On Friday, September 8th I went to the 7:00 p.m. mass at my church, St. Agnes in Naples, Florida. Earlier the same day at Bible Class, I noticed one of my friends was wearing her blue Honor Guard uniform for the Columbiettes. When I asked her why, she informed me it was the Blessed Virgin Mary’s birthday, and they were leading a procession into mass in Mary’s honor that evening. I immediately knew I had to go; therefore, I planned the rest of my day accordingly to be present for mass. Little did I realize I was about to experience a new presence of love within me directly from Jesus.
Before I go any further in my story about this beautiful event, I must be honest and say I was not aware of this date being Mary’s birthday. I believed and took it for granted this was a day of holiness. It wasn’t until afterward that I had my experience that I Googled Mary’s birthday and read about this event in more detail.
I will do a Blog on this event next week. I’ll make sure I include sufficient information about the Catholic Church and their date for this very special event of Mary, her birthday. I have already read articles supporting this date and why it was selected.
Getting back to my story regarding my experience at mass, I met one of my friends from church and we sat together in a pew close to the altar. Both of us ladies noticed immediately after we sat, that this was a mass in Spanish led by a Spanish priest alongside our Pastor. Many of the Hispanic men, women, and children were waving white kerchiefs in the air as our Columbiette Honor Guard walked into the church and proceeded to the altar followed by the priests. My friend and I are proud to be newbies with this wonderful Catholic organization, the Columbiettes.
The mass had begun, and I listened intently as only words of Spanish were spoken. I thought back to when I was a child, and the mass was in Latin. I felt a sense of pride that I was there at that moment, praying to our God and being part of Mary’s birthday celebration.
In awe by the beauty of the mass and honoring the mother of Christ, soon it was time to receive the communion of the body of Christ. I stood, walked in line, and held my hand to receive His body. I took the beautiful sacred wafer and placed it in my mouth. I cannot begin to express how I felt realizing when I knew it was Christ; My soul was alive, well, and very pleased as I placed It in my mouth. Emotion immediately filled me, and my heart was filled with love for Jesus. I started to cry, literally cry.
I believe this experience of feeling love in my heart for Jesus, His mother, and all of Heaven was a gift from God. It was because my granddaughter shared her experience with me when she visited Mary’s house in Ephesus, Turkey while on vacation for her college graduation gift from her parents.
She shared her experience of the love she felt when entering Mary’s house and told me she never had felt like this, and it was more than wonderful. She clarified her emotions as being filled with love, joyful, ecstatic, and literally over the moon. I now know what she felt because it was passed on to me and this gift is a feeling I never experienced before; I never want to lose it.
Please visit my website, carolesluski.com to read more Blogs I wrote and listen to Podcasts I have done during this year. Subscribe (it’s free) to receive future Blogs and Podcasts I do.
My purpose for being a guest on Podcasts is to pass on my experience of healing from the grief of losing a child. I describe how I survived the grief and emphasize important facts I wrote in my book, THIRTY; A Mother’s Spiritual Journey After Losing Her Child.
I now have over thirty years of healing, and I am still alive doing what I can to stay healthy so I can continue to help other moms and dads. I have much to do before it is my time and hopefully, it will be to the sunny gates.
God in All His Glory
~ Carole J. Sluski