Miraculous Stories of Mary's Intercession

[Steady_Eddy]

**Miraculous Stories of Mary’s Intercession
**
**Selected From the Glories of Mary by St Alphonsus De Liguori
**
**Part ONE
**
Some persons, boasting of being free from prejudices, take great
credit to themselves for believing no miracles but those recorded in
the Holy Scriptures, esteeming all others as tales and fables for
foolish women. But it will be well to repeat here a just remark of the
learned and pious Father John Crasset, who says that the bad are as
ready to deride miracles as the good are to believe them; adding, that
as it is a weakness to give credit to all things, so, on the other
hand, to reject miracles which come to us attested by serious and
pious men, either savors of infidelity, which supposes them impossible
to God, or of presumption, which refuses belief to such a class of
authors. We give credit to a Tacitus and a Suetonius, and can we deny
it without presumption to Christian authors of learning and upright
life? There is less risk, says Father Canisius, in believing and
receiving what is related with some probability by honest persons, and
not rejected by the learned, and which serves for the edification of
our neighbor, than in rejecting it with a disdainful and presumptuous
spirit.

1 The devout author of the book in honor of the most holy Rosary,
entitled, “The Secret
of every Grace,” relates that St. Vincent Ferrer once said to a man
dying in despair:
“Why will you ruin yourself when Jesus Christ wishes to save you?” And
he answered,
that in spite of Christ he would be damned. The saint replied: “And
you, in spite of
yourself, shall be saved.” He began to recite the Rosary with the
persons of the house,
and behold, the sick man asked to make his confession, made it
weeping, and then died.

2 The same author also relates that a poor woman, who was buried by
an earthquake
under the ruins of a house, was found alive and uninjured, with her
children in her arms,
by some persons who were employed by a priest to remove the stones.
When she was
asked what devotion she had practiced, she said she had never failed
to say the Rosary
and visit a chapel of the most holy Mary.

3 He also relates that another woman who led a wicked life because
she thought it the
only means by which she could gain a livelihood was counseled to
recommend herself to
Mary by saying the Rosary; she did so, and behold one night the
Blessed Mother
appeared and said to her: “Quit your sinful life: as for your support,
trust in me, and I will
think of that.” The next morning she went to confession, and Mary most
holy provided for her needs.

4 Finally, the same author relates, that once making a mission to the
convicts in the
galleys of Naples, he found some who obstinately refused to make their
confession. He
suggested to them that at least they should have themselves enrolled
in the confraternity of the Rosary, and begin to recite it. They
consented to do so, and they had no sooner recited one than they
desired to make their confession, and did so, the first time for many
years. These modern examples serve to revive our confidence in Mary,
seeing that she is at the present time the same that she always has
been towards those who have
recourse to her.

 

[Steady_Eddy]

**Part Two
**
5 A Lutheran lady of Augsburg in Germany, who was a very obstinate heretic,
happening to pass one day a small Catholic chapel, went in through
curiosity. She saw
there an image of Mary with the infant Jesus in her arms, and felt
moved to make an
offering to it. She accordingly went home, took a silk cloth, and
brought it to the altar of
the Virgin. When she had returned home the most holy Virgin
enlightened her to see the
errors of her sect, and she went immediately to seek some Catholics,
abjured heresy,
and was converted to God.

6 In the city of Cesena there lived two very bad men who were
friends. One of them,
named Bartholomew, in the midst of all his vices practiced the
devotion of reciting
everyday the “Stabat Matei” in honor of the sorrowful Mary. Once when he was
repeating this hymn Bartholomew had a vision, in which he seemed to stand with
his sinful companion in a lake of fire, and saw the most holy Virgin,
moved to pity, offer
her hand and take him from the flames. She directed him to seek pardon
from Jesus
Christ, who showed himself willing to pardon him through the prayers
of his mother. The
vision ended, and Bartholomew at the moment heard the report that his
friend had been
mortally wounded and was dead. Then he knew the truth of the vision,
and quitting the
world, entered the order of Capuchins, where he led a most austere
life, and died in the
fame of sanctity.

7 The blessed Jerome, founder of the Sommaschian Fathers, being governor of a
certain place, was taken by the enemy, and confined in the dungeon of
a tower. He
recommended himself to Mary, and made a vow to make a pilgrimage to
Treviso in her
honor, if she would rescue him. Then the most holy Virgin appeared to
him surrounded
by a great light, and with her own hands undid his chains, and gave
him the keys of the
prison. He fled from the prison, and, setting out for Treviso to
fulfil his vow, he found
himself immediately surrounded by the enemy. Again he had recourse to
his deliverer,
and she again appeared to him, took him by the hand, and led him
safely through the
midst of his enemies, accompanying him even to the gates of Treviso, where she
disappeared. He made the visit, deposited his chains at the foot of
the altar of
Mary, and then devoted himself to a holy life, by which he has merited
recently to be
ranked by the holy Church among the number of the blessed.

8 A young woman in the Papal States, who was very devout towards
Mary, met in a
certain place a chief of the bandits. Fearing some outrage, she
implored him, for love of the most holy Virgin, not to molest her. “Do
not fear,” he answered, “for you have prayedme in the name of the
mother of God; and I only ask you to recommend me to her.” And, in
fact, he accompanied her himself along the road to a place of safety.
The following night Mary appeared in a dream to the bandit, and
thanking him for the act he had performed for love of her, told him
she would remember it, and would one day reward him. The robber, at
length, was arrested, and condemned to death; but behold,
the night previous to his execution, the blessed Virgin visited him
again in a dream, and
first asked him: “Do you know who I am?” He answered, “It seems to me
I have seen
you before.” “I am the Virgin Mary,” she continued, “who have come to
reward you for
what you have done for me. You will die tomorrow, but you will die with so much
contrition that you will come at once to paradise.” The convict awoke,
and felt such
contrition for his sins that he began to weep bitterly, all the while
giving thanks aloud to
our blessed Lady. He sent immediately for a confessor, to whom he made
his confession
with many tears, relating the vision he had seen, and begged him to
make public this
grace that had been bestowed on him by Mary. He went joyfully to
execution, after
which, as it is related, his countenance was so peaceful and happy,
that all who saw him
believed that the promise of the heavenly mother was fulfilled.

 

[Steady_Eddy]

Part Three

9 A youth named Guido, who wished to join the order of Camaldoli, was
presented to St. Romuald by the prince, his father, whose name was
Farnulf. The holy
founder received him with pleasure. One day Mary appeared to this good
youth, her
servant, with the infant Jesus in her arms. Esteeming himself unworthy
of such a favor,
he stood trembling, but the heavenly mother drawing near to him, said
: “Why do you
doubt? What do you fear, Guido? I am the mother of God, this is my son
Jesus, who
wishes to come to you;” and saying this, she placed him in his arms.
Guido had not been
three years in religion when he fell dangerously ill. St. Romuald saw
the poor youth
writhing and trembling, and heard him saying : “Oh Father, do you see
all the Moors in
this cell”? “My son,” said the saint to him, “do you remember any
thing you have not
confessed?” “Yes, Father,” he answered, " I remember having disobeyed
the prior, by
not picking up certain brooms, and now I confess it." St. Romuald
absolved him, and
then the scene changed; the devils fled, and the Virgin again appeared
with Jesus, at
the sight of whom Guido died in perfect peace.

10 There was in Naples a Moor, a slave of Don Octavius del Monaco,
who, although he had often been exhorted to leave his Mahometan sect,
remained obstinate, but yet never
failed every evening to keep lighted, at his own expense, a lamp
before an image of
Mary which was in the house. And he said: “I hope that this Lady will
grant me some
great favor.” One night the blessed Virgin appeared to him and told
him he must become
a Christian. Still the Turk resisted, but she placed her hand upon his
shoulder, and said
to him: “Now no longer resist, Abel; be baptized and called Joseph.”
In the morning he immediately went to be instructed, and was baptized
August 10th, 1648, with eleven other Turks. Let it be observed that
when the heavenly mother appeared to him, after she had converted him,
she was about to depart, but the Moor seized her mantle, saying: “Oh
Lady, when I find myself afflicted, I pray you to let me see you.” In
fact she one day promised him this, and when he was in affliction he
invoked her, and Mary appeared again to him, saying: “Have patience,”
and he was consoled.
11 A certain parish priest of Asella, named Baldwin, became a
Dominican, and when he
was in his novitiate there came to him the temptation that he could
do greater good in
the world in his parish, and he resolved to return. But going to take
his leave of the altar
of the Rosary, Mary appeared to him with two vessels of wine ; she
gave him to drink of
the first, but the novice had hardly tasted it, when he turned away
his mouth, for
although the wine was good, yet it was full of dregs ; the second he
pronounced good,
and free from dregs : “Now,” said the most holy Virgin, “there is the
same difference
between the life in the world, and the life in religion, which is
under obedience.” Baldwin persevered, and died a good religious.

12 The blessed Joachim Piccolomini, who had a very great devotion to
Mary, even from
childhood, used to visit three times a day an image of the sorrowful
mother, which was in a neighboring church, and abstained from all food
on Saturday in her honor. Moreover,
he rose at midnight to meditate upon her sorrows. But let us see how
Mary rewarded
him. At first she appeared to him when he was young, and directed him
to enter into
religion in the order of her Servants, which he did. Towards the close
of his life, she
again appeared to him, with two crowns in her hand : one of rubies, as
the reward of the
compassion he had cherished for her sorrows; and the other of pearls,
as the reward of
his chastity which he had consecrated to her. Finally, at death she
appeared to him
again, when he asked of her the favor to die on the day on which Jesus
Christ died, and
the most holy Virgin consoled him by telling him : “Make ready now,
for tomorrow
(Friday) you will die suddenly, as you desire, and tomorrow you shall
be with me in
paradise.” And thus it happened, for while they were chanting in the
church the passion
according to St. John, at the words : “There stood near the cross of
Jesus his mother” :
“Stabat juxta crucem Jesu mater ejus,” he was attacked with the
faintness of death; at
the words : And bowing his head he gave up his spirit: "Et inclinato
capite tradidit
spiritum, " this blessed one also gave up his spirit to God; and at
the same moment the
Church was filled with a great splendor, and a most sweet fragrance.

 

[Steady_Eddy]

**Part Four
**
13 The blessed Adam, a Cistercian, went one evening to visit an altar
of the most blessed Virgin in a church; but finding the doors closed,
he knelt outside to make his devotions. He was hardly on his knees
when he saw the door opening of itself, and he
entered. There he beheld the Queen of Heaven, in the midst of great
splendor, and she said to him: “Adam, approach; do you know who I am?”
Adam answered: “No, Lady; who are you?” “I am,” she said, “the mother
of God. Know, that as a reward for your
devotion to me, I will always take care of you.” And then she placed
her blessed hand upon his head, and cured him of the great pain he was
suffering there.

14 Father Crasset relates that a certain military officer told him,
that after a battle he found a soldier on the battle-ground who held
in his hand a Rosary and the scapular of Mary, and asked for a
confessor. His forehead had been pierced by a musket-ball, which had
passed through the head and came out behind, so that the brain was
visible and
protruded through each opening, and he could not live without a
miracle. He however raised himself, made his confession to the
chaplain with great compunction, and after receiving absolution,
expired.

15 St. Thomas of Canterbury, when he was a young man, found himself one day in
conversation with several other youths, each of whom boasted of some
foolish love affair. The holy youth declared that he, too, loved a
great lady, and was beloved by her, meaning the most holy Virgin.
Afterwards, he felt some remorse at having made this
boast; but behold, Mary appeared to him in his trouble, and with a
gracious sweetness said to him: “Thomas, what do you fear? You had
reason to say that you loved me, and that you are beloved by me.
Assure your companions of this, and as a pledge of the love I bear
you, show them this gift that I make you.” The gift was a small box,
containing a chasuble, of a blood-red color, as a sign that Mary, for
the love she bore him, had obtained for him the grace to be a priest
and a martyr, which indeed happened,
for he was first made priest and afterwards Bishop of Canterbury, in
England, where he was at one time persecuted by the king, and fled to
the Cistercian monastery at Pontignac, in France. While he was there,
wishing one day to mend his hair-cloth shirt
that he usually wore, which was ripped, and not being able to do it
well, his beloved queen appeared to him, and, with especial kindness,
took the hair-cloth from his hand, and repaired it as it should be
done. After this he returned to Canterbury, and died a
martyr, having been put to death on account of his zeal for the Church

16 When St. Dominic was preaching at Carcassone, in France, an
Albigensian heretic, who was possessed by demons, was brought to him,
because he had publicly spoken
against the devotion of the most holy Rosary. The saint then ordered
the demons, in the name of God, to declare whether those things which
he had said concerning the most holy Rosary were true; and howling
with rage they said: “Hear, oh Christians, all that this
our enemy has said of Mary and of the most holy Rosary is entirely
true.” They added, moreover, that they had no power against the
servants of Mary; and that many who at death invoked Mary were saved,
contrary to what they deserved. And finally they said:
"We are constrained to declare, that no one is lost who perseveres in
devotion to Mary, and in the devotion of the most holy Rosary, for
Mary obtains for sinners a true repentance before death. St. Dominic
made the people immediately repeat the Rosary;
and, oh miracle! at every “Hail Mary,” many devils went out from that
wretched man, in the shape of burning coals, so that when the Rosary
was finished, he was entirely freed from them, and many heretics
became converted.

17 A priest who had a special devotion to the sorrows of Mary often
remained alone in a
chapel to commiserate the sorrows of his Lady, and, moved by
compassion, was accustomed with a little cloth to wipe, as it were,
the tears of a statue of the sorrowful Virgin which was in that place.
Now this good priest, in a severe illness, when he was given up by his
physicians, and was going to breathe his last, saw a beautiful lady by
his side, who consoled him with her words and with a handkerchief
gently, wiped the sweat from his brow, and with this cured him. When
he found himself well, he said: “But, my
Lady, who are you who practice such charity towards me?” “I am she,”
answered Mary, “whose tears you have so often dried,” and she
disappeared.

 

[Steady_Eddy]

**Part Five
**
18 A noble lady, who had an only son, was informed one day that he
was killed, and that
his murderer had by chance taken refuge in her own palace; but when
she called to mind that Mary pardoned the executioners of her Son, she
wished also to pardon that criminal for love of the sorrowful Mary;
and not only did she pardon him, but provided
him with a horse, money, and clothes, that he might make his escape.
Then her son appeared to her, and told her that he was saved, and that
for her generous act done towards his enemy, the heavenly mother had
delivered him from purgatory, where
he should otherwise have had to suffer for a long time, but that he
was then already entering paradise.

19 The blessed Bionda performed a similar heroic act. Some enemies
also killed her only son, though he was innocent, solely by reason of
the hatred they bore to his father,
who was dead; and with unheard-of cruelty gave the heart of the
murdered youth to his mother to eat. Now she, according to the example
of the most holy Mary, began to pray for her son’s murderers, and to
do them all the good she could. These acts so pleased
the heavenly mother, that she called her to join the third order of
the Servites, where she merited to lead so holy a life, that both
before and after her death many miracles were performed through her.

20 St. Gregory relates that there was a young woman named Musa, who had great
devotion to the mother of God; but being, through the evil example of
her companions, in danger of losing her innocence, one day Mary
appeared to her with many saints, and said to her: "Musa, do you too
wish to be one of these? " Musa answered, “Yes;”
and Mary added: “Withdraw from your companions, and prepare, for in
one month from now you shall come with me.” Musa retired from her
companions, and related the vision. On the thirtieth day she was at
the point of death, and the most holy Virgin again
appeared to her and called her. She answered: “Behold, Lady, I come,”
and sweetly expired.

21 In the city of Sens, in France, there lived towards the eighth
century St. Opportuna, the daughter of a prince of royal blood. This
holy virgin, who had a great devotion to Mary, became a religious in a
neighboring monastery, and being at the point of death,
she saw St. Cecilia and St. Lucia standing beside her in the dawn of
the morning. "My sisters, be welcome, she said to them; “what message
do you bring me from my queen?” And they answered: “She is waiting for
you in paradise.” After this the devil appeared to her, and the saint
boldly sent him away, saying: "Brute beast, what have you to do with
me who am the servant of Jesus?” The hour of her death, which she
herself had predicted, having arrived, after receiving the holy
viaticum, she turned
towards the door, and said: “Behold the mother of God who comes to
take me. Sisters, I commend you to her. Adieu, we shall see each other
no more.” Thus saying, she raised her arms, as if to embrace her Lady,
and gently expired.

John 19:27
Eddy Barry