Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00 This morning will, uh, tell you a story about the miraculous metal miraculous metals properly named, uh, the metal of the Nakhla conception, but it got the title of miraculous metal because there's so many, uh, miracles associated with it. Before we go on, we should take a pause for just a moment and say what the NACA conception is. The maca conception refers to the fact that by singular favor and privilege of God and through the foreseen merits of her son or lady from the first moment of conception in the womb of her mother's Saint Anne was preserved free from all stain of sin. So Our Lady's Immaculate Conception. She's Mackley conceived unlike the rest of us, but it's flue, the merits of her son stretching, you know, since he stands outside time stretching outside that. Now, uh, before we go on to just to think of this, our Lord is the new Adam and the whole trend in salvation history is from, uh, from promise to fulfillment, from the lesser to the greater.
Speaker 0 01:01 That's how it goes. It goes up. And I just refried to Hebrews ten one and eight, six. But we won't go into that right now anyway. So you're going from the lesser to the greater throughout salvation history, Adam was made, his body was made or the salt of the earth, and then God breathed into him in immortal soul. The earth had not fallen yet. When Adam was created, the earth was stainless. It was peer. You could say it's immaculate if our, if Adam, the first atoms body was made out of peer stainless soil, how much more? The new ad. And so it's fitting that our lady was immaculate and there Lord's flesh was taken from this unstained pure virginal soil of a room. So that's another way you can think of it. So what the first Adam had, the new had them has even greater. Okay.
Speaker 0 01:49 Anyway, this morning was spent a few minutes concerning one of the miracles and maracas metal. Uh, some people here have heard it, I'm sure it took place in Mississippi. 1944. We'll base our icon on a testimony of a priest who was directly involved in the events. Father, Robert O'Leary, divine word missionary story was written up by John <inaudible> some years ago. We'll just read edit excerpts of that story. So Claude Newman, it's about Claude Newman. Claude Newman was a black man who worked as a farm hand and December 42 when he was 19 years old, he shot and killed a man who had been abusing his grandma. So Claude was arrested and sentenced to die in an electric chair. While he was waiting and execution, he shared a cell block with four other prisoners. One night, Claude noted a metal on a string around another prisoner's neck. He asked what it was and the Catholic boy told Ms Metal.
Speaker 0 02:44 Claude said, what's the metal? Catholic boy couldn't understand it, really explained what it was or what the function of it was. And so he got mad and tore it off and threw it at a Claude's feet and told him, you take the darn thing. And so Claude picked up the metal and got permission from the guard and put on a string around his own neck. And Timmy just thought it was a trinket, but he wanted to take it during the night. That night he was awakened with a touch on his wrist and his Claude told the police. Later there stood the most beautiful woman that God had ever created. At first, he's very frightened. The lady calm down Claude and then said to him, if you'd like me to be your mother and you'd like to be my child, send for priests of the Catholic Church. And then she disappeared and that's when he got terrified and started to scream a ghost.
Speaker 0 03:33 The ghost started screaming that he wanted a Catholic priest. So father Larry was called in the first thing. The next morning when he arrived, Claude told him what had happened the night before and then Claude, along with other four men in that cell block asked for religious instruction. Initially, father leary had a difficult time believing the story, but he did think it was reasonable. See prompts to teach him catechism or turn the next day to begin instructions. When that started, father discovered that Claude couldn't read or write. The only way you could tell if a book was right side up as if it had a picture in it. He'd never been to school and his ignorance of religion was even worse. He knew nothing at all about religion. He didn't know who our Lord was. The only thing he knew was that there was a god. That's all he knew.
Speaker 0 04:18 So cloud begins receiving instructions, several weeks pass and it came time and father leary was going to give him instructions about confession to the religious sisters from Father O'leary's parish school. We're also sitting in on the class the priesthood of the prisoners. Okay Boys. Today I'm going to teach you about the sacrament confession. And Claude said, well, I know all about that. The lady told me that when we go to confession, we're kneeling down, not before priest, what were kneeling down by the cross of her son. Then what we're true, when we're truly sorry for our sins and we confess our sins, the blood he shed flows down over us and washed us free from all sins. And Father Lou and the sisters sat there stunned with their mouths open and clot that they're mad at him, got worried, so don't be angry, don't her. I didn't mean to blurt that out for us, that we're not angry.
Speaker 0 05:06 We're just amazed and asked if he'd seen her again and God said, come around to away from the cell block away from the others a little when they were alone. Claude said to the priest, she told me that if you doubted me or showed any hesitancy owes to remind you that when you were lying in a ditch and Holland in 1940 you made a vow to her, which she's still waiting for you to keep and fatherly recalls, quote, Claudo told me exactly what the vowel was closed. We know what it was. The promise that Father Lilly made to our lady 1940 is that when he could, he would build a church in honor of her Maca conception, which he did in Clarksdale, Mississippi. A few years after this happened. Anyway, clot telling him that convinced Father Larry, that cloud was telling the truth about his visions of our lady.
Speaker 0 05:49 What it convinced anybody at that point. Then they returned the catechism, class and confession and Claude kept telling the other prisoners, you shouldn't be afraid to go to confession. You really telling God your sins, not this priest or any priest. We're telling God our sins. You know the lady said that confession is something like a telephone. We talked through the priest to God and God talks back to us through the priest. About a week later, Father Larry was preparing to teach the class about the blessed sacrament sisters are present for this. Also, Claude said that the lady had also taught him about holy communion. The lady told me that in communion I will only see what looks like a piece of bread, but she told me that that is truly and really her son and then he will be with me for just a few moments as used with her before he was born in Bethlehem and I should spend my time like she did in all her time with him and loving him and adoring him and thanking him, praising him, and asking him for blessings.
Speaker 0 06:44 I shouldn't be bothered by anybody else or anything else, but I should spend those few moments with him. Eventually. They finished instructions on January 16th, 1944 with one of the sisters standing as a sponsor. Father Larry baptized in his Claude shoot. His Day of execution was sent for January 20th he's supposed to be electrocuted at five minutes after midnight. The sheriff asked him, Claude, do you have the privilege of alas requests? What do you want? Well, Claude said, you're all shook up. Jerry's all shook up, but you don't understand. I'm not going to die just this body. I'm going to be with her. So can I have a party? What do you mean? Said the sheriff, a party said cloud. We give father permission to bring in cake and ice cream and we get a lot of the prisoners in a second floor to be turned loose in the main room so we can all be together and have a party.
Speaker 0 07:34 This is a guy who's going electrocuted. Somebody might attack. Father caution. The Ward cloud turned to the men who were standing by and said, no, they won't will you fellows. So father visited a wealthy patron of the parish. She supplied the ice cream and cake and they had their party afterwards because Claude had requests that they made a holy hour. Father brought prayer books from the church and they all said together the stations of the cross and had a holy hour without the blessed sacrament. The men were then put back in their cells and the priest went to chapel to get the plus ITSAC let so he could give Claude holy communion. Father leary returned to Claude, sell flood net on one side of the bars, the priest in alternate other and they prayed together as a clock ticked towards clots, execution. 15 minutes before the execution, the sheriff came running up the stairs shouting, there's a reprieve.
Speaker 0 08:20 The governor has given a two week reprieve. Claude had not been aware that the sheriff and the district attorney were trying to get a stay of execution for Claude to save his life. When Claude found out, he started to cry, the priest and the sheriff. That was a reaction, joy, because he wasn't going to be executed, but Claude said, you don't know, and father you don't know. If you ever looked into her face and looked in dry eyes, you wouldn't want to live another day. Claude asked, what have I done these past weeks that God would refuse me my going home? And he was sobbing, broken, hardly seeing why. Why must I still remain here for two father monocot about a prisoner who hated clod intensely, a man who led a horribly moral life from his Elsa due to be executed soon. Father said, maybe our blessed mother wants you to offer this denial of being with her for his conversion.
Speaker 0 09:11 Why don't you offer to God every moment you're separated from her for this prisoner so that he won't be separated from God for all eternity caught a greeting as father teach them the words to make the offering, which father did at the time. The only two people that knew about the sophomore, Claude and father leery. The next day. Claude told five that prisoner hated me before, but oh father, how he hates me now. And father said, well, that's a good sign. Two weeks later on February 4th, 1944 Claude was executed. Father leary marked. I've never seen anyone go to his death as joyfully and happily even the official witnesses and newspaper reporters were amazed. They said they couldn't understand how anyone could go and sit in an electric chair actually beaming with happiness. His last words to father Larry were father. I will remember you and whenever you have a request, ask me and I'll ask her.
Speaker 0 10:04 Two months later, the white man who hated Claude was due to be executed. Fatherly said this man was the filthiest most immoral person I'd ever come across is hatred for God for everything. Spiritual defy description. Remember, this is a prisoner in chaplain. Just before his execution. The Connie, Dr pleaded, was the condemned man to at least kneel down and say the our father before the sheriff came from the prisoners spit in a doctor's face when he strapped into the chair of the shift, had said to him, if you have something to say, say it now, and a condemned man began to blast phene. All of a sudden, the condemned man stopped and his eyes became fixed on the corner of the room and his face turned to one of absolute horror. He screamed and then turning. The sheriff said, Sheriff, get me a priest. The Man City had been Catholic but turned away from his religion.
Speaker 0 10:54 He's 18 because of his immoral life. Since the law required a clergyman to be president and execution, Father Larry was already in the room, but he'd hit himself behind some reporters because the condemn man had threatened to blast you if he saw any clergy president at all. Father Lear immediately went to the condemned man. The room was cleared out and father heard demand's confession. When everyone returned to the room, the sheriff asked the priest, what made him change his mind? He doesn't know about the seal, Huh? I don't know replied father leary. I didn't ask him. The sheriff asked, well, I'll never sleep if I don't. The chef turned to the condemned man ass son. What changed your mind? The prisoner responded. Remember that Black Man Claude, who I hated so much, we standing over there in the corner, he pointed and behind him with one hand at each shoulder is a blessing of mother and Claude said to me, I offered my death and you knew with Christ on the cross for your salvation, she's obtained for you this gift to see your place in hell.
Speaker 0 11:50 If you do not repent, I'll showing my place in hell and that's when I screamed. Of course they like hated him, but it made a confession. There's a lot to think about in this story and I'll leave you to think about most of it. Mercy, sacrifice, suffering for others. Prayer for ladies, the refuges centers we call her our life, our sweetness, our hope. She is our hope. She'll in her seat with us, for us, to her son. We should be confident. If we pray for center rosary, we're saying our three hail Mary's, that she'll make sure that we have the opportunity in the last moments of our life, no matter how we've been living, to make amends with her son. Let us all have a true devotion to Mary.
