Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00 Last week we heard the story of Herman Cohen, the Jewish musical prodigy, who, uh, by his teen years had risen to great fame and fortune. And in the process, uh, became a slay of sand blowing his money and gambling and high living. We saw how he was completely converted at a Sunday Mass during the elevation of the bus, had sacrament. And that after overcoming all kinds of difficulties, he was admitted into Carmel on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, July 16th, 1849. We saw that at that point, his father cursed him and disinherited him. His mother came to the monastery, asked to see your son, and when he arrived in the company, a novice master, she wanted a histrionic fits swooning falling into his arms, refusing to be consoled, weeping, crying, and carrying on, begging him to leave with her. But that he held firm that finally, after a week of this short behavior, she left cursing all those who had taken her son away from her.
Speaker 0 01:01 We also saw that incredibly enough, less than four years after his baptism and less than two years after entering Carmel, he was ordained to the priesthood. His name and religion was changed from Herman Cohen to Father Augusta and Marie are the most blessed Itzhak when he's now vulnerable. We saw that father Gustin Murray prayed fervently for the conversion of his family and his granted the grace to see 10 members of his family enter the church, but his mother remained Jewish to the end. She died on December 13th, 1855 without converting, without being baptized. So we'll pick up the story there. Shortly after his mother died, Father Gustin went to visit a friend of his, a parish priest in a small town, small town named ours. Father Gustin. Marie told his friend the curee of ours, the story of his mother's death. St John Vianney, that's the parish priest there told Father Gusto Murray quote, hope, hope you will.
Speaker 0 02:03 One day on the feast of the Mac of conception receive a letter which will be very consoling to you. Close quote. Now this prophecy was fulfilled six years later on December 8th, 1861 she's the feast of the Mac of conception when a Jesuit priest handed father Gustin Marie a letter. Now this letter was written to Father Gusto Marie by a woman who had died, a very holy death. Here's the letter. I will read it to you and the translation quote. On the 18th of October after holy communion, I found myself in one of those moments of intimate union with our Lord where and he's so sweetly makes me feel his presence in the sacrament of his love, that it seems to me as if faith were no longer necessary in order to believe in it. After some moments, he made his voice audible to me and was pleased to give me some explanations relative to a conversation that I had had the previous evening.
Speaker 0 03:07 I remembered then that in this conversation, one of my friends had expressed to me her astonishment that our Lord, who promised everything to prayer had nevertheless remained deaf to those prayers of Father Herman so often offered up for the conversion of his mother. Her surprise amounted almost to discontent and I had found some difficulty in making her understand that we must adore the justice of God and not seek to penetrate his secrets. I have the boldness to ask the Lord how it was that he who's good in itself could have resisted the prayers of Father Herman and not grant the conversion of his mother. This was his answer, our Lord. Why will your friend always seek to sound the secrets of my justice and try to penetrate into mysteries that she cannot understand? Tell her that I owe my grace to no one that I give to whomsoever I please in an acting. Thus I do not cease to be just and justice itself, but let her know also that sooner than fail and the promises that I have made to prayer, I would overthrow the heavens and the earth and that every prayer that has my glory in the salvation of souls for its object is always heard when it has the necessary qualities. He also said, and to prove this truth to you, I will let you know what took place at the moment of the death of Father Augustin's mother.
Speaker 0 04:37 I was made to understand the moment that the mother, Father Herman was on the point of raising her last when she seemed deprived of consciousness and life was almost gone. Mary, our good mother, presented herself before her divine son and prostate and yourself at his feet said to him, grace, mercy on my son for this soul that is about to perish. Another moment and it will be lost last for all eternity. The soul of his mother's, what is dearest to him a thousand times he's consecrated it to me. He's confided it to the tenderness to the solicitude of my heart. Can I allow it to perish? This soul is mind. I want it. I claim it as a heritage, as the price of the eye blood it of my sorrows at the foot of that cross. Hardly the demo had the most totally virgin ceased to speak.
Speaker 0 05:30 When a Grace Strong lady escape from the source of all graces, the durable heart of Jesus and fell upon the soul of that poor dying to us and triumph instantly over its obstinacy. The soul immediately turn with loving confidence toward him whose mercy pursued her even in the arms of death. And she said, oh Jesus, God of the Christians, God who my senador's, I believe. I hope in the have mercy on me in this cry which was heard by God alone and which came from the lowest depths of the heart of the dying woman. There were included sincere regrets for obs, Mitzi and her sins, the desire of baptism, the explicit wish to receive it until live according to the rules and precepts of our holy religion. If she could return to life. This us burst of faith and hope and Jesus was the last sentiment of this soul as she was uttering it before the throne of divine mercy.
Speaker 0 06:29 The feeble threads that still held her in an earthly tenement were broken and she threw herself at the feet of him who had been her savior before being her judge. After having shown me all these things our Lord added make this known to Father Augustan. It is a constellation that I wish to grant to as long sufferings in order that they everywhere bless and cause to be blessed. The goodness of my mother's heart and her power over mine, an entire stranger to the reverend Father Herman, the poor sick woman that has just penned these lines is happy to think that they will bring constellation and bomb to the Everett blue bleeding wound of his heart, the heart of a son and a priest. She presumes to ask of him the arms of his fervent prayers and she hopes that he will not refuse them to one who, although unknown to him is United to him by the sacred bonds. Of the same faith in the same hopes. Close quote, we have a dying anti-catholic Jewess on the verge of hurdling into hell saved literally at the last moment by the intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary.
Speaker 0 07:49 There's a lot to ponder there. Let's just briefly consider three points. The importance of hope, the US and responsibility each one of us has as a Catholic, an absolute importance of each one of us to have a true devotion to the blessed Virgin Mary first. Hope we all know hopeless cases. Every one of us has friends, relatives, even enemies who either aren't Catholic at all or else they are, but they're going to land smack Dab and hell unless something miraculous happens. We all know it. Helpless cases to salvation of Roselee Colon, Father Augusta Marie's mother, and she'd be a hopeless case if ever there were one. Her Salvation. Now to fill us with hope for the salvation of our so called hopeless cases. Second Point, the awesome responsibility that we each have as Catholics. Anytime God gives us a right, he also gives us a duty. The fact that we have the right to turn to the blessed Virgin Mary and beg her for the salvation of those who we love and hold dear means that we have the duty to do just that.
Speaker 0 09:12 For those for whom we are most responsible to pray for our immediate family and our God's children, that's at the least we have that duty, but we shouldn't stop there. There are people that literally won't be saved and last we pray for them. That's not an exaggeration, that's the fabric of reality. God has poured out his mercy on us by giving us the true faith and he expects us to beg for his mercy to be poured out on others, less fortunate, and when we consider the infinite value of even one's soul, a soul, so priceless that he would have gone through everything he went through and his incarnation, passion and death on the cross for even one soul, we consider the infinite value of one's soul and that God expects us to pray for the salvation of those who most need is mercy and that there are people that won't be and can't be saved unless we pray for them.
Speaker 0 10:17 Then we can begin to get a glimmer of the awesome responsibility we have as Catholics. The responsibility we have to pray for those that haven't been given what we've been given. Third, the absolute importance of each one of us to have a true devotion to the blessed Virgin Mary and the story of Roselee Co and we get a glimpse of the incredible power our ladies prayers have before the throne of justice. When she asked her son is Paris, so it just plain flat happens. That's how it works. We need to be devoted to our lady. We need to be faithful and laying our prayers for the salvation of our hopeless cases at our feet. Every day they hear to take them onto her Mandel. We could place the list to those we pray for under statue on our all tread home. Say a memory for them everyday. Remember them in our rosary every day. Light a candle before her alter for them. If we're faithful and we're fervent in our prayers, we have every reason for hall is this. Saint Alphonsus says there is no one, however, wicked who married does not say by her intercession when she wishes she interceded for Roseli Cohen because her son asked her, does anyone think our prayers can obtain the same graces for the people we pray?
Speaker 0 11:55 If you think that, think again, she's our mother. We have the right to turn to the blessed mother and beggar for the salvation of those we love and hold dear and if we're faithful and fervent about these prayers, we have every reason and every hope that she'll intercede for our hopeless cases. What mother loving mother isn't ignore prayers like that. We ought to be filled with hope after all in the Hail Holy Queen, what do we call her? We call her our hope because she is our hope.
