St. Anthony Claret was a tremendously holy man. God set him apart at an early age to think about saving souls. At the early age of 5, he would lay awake at night and think on hell and the terrible punishments for sinners who would lose their souls in hell. Later on in life, he took a vow not to ever lose a moment of time in God’s holy service. In his lifetime he wrote 144 books. He became so close to God toward the end of his life that he revealed that in the last seven years of his life, Our Lord preserved the sacramental species, (Holy Communion in his breast), from one Communion to the next. He was eventually appointed a bishop, and was most courageous in speaking the truth. This brought him many enemies, as it always does. When he died, his epitaph stated, “I have loved truth and hated iniquity; therefore I die in exile.” He was a pioneer in publishing good holy books, cards and pamphlets. He said a good book could often go where a missionary couldn’t. Here he shows how one holy card brought a man back to confession who hadn’t been for about 40 years. One holy card! You never know when you plant a seed how much good it will do. If people only knew the value of sharing holy cards with everyone they meet. One Hail Mary card that explains devotion to Mary and moves a soul to start saying the Hail Mary everyday can save that person’s soul. Now , let us hear St. Anthony’s beautiful story about this sinner brought back to God by one little holy card.
Holy Ghost, Shed Thy Light In Our Souls
One afternoon, as I was walking along a street in one of the larger cities of Spain, a little boy came up to me, kissed my hand,* and asked me for a holy card, which I gave him. Very early the following day I went, as was my custom, to celebrate Mass in the church, after which I would ordinarily have taken my place in the confessional because there was always a large crowd waiting. After Mass, I knelt in the sanctuary to make my thanksgiving. I hadn’t been there long, when a tall, heavy-set man with a large mustache and full beard approached me. He was holding his cape together with his hands, so that the only features I could make out were his nose and forehead. His eyes were closed and the rest of his face was covered by his eyebrows, mustache, and beard, as well as by the high fur collar of his cape. In a trembling, hoarse voice, he asked me whether I would be so good as to hear his confession. I told him that I would, and asked him to go and wait for me in the sacristy, where I would join him after I finished my thanksgiving. Although there were other men and women waiting in line for confession, something told me that I should hear him apart from the rest because, from his appearance, I felt that it was the right thing to do; and as things turned out, it was. I went to the sacristy where there was no one but the two of us and , even so, led him over to the farthest corner of the room. I sat down and he knelt before me and began to cry so disconsolately that I didn’t know what to say to quiet him. I asked him a number of questions to try to find out the cause of his suffering, and finally, amid tears, sighs, and sobs he told me: “Father, yesterday you were walking along the street where I live, and as you were passing by the door of the house where I am staying, a little boy ran out and kissed your hand. He asked you for a holy card, and you gave it to him. The boy walked away with it, very content, and after he held it for awhile, he put it down on a table and ran off to play with the other boys. I was at home alone, watching all this, and my curiosity got the better of me. To pass the time, I picked up the card and read it. Father, I just cannot tell you what I felt. It was like an arrow shot through me. It was then and there I made up my mind to go to confession. “I thought to myself “ Since God chose to use that good man to give you a true knowledge of yourself, you should make your confession to him.” I have spent the whole night crying and examining my conscience and now here I am, waiting to confess my sins. Father, I am a big sinner. I am 50 years old and have not been to confession since I was a child. I have been the ringleader of a very bad gang. Father, is there any hope of pardon for people like me? “Yes Sir!” I said. “Yes indeed! Have courage and trust in God’s goodness and mercy. The good God has called you because He wants to save you, and you have done well not to harden your heart. You have carried out your resolution to make a good confession.” He made his confession, I absolved him, and he was so happy he could not speak. “Well then, if all the pamphlets and cards resulted in just this one conversion, I would have thought the time well spent and I would have been satisfied for all the effort and money put into printing them.
MORE EXAMPLES
However, this was by no means the only case of someone’s being converted by reading the pamphlets I have published. In Villafranca del Panades, four condemned convicts had refused to go to confession after three days, of being brought to chapel; but after reading a pamphlet I had given each of them, they thought it over, went to confession, received Viaticum, and died an edifying death. Many, very many, have been converted by reading a pamphlet. My God, how good Thou art! Thou dost find a way in all circumstances to shower Thy mercies on poor sinners. Mayest Thou be blessed forever. Amen.” * It is the custom of lay people to kiss the priest’s hand because he holds Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament after he consecrates the bread and wine. Also, in former times the priest’s hands were specially consecrated for this purpose, of touching Our Lord in the Host. “Host” means “Victim.” Getting back to the story, how many people out there may not be converted because we neglected to give them something? “To him that knoweth to do good, and doth it not, it is sin.” St. James 4:17. Remember, St. Anthony Claret said, “Many, very many, have been converted by reading a pamphlet.” Fr. Ronald Tangen says in one of his talks: “One Pamphlet! One pamphlet brought me back to God and to Jesus Christ! The pamphlet on the Miraculous Medal!” Another wonderful and powerful testimony on the Guardian Angel card. One day a gentleman gave a janitor at work two Guardian Angel cards for him and his wife. He didn’t see him for a couple of weeks and then, one day in the break room the janitor saw the man there and was motioning him to come over. He was apparently excited and he said to the gentleman, “You remember that card you gave me a couple weeks ago?” and the gentleman said, “No.” The janitor said, “You know, the one with the angel on it?” The gentleman said, “Yeah! Okay!” The janitor said, “Well, that night going home I was doing about 60 in the fast lane and there was a car stopped in the road around the curve. I thought I had time to get over, but a big truck hit me and knocked my car upon the concrete median. I never got a scratch!” He believed he owed it to the Guardian Angel card, which he probably read on the way home. This lesson should teach us to say our Guardian Angel prayer each day: O Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love , commits me here, Ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. From stain of sin, O keep me free, at the hour of death, my helper be. Angel of God, my guardian dear; to whom God’s love, commits me hear. Ever this day…Pray this prayer to your Guardian Angel each day! But remember, if you start sinning, God withdraws his protection, and the angel can’t help you like he wants to do. A father has to chastise his children when they’re bad, and so does God.
The story of the protection of St. Michael the Archangel with the soldier ought to inspire us to call on St. Michael each day. The soldier was from Indiana and was in the Korean war. His mother had taught him to say this prayer every day: Michael, Michael of the morning, fresh chord of heaven adorning, keep me safe today, and in time of temptation drive the devil away. Search: ST. MICHAEL AND THE SOLDIER and you find it.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A HOLY CARD! How hard is it to take a holy card out of your pocket and share it with someone? Is it lack of zeal for our neighbor’s soul? Is it fear of rejection? If we do not have time to talk to them, what better way than give them a holy card, pamphlet, book, miraculous medal or scapular? How many spiritual seeds could we sow every day in this manner, and fail to do so? “He that soweth sparingly, shall reap sparingly.” 2 Cor. 9:6. Remember too that if we help save a soul, our own salvation is secured. “He must know that he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.” St. James 5:20. Not only will you save your soul, but you will cover a multitude of sins that may have to be expiated in purgatory. Furthermore, you get the merit for your effort, even if they do not correspond with God’s grace. It was said one time that if a priest labored all his life, and didn’t save a soul, he would still get the merit for his effort. In a lifetime, thousands of seeds could have been planted and never were. Where is our zeal for our neighbor’s soul? St. Alphonsus says devotion to Mary can save that soul, even a small devotion, provided they persevere to the end. -The Glories of Mary. St. Alphonsus tells the story of a great sinner who had lived 60 years, and yet, was converted before he died. And what was the reason? Throughout his life, when he would think about the Mother of Sorrows, and how she suffered, he would pity her, and because of this compassion, she obtained his conversion before he died!
Another man named Richard, who one night was at a house of debauchery with a friend, was moved to go home early. He went home, and before going to bed, said his Hail Marys , even though he was tired, and went to sleep. Later in the night, he was awakened by a terrible apparition of his friend, who was damned. His former friend told him that went he left that evil house, the devils strangled him, his body was in the street, and his soul was in hell. In proof of this, he opened his vestments, and showed Richard the fire and the devils who were tormenting him, and said, “The reason you did not suffer the same fate is because of your devotion to the Hail Marys. And well will it be for you if you profit from this warning sent to you by the Mother of God.”And after saying these things, he disappeared, and Richard, hearing the monastery bells ringing said, “Ah! It is there that God calls me to do penance!” They were unwilling to accept him, knowing his sinful life. Two monks were sent to the street, and they found the body, black as a coal. Richard was admitted, and, St. Alphonsus said he went on to give his life for the faith.
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REFLECTIONS:
“In all thy works, remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.” Ecclus. 7:40. If we always keep in mind that we are going to die, that we are going to face Jesus Christ for all the offences against him, and that we will either be condemned to hell immediately at death if we die in sin, or we will be saved for all eternity in the happiness of heaven, these reflections should help us put our affairs in order. St. Jerome said, “One should think often on hell, in order to avoid going there hereafter.” The Blessed Mother told Venerable Mary of Agreda that the devil makes souls forgetful of death, as he did Eve, in order to get them to sin. ”And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death. ” Gen.3:4. When we pass a cemetery, we should pause in our mind, and think about all the people who have been buried there. How many are now burning in hell forever? How many are in purgatory and need our prayers? How many are in heaven? St. Alphonsus in PREPARATION FOR DEATH said Cain had been in hell above 5,000 years. Judas had been in hell over 1800 years. And Martin Luther has been in hell over 450 years!
A vision: Luther in Hell: In 1883, Sister Maria Serafina Micheli (1849-1911) was beatified in Faicchio in the province of Benevento in the diocese of Cerreto Sannita 28 May 2011. The foundress of the Sisters of the Angels, was going to Eisleben, Saxony, the birthplace of Luther. The fourth centenary of the birth of the great heretic (10 November 1483) was celebrated on that day. The streets were crowded… goo.gl/RiQjTF. Or, you can find the story here,with Commentary: https://motherofgodlibrary.org/?s=Luther+in+Hell
Most souls are lost. “The number of fools if infinite.” Eccles. 1:15. “Many find the broad way to death; few find the narrow way to life…” St. Matthew 7:13-14. Hear what God revealed to the Blessed Virgin . From the words of God to the Blessed Virgin on the 5th day of her novena for the Incarnation, “How small is the number of those who are to know and love Me as My chosen ones; and how great and extended is the number of the ungrateful and reprobate.” City of God, Book 2, chap. 5.
PRAYER IS NECESSARY FOR SALVATION, AND MUCH PRAYER IF WE WANT TO SECURE OUR SALVATION.
From Cry of a Lost Soul on prayer: “Once you warned me, ‘Anne, if you do not pray, you go to perdition.’ I used to pray very little indeed, and even this unwillingly. You were then only too right. All those who burn in hell did not pray or did not pray enough.” “Prayer is the first step towards God. And it is the decisive step. Especially prayer to her who is the Mother of Christ, whose name we never pronounce. Devotion to her rescues from the devil numberless souls whom sin would infallibly give to him…To pray is the easiest thing man can do on earth. And God has tied up the salvation of each one exactly to this very easy thing. To him who prays with perseverance little by little God gives so much light, so much strength, that even the most debased sinner will at the end come back to salvation. During the last years of my life I did not pray any more, so I lacked those graces without which nobody can be saved…” “Especially prayer to the Mother of Christ,” she said. Especially the Blessed Mother’s rosary given to St. Dominic to convert sinners back to God, to sanctify them, and finally to bring them in the end to heaven. Mary’s 15th promise on the rosary she says, “Devotion to my rosary is a great sign of predestination.” St. Alphonsus says: “He who prays shall be saved. He who prays not shall be condemned. One of the greatest pains of the damned is that they could have been saved so easily by prayer and neglected to do so.” THERE IS A HELL – AND I AM IN IT! https://bit.ly/2uQc8MA.
Necessity of corresponding with God’s grace. 2 Cor. 6:1 says, “Receive not the grace of God in vain.” All those in hell did not correspond with God’s grace. All those in heaven did. St. Paul corresponded with God’s grace. “I cast not away the grace of God.” Gal. 2:21.
Heaven Opened by the practice of THE THREE HAIL MARYS: http://www.olrl.org/pray/
Some good resources to know the importance of the true Church for salvation. There is only one true Church. Jesus said, “My church,’’ Not ‘’churches.’’ St. Matthew 16:18.
Bible: The Sole Rule of Faith? http://www.olrl.org/apologetics/biblerule.shtml The Church or The Bible http://www.olrl.org/apologetics/churchbible.shtml St. Alphonsus Against the “Reformers http://www.olrl.org/snt_docs/alpquote.shtml
German pilot with a rosary saves an American pilot’s life! Beautiful story. https://bit.ly/2qbDS90
If you have found this article helpful, please consider sharing it with others. This article certainly demonstrates the value of planting seeds. The gentleman who gave the janitor the Guardian Angel card may have saved his life. You never know when you plant a seed how much good it may do. “As a man shall sow, so shall he reap,” said St. Paul. If we sow blessings, we shall reap blessings, if we sow curses (profanity, swearing, etc), we shall reap curses. Let us finish with the Hail Mary: Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death Amen.
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