy. John’s speech because almost impossible to understand for well over six months. I was very worried and was wondering whether it would ever come good again. I started a novena to St. Nicholas. Sometime later John’s medication was changed and his speech regained its former clarity.

Saint Nicholas is known as Saint Nicholas of Bari and also as St. Nicholas of Myra. He is also known as St. Nicholas the Wonder Worker. His feast day is December 6. He is the “real Santa Claus”. St. Nicholas was a bishop who was known for his charitable works.

Bushfires encircle Sydney

About ten years ago, my husband was working as a scientist at the Lucas Heights Research Laboratories, in Sydney Australia. By late November, bushfires had encircled Sydney and its suburbs. They were coming towards us from just about every direction. It was a very worrying time for Sydneysiders. Sydney’s sky turned a very eerie colour, due to the fact that the smoke haze from the bushfires was blocking out the sunlight. Towards midnight on December the first, I went to my laundry and turned on the light. To my amazement, there was a reflection in the laundry window of a statue of Saint Philomena, which our family had donated to a church, which is located many miles from our home. It was a very distinct reflection and in full colour! The statue was definitely in the church at the time and not in my house. I could not help wondering what this was about.

The next day at about 2 p.m. my husband telephoned me from his work place. There was some bad news. The roads near the Lucas Heights Research Laboratories which is located in a bushland setting, were cut off by fire. None of the many people who worked there were able to leave and go home. I was very worried and wondered how my husband and the other workers there would fare in this terrible predicament. Fire fighters were hard at work in many locations around the state. I had no choice but to tell my older children what was going on. This panicked my oldest child, and she kept asking me if her daddy was going to die. Another thing which was on my mind, was whether or not my husband and I were going to have another wedding anniversary, which was the following day (December 3.) During this stressful time, I thought of the reflection of the Saint Philomena statue, that I had seen in the laundry window shortly before midnight. My husband did get home that night, but it was very late about 11 p.m.  I believe that Saint Philomena used this unusual sign to comfort me through the ordeal. (Mary Ann Matulis)

A migraine headache

Lee was heavily involved with the work for a mail-out to her group when the phone rang. The caller asked Lee to please pray for a healing of her migraine headache, which had been going non-stop for a whole two weeks. The doctor had been unable to help. Lee explained that she was very busy, but that would say a prayer to Saint Philomena for the intention.  She then walked across the room with the phone in her hand, and prayed aloud before a statue of Saint Philomena, asking the saint to heal the migraine. Saint Philomena did so almost immediately!

A terrible toothache

Patty suffered a terrible toothache during the night and was unable to get any sleep at all. By 3 a.m. she was totally exhausted. She wisely realised that no local priest would appreciate a phone call for prayer help at that time of the day. Using her cheap phone card, she telephoned a priest friend of the family, who lived on the other side of the world. He prayed to Saint Philomena and the toothache was healed!

Clothes for the trip

Liz was making a last minute shopping excursion to buy summer clothes, before going to Europe for the World Youth Day in Spain. She did her best to buy some items and became very tired. Liz made a prayer to the Infant Jesus of Prague asking Him to help her to get more T-shirts for the trip. One of the difficulties with this shopping excursion was that because she is in Australia, most of the clothes in the shops were for winter. While Liz was shopping her mother was at a meeting. Free raffle tickets were given to the participants. Liz’s mother won a red T-shirt with an indication that the wearer is an Australian. It was really good for the purpose.

Almost broke

Rita was deserted by her husband. In addition to that, he also emptied out most of the bank account. She was left struggling with two young children, and less than twenty dollars to live on. Her desperate prayer to God for help was answered, when an unexpected deposit of three hundred dollars, was put into her account by a government welfare agency. It should have been deposited earlier, but it was overlooked by the government agency and they were correcting their mistake.

Fixing up equipment

We were about to go on our holidays, but three days before we were due to leave, our internet connection failed. My husband got on the phone to tech support. No outage was recorded in our area, and the conclusion was that our modem had “died”.  A technician was booked for after our holiday, well over a week away!  I prayed a Rosary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and a few hours later, the internet connection was back! The next day, my husband pulled out our car-trailer, which was needed to take our family’s holiday supplies in, and the stop light on it was not working. We would not be able to take the trailer without a working stoplight. My husband stayed up till nearly midnight trying to fix it, but to no avail. My husband said that we needed a mechanic to fix it. He did not know who to contact about that, and worse still we only had one day left to sort it out. I prayed some prayers for the Holy Souls in Purgatory before going to bed, and in the morning my husband went out and had another try at fixing the trailer stop light and got it to work!  (Lydia)

Misplaced envelope with money

Susan misplaced an enveloped which contained six hundred dollars. She searched for it for several months and invoked Saint Anthony, but failed to find it. Finally she attended adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and during the adoration; she had a thought on where to look for it. She found it the very next day.

A terrible smell

Julia noticed a very bad smell in the back room of her house. She searched for the source, but could not locate anything that could be causing this smell.  It was summer and the smell got worse and worse. Julia remembered that a dog had got into the yard and went under her house a few weeks earlier. She had been too scared to check whether it was still there. It had been raining a lot and it crossed her mind that the dog might have got trapped under the house and died there. The smell did seem to be coming through the floor boards. Some relatives came to visit. Julia was really embarrassed by the awful smell, but the relatives said that they could not smell anything.  Maybe they were just being polite or their noses did not work anymore!

Before Julia went to bed that night she said The Mother Teresa Emergency Novena (nine Memorares in a row), for a solution. In the morning when she came out to the back room, much to her dismay, the smell was still there. In the back room there were some boxes with cartons of long life milk in them. The boxes were stacked up on top of one another. She looked down and saw a white gooey substance leaking from under the boxes. The box at the bottom of the pile had been damaged by the other boxes on top of it, and one of the cartons of milk inside it had leaked. The leakage had obviously started on the previous day, but it had not yet leaked out from under the box, so it was hidden at that time. This was the source of the dreadful smell. Julia was very relieved to know what had happened.  It was an unpleasant smelly mess to clean and fix, but when that was finalised, the horrible smell was gone!

Protection during a bushfire

The following story comes from a lady who is now in her seventies. When she was young, she lived in the country with her grandmother. On one occasion their home was surrounded on all sides by a bushfire. Her grandmother told her that the Lord would save them. The girl and her grandmother knelt down and prayed. Their prayer was not formal but was a simple pleading for help from God. The next morning they found that literally everything around the house had been scorched by the fire. Not even a stick or a branch had been left unscathed. However the house was completely untouched by the fire and their lives had been spared.

Food for the needy 

The following story should go far to show how acceptable and pleasing to God the Hail Mary is. Jason is a volunteer worker for a charitable organisation which distributes food to the poor. He purchased eighteen hams from the supermarket on the organisation's credit card for distribution to the needy. This would have been an expensive purchase. For some unexplained reason the hams were not credited to the card. Jason brought this matter to the attention of the supermarket's manageress. She shrugged her shoulders and said that nothing could be done about it and that the organisation did not have to worry about paying for the hams. Jason attributes this favour to his regular practice at the beginning of each undertaking of saying of one Hail Mary and simply asking Mary to help him with the charity work. Jason has received other striking helps in his work from this simple way of invoking Mary, including a large donation of the exact amount that he had assessed that his section of the organisation was in need of, in order to carry out its works and which he was about to apply for from head office.

Very speedy help

Carol received a phone call from a relative, who outlined a very serious situation and asked for prayers. Carol said one Mother Teresa Express Novena (nine Memorares in a row), for the intention and then went to the Sacrament of Confession. After Confession she knelt before the Blessed Sacrament and simply asked Our Lord for the help that was need. Carol’s husband also said a prayer for the relative’s intention A few hours later the relative phoned again. The problem was solved! 

An “impossible” pregnancy

A lady who already had three children, suffered a miscarriage. She dearly wanted to have another child, but could not fall pregnant, because both of her fallopian tubes were entirely blocked. The doctor scheduled her for surgery to try and unblock the tubes. The lady started a novena to Saint Philomena the Wonder Worker, to pray for the success of the surgery. The lady's mother then told her, that Saint Philomena had been removed from the Church’s calendar, and she questioned whether Saint Philomena was actually a saint. In the middle of the novena, the lady asked Saint Philomena to give her a sign, so that she could know for sure, if Saint Philomena was really a saint. She did not wish to be praying a novena to a saint who had never existed! A couple of days later, just prior to the scheduled surgery, the lady found out to her great surprise, that she was already pregnant! In the normal scheme of things this is not possible. The fallopian tubes had somehow unblocked. It was her sign from Saint Philomena, to say, “Yes I am a real saint in heaven.”

Healing of depression and despair

The following testimony comes from a friend on a Catholic forum. It is told in the first person. There is so much history behind this life long story, but it was the last decade that did me in. There were so many deaths, losses, broken promises and such emotional deprivation, that my healthy normal dreams died. I felt dead on the inside. I was in darkness and finally in despair. On the outside I looked and acted fine, and was a support system for many. Inside there was nothing but the effects of betrayal, rejection and a broken spirit. Small graces then start to happen about a year ago, but it was not until the last two to three weeks, that what I consider to be miracles, started to appear in my mental and my psychological state of mind. I started to take small sips of Holy Water, and then I would bless myself with Holy Oil, asking God, that my mind, my body, and my spirit be healed. Small miracles started to happen. Graces were bestowed upon me that would leave me wondering how can this be? You love me? You really care for me that much to heal me? I know logically that God loves us, yet I believed that this was for everyone else, but not for me. I obtained peace, a clear mind, calm rational thinking and an understanding of things. There were snippets of joy, glimmers of hope, and a will to live and to give. This is from and by the grace of God. If it is God’s will and through His Grace, I will be able to assist those, who need someone in their lives.

Wonderful unexpected results for benefactors of the Holy Souls in Purgatory

Our family helps the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and sometimes wonderful unexpected things happen. Here are some examples: my daughters went to Mass one Saturday night; it was already dark when they walked past the apartments across the road from us. There was definitely nothing on the sidewalk at that time, but when they returned just over an hour later, there was a very good, round strong, timber coffee table and four matching chairs, put out for the tip! They were in excellent condition and looked great. It is hard to imagine why anyone would want to throw them out. We now have the coffee table and the matching chairs gracing our lounge room (in a space that just seems to be right for them.) This has really improved things for our family, and is providing a great place for having a coffee and a chat with visitors. Another thing that has happened, is that a friend now comes every Sunday, and brings to us loaves of sliced bread, (white, whole meal and sometimes fruit bread; which I really like and which is great toasted, bread rolls, Lebanese bread, Italian loaves, etc.) that the bakery could not sell at the end of the day. They are very good and useful. (We freeze what we can not use immediately.)

There is even extra bread that I can give to other people, especially those who come to my house. One of the neighbours who received some of this bread, gave my daughter passion-fruit vines, which my daughter planted and in the future we can look forward to having some passion-fruit!  In addition there is some less fresh bread, which we give to our neighbour, for her chickens and rabbits to eat. (The neighbour is happy with this.)  I checked the price of bread in the supermarket yesterday. The good quality bread (which is the type that I am given each Sunday is not cheap.) It made me realize that the weekly bread gift is really a valuable contribution, to bringing down the family food bill. Always having plenty of bread on hand, has also helped me to make up some quick, tasty, economical meals; (toasted grilled sandwiches, filled with cheese, onion, tomato, salt and pepper), for the family when that is necessary because of time constraints, and for visitors who are coming to my house for lunch at short notice. This gives a whole new meaning to the words of the Our Father prayer: Give us this day our daily bread. (Anonymous)

Praying before the Blessed Sacrament

Andrew was praying for a healing for Joe, a fellow parishioner, who like Andrew had a herniated lumbar disc. Joe’s wife had told Andrew that Joe was struggling after his surgery and was not recovering as well as he had hoped. Joe needed a cane to walk. As Andrew prayed he was shocked to hear himself asking God to let him bear the back pain for Joe. Andrew has had two operations on his spine and was fully aware of what he was asking God for. He could not believe that he had spontaneously asked to receive more back pain! During the prayer he felt a dull pain suddenly occur on the right side of his lumbar spine. It remained for about fifteen minutes, and then just as suddenly as it had come, it faded away. The thought came to him, that Our Lord Himself was bearing the brunt of Joe’s pain and was only allowing Andrew to experience a tiny amount of it. A week after this incident, Andrew saw Joe. He was walking without a cane. He asked Joe about the pain, and was told that "the other day, it just went away". Given the time frame of the prayer, there appeared to be a direct connection.

Andrew’s herniation is on the left side, and he has nerve damage from it. All of his pain was and is on the left side. Andrew asked Joe about his herniation and Joe told him that it was on the right side and toward the front. Joe’s pain is on his right side, as that is where his nerves were exposed to the pressure of the herniated disc. Andrew has never had pain on the right side (except on the occasion that he prayed for Joe) so he knows that there was a connection to the prayer. A week after meeting Joe, Andrew was before the Blessed Sacrament praying for a young man who had cancer. As he prayed, the dull pain suddenly returned in his back. This puzzled him until about thirty seconds later, when he saw Joe entering the chapel for adoration. He knew then that all of this was related, as the pain that he received was in the exact spot where Joe’s pain had been. This was an indication to Andrew that Joe was still in need of prayer. On another occasion, Andrew was praying for Jill, a wonderful prayer warrior, who had a serious jaw infection, caused by a tooth problem. She was experiencing intense pain, and her medication was only partially controlling it. The antibiotic was not clearing the infection as expected. Such infections can be fatal, and the specter of jaw surgery loomed. As Andrew prayed for Jill before the Blessed Sacrament, he suddenly felt a wave of almost indescribable comfort wash over him. It was the most spiritually reassuring sensation that he had ever experienced - pure peace in his innermost being. A few days later, he spoke with Jill and she told him that, the night on which he had prayed, her pain broke and the infection was now being controlled. She recovered completely. A priest told Andrew later that what he had experienced is known as the "word of knowledge", since he had received spiritual "knowledge" that Jill would be fine. A lady named Lyn, was pregnant, but the baby's blood type was incompatible with hers, and she was suffering from increasing toxemia.

Doctors warned her that, to save her life that they would have to take the baby early, at about twenty-four weeks. When Andrew found out about this, he asked the custodian to let him into the church. He prayed before the Blessed Sacrament. At about 2:45 pm as he prayed, he again received the same sudden rush of spiritual comfort. He spoke with Lyn’s mother a day or two later and learned that blood taken from Lyn at that same time showed that she was well enough to carry her baby until the additional time needed. Today, the baby is a happy and healthy girl. On another occasion, Andrew read a prayer request which was posted by a lady to an internet Catholic forum. The lady was being treated in hospital for depression. Something in the thread struck him deeply. He went and prayed before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Andrew asked to bear the lady’s depression. As he prayed, Andrew felt a sudden heaviness that seemed to be pressing him to the floor more strongly than mere gravity. The breath rushed out of him and he felt a profound sadness. This remained with him as he completed the holy hour. When Andrew got up, his head just hung and he could look only down at the floor. The sensation remained with him on the drive home, but then faded. The lady’s subsequent post on the forum revealed that she had been released from hospital shortly after. Thanks be to God.

Editors note: If you are going to offer to take on the sufferings of other people, please seek spiritual direction from a priest.

Work leave approved after a firm refusal!

Kate asked her employers for time off, in order to go on a pilgrimage, but it was absolutely refused, even though she had accumulated a large amount of leave. Kate's employers said that they could not afford to have her off work at that particular time, so prayers were offered for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and they were asked to turn the situation around. The saints were also asked for help, in particular, Our Lady, St. Philomena the Wonder Worker and St. Rita, (the saint of the impossible.) You guessed it. The leave was approved!

The birth certificate

The following two favours were granted to a religious sister who lives in Africa. In January this year, I went to home affairs with my thirteen year old niece in order to obtain her birth certificate. It was the second time that I had to go the home affairs regarding this matter. We came in and presented the required documents. The man who attended us, said that one of the documents needed to get certified by the policy officer from the original document, because the copy that we were giving, did not present any proof. Before I presented the documents I prayed, and as he was talking to me I continued praying in order to obtain the intercession of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. After a few minutes the man looked at me and gave me papers to fill in, later on he told me to wait for a while. After that my niece was given her birth certificate.

The school bag

Yesterday afternoon, when I was busy with my work in the operating room, my sister telephoned me to tell me that her daughter’s school bag had been stolen from the classroom. This was the second time that this had happened. My niece was crying and my sister was very upset as she was talking to me. I wondered what to do. Because I am a religious sister, I do not earn any money at all, and so I was no position to help her. I prayed for guidance in the matter. I felt as  though I was told to speak to our religious procurator. I presented the situation to her, and she told me that she would discuss it with someone else, and that she would get back to me, so I waited for her call and at the same time I prayed for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and asked for their intercession. Forty-five minutes later she called back, and said that she would help us to purchase a school bag the next day.

The missing pair of Rosary Beads

My favourite pair of Rosary Beads went missing. No amount of searching could find them. I also prayed for months to Saint Anthony and to other saints to find them, but to no avail.  I finally consoled myself with the thought that perhaps they would be found on a special feast day.  On the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, October 7, I was sitting on the lounge when I notice what I thought was some rubbish inside the leather chair between it and the leather cushion. I put my hand in to pull it out, but to my surprise there was the Rosary Beads.  Saint Anthony waited until the most appropriate feast day in the Church’s calendar to find it for me! I was able to compare it with the picture of the Rosary Beads on the back cover of the print copy of this book: Help from Heaven (Answers to Prayer) to make absolutely sure that this pair of Rosary Beads were the ones that I had been searching for, because we have two similar but slightly different pairs of Rosary Beads in our house.

Computer trouble

My brother telephoned to tell us that he had a problem with his computer, and to seek our advice regarding same. We were unable to help him. He was cleaning the keyboard when the screen picture turned on its side. No matter what he did, e.g. trying various keyboard combinations, rebooting the computer etc. the situation could not be remedied, To make matters even worse, it was a five day holiday period over Easter, when it would be more difficult to find computer experts to help out. I made a Mother Teresa Emergency Novena (nine Memorares in a row), in order to get help. The next morning when my brother phoned I enquired about the computer, and was informed that it was fixed. My brother had discovered the correct combination of key strokes, to get the screen picture to go back to the correct position.

     

             Return to: Part one of the book: Help from heaven (Answers to Prayer)

                 Part three of the book: Help from Heaven (Answers to Prayer)

                  Part four of the book: Help from Heaven (Answers to Prayer)

                                   Novena to St Philomena the Wonder Worker for the healing of autism

                            The powerful intercession of the Holy Souls in Purgatory for their benefactors

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