The voice...

I've always known that there was a God. I've always loved going to church and my Mom has always said that when she used to say my good-night prayers that I always said the most beautiful prayers. My family has also been blessed in Godly ways. A few moments stick out in my mind and I've really been thinking about them a lot and so I thought I would share.

When I was about 12, there was a travelling statue of Mary that would be passed around between the Catholic churhes in our area. Each church was given a certain amount of time to have it and families would sign up to have it in their homes for a certain time period. We had her for a week. It was beautiful and we dressed up our coffee table all nice to put her on and we would say our daily rosaries kneeling before the cross that we had hung in our living room and we had the statue directly beneath it on the coffee table.

One day, my Mom and I were home alone together and we were saying our rosary and we were saying our prayers at the end of the rosary and we said the "Act of Contrition" and as I was saying "I firmly resolve with the help of your grace" this big booming voice of a man said the end of the prayer with me "to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life." I immediately asked my Mom if she had heard that. She didn't and I told her what happened. I still to this day remember that voice and I believe it was the voice of God. There's no other explanation for it. Nobody else was home and it was a very powerful voice.

Another incident involving my parents happened when I was in junior high. My Mom and I are visited at times by Mother Mary...no we can't see her...that's not what I mean. But, we pray to her often and she would visit us and give us her scent of roses to smell while she was visiting. You can smell it over and above anything else. I can't really explain it. Anyway, My Dad had gotten a motorcycle and my Mom and him had gone out riding. I was with some friends while they were gone for the day. Mom had seen a statue of Mary and said a Hail Mary (something we always used to do and still do to this day and I do it as well whenever I hear a fire truck or ambulance siren). Anyway, they pulled into a gas station to get some gas and my Mom said that this overwhelming scent of roses came over her. There weren't any roses around her and my Dad was fueling up with her still sitting on the bike. She couldnt' smell the gas at all and she went into prayer with Jesus and Mary. Dad got back on the bike and they drove off. Mom was still in prayer when a pick-up truck ran an intersection. She felt my Dad swerve, never opened her eyes as she was still in prayer...she had no idea what was happening around her. The truck totally ran into them and they should have been thrown from the bike and they both said that they should have been killed with what happened. My Dad said that it was almost like someone waved a hand over his eyes and took over the wheel and when he opened his eyes, the handle bars on the one side were bent (where his hands were) and the mirror was broken off. Neither one of them had a scratch on them and were totally fine. They both believe that Mother Mary intervened for them and protected them. Mom said that the smell of roses was with her through the whole thing. And Dad feels that either her or Jesus took over the wheel and closed his eyes at the point of impact. He said that he felt his eyes being closed.

I can't explain some of the things that have happened in our family, but never will I doubt divine intervention. There is a God, and Mother Mary is real as well. I don't think enough people give her credit. I just felt the need to share. It's been on my heart for awhile.