I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend! We are at the end of the day, the feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal!
(I apologize, it wouldn’t let me rotate the picture!)
This was my dad’s medal. He received it in Rome when Pope Pius XII blessed him. He wore it every day after that until his death in 1989! One of the stories that goes with this medal is that in 1983 my dad was diagnosed with an aortic aneurism. It was on a Friday and the doctors didn’t think his heard would withstand the surgery so they sent him home to be on bedrest and directions as to what to watch for. On Saturday morning my dad told my mom that he felt some tingling in the area of the aneurism. My mom called the hospital and they said to bring him in. At the hospital it was confirmed that the aneurism had started leaking, which meant surgery was needed. The doctors asked my dad what he wanted them to do, for they were not sure his heart would withstand major surgery, but he would die without it. I am sure my dad said a prayer before answering and said to do the surgery.
After surgery the surgeon came to the waiting room to let my mom know my dad had made it through surgery and had something to show her. He put into her hand my dad’s Miraculous Medal and the surgeon said that it wasn’t his skill but my dad’s faith that pulled him through the surgery! He said after surgery the nurse noticed that my dad had his hand clinched. (this should be impossible during a 5 hour surgery) They had to pry open his hand and found the Miraculous Medal! No one on the surgical team noticed that he took it off and kept it.
Needless to say my dad not only made it through surgery, but also recovered so well that the doctors talked to him about having a triple bypass surgery the following year and he lived 5 years after that!
I’ve always liked that Miraculous Medal story! He prayed the Rosary daily and had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus!
This past Sunday was the Feast of Christ the King! Next Sunday begins the Advent Season!
May you have a Blessed Week!