Two very different visits

 

Related post: The Saint Who Saw Beyond

The last week of April/first week of May was truly strange here. The weather is stuck somewhere between muggy summer and autumn. It has been raining a lot, and I had some celestial visit —I think— the last 1st of May, just as a friend of mine moved to Buenos Aires. She is recently retired, she also lost her husband of many years, and had to go through some serious surgery—all at once. Her first name is the Spanish word for a flower that is normally represented next to the images of St Joseph, also called “white lilies” in English. Those flowers are a symbol of St Joseph’s purity.

May 1st is a holiday here and I was on my way to do some carpentry on my friend’s apartment but  somehow, I got lost. It was early in the day but due to the holiday, the streets were deserted. As I was walking down Figueroa St I saw a humble man, dressed very modestly.  I asked him for directions and he was quite knowledgeable. I walked along with him as he showed me the way. We struck up a casual conversation, he told me he was homeless but trying to stay alive. He was dressed neatly with clean but very worn clothes. I asked him if he believed in God and he assented. So  I referred him to a ministry for homeless men in St Joseph’s parish. He thanked me kindly. As we parted ways, I assured him of my prayers and asked him what was his name. He said  “my name is Giglio” pronouncing the last word in perfect Italian (pron. gee-lee-oh). I never knew any man with that name. I have known girls called Gigliola, (pron. gee-lee-oh-lah) a common name in Italy but never someone called Giglio. I thought that was odd. About an hour later I was thinking of that and I realized suddenly that “giglio” is the name of a flower in Italian, the traditional white lilies of St Joseph and … May 1st is the feast of St Joseph the Worker! So the triple coincidence—my friend’s name, the name of that poor man on the street, and the fact that I casually referred the man to St Joseph—struck me as one of those things that are not coincidental. I have the strong suspicion that I received a surprise visit from St Joseph. Besides, judging by other times he has appeared in history, that is exactly his style. Add also the fact that I was doing some carpentry for my friend that morning and St Joseph is a carpenter.

I believe this visit was a prelude, and an assurance from the realms beyond that all is under control.

A little known prophecy by St Luigi Orione

The image above was provided to me by the late Giorgio Sernani, a great Argentine Marian scholar, and a friend of both Fr Peyton and St John Paul II. It is a photocopy of a number of notes, hastily taken by a lady who was sitting near St Luigi Orione during a dinner to commemorate the first anniversary of the International  Eucharistic Congress of 1934. Orione interrupted his normal conversation and appeared to go into “prophecy mode” of sorts talking for a few minutes about events still to come. That lady took notes of the saint’s words on the back of a religious pamphlet she had at hand. The prophetic statement may very well apply to these times we are living. You won’t see this in any other blog, folks!

Translation

[Left side of the image, a few words are illegible] “Compendium of six clauses given in the prophecies of Don Orione, pronounced in February 1935.

1. I see a dramatic persecution of the Church.
2. Profanation and destruction of the temples in [Buenos Aires] .
3. One day the blood will run (a tragic day for the whole country.)
4. Death of the [Archbishop of Buenos Aires], priests, nuns, and religious assassinated.
5. Fall of the worshiped mud idols (the President persecutor will be hanged along with several of his ilk.)
6. Salvation will come like a flash from the center of the Argentine Republic,

and from all that blood and putrefaction a flower will grow. [To right side of the image] ‘A thriving Christian Argentina —  Peace and happiness will be reborn for a feast of the Virgin Most Holy, and a Catholic civilian man will govern the country brilliantly while an excelsior Bishop will reign over the souls for many years, because the Lord has remembered this country where one night the International Eucharistic Congress of 1934 was celebrated.'”

[Top right side of the image] “Words from Don Orione, more or less verbatim.”

I include this little known set of brief prophetic statements because I believe the destruction of the temples on June 16, 1955 — blamed on the Communists by Juan D. Perón — fulfilled the second prediction. The rest is unclear to me but I like the hopeful idea that one day Argentina will return to its senses and will become a true Christian country.

The fever of corruption — in my opinion — has not reached its peak, although it may be very close to that level. There are many men and women that have had enough of the farce — in particular they are tired of the collectivist alliance of Peronists, plus Communists, Socialists, and the left in general. These last are atomized in a number of small irrelevant but vociferous parties that do not amount to more than 3% of the voting public. Technology and communications are changing the world while the Argentine body politic clings to ideas that were already obsolete in 1916 when the nightmare began. Perhaps the ominous events described by Don Bosco are about to happen. Personally, I don’t want to hang around to see them unfold from first row.