Most of us are content to journey through life with an awareness that our many flaws would hardly identify us worthy beacons of the miraculous presence of the divine mystery.
The Scottish novelist, and physician A. J. Cronin wrote "The Keys of the Kingdom" testifying to the tiny miracles performed by people who will never be known to most of us for their many sacrifices serving the common good.
For those wishing to view the cinema interpretation of The Keys of the Kingdom here is a link:
https://ok.ru/video/1063543179956
Always humble yourself lovingly before God and man, because God speaks to those who are truly humble of heart, and enriches them with His gifts. ~ Padre Pio
It is always a joy for me to speak of Padre Pio and relate the responses of so many people helped by his intervention.
Here is one of those stories referencing a crusading atheist facing a terminal illness:
A gentleman, who came from the south of Italy in Puglia, was a famous atheist in this region. He was well known for the fervor with which he fought the Catholic Religion. His wife was a Catholic woman but her husband had strictly forbidden her to go to church and speak about God to their children. In 1950 that man fell ill. The doctors made a serious diagnosis: he had two cancers, the first one in the brain, the second one behind the right ear. There was no hope for him! Here is his report: “I was taken to the hospital in Bari. I was very frightened by the pain and the thought of death. The fear drove me to pray to God. I had not prayed since I was a child. They moved me from Bari to Milan in order to try to operate on me and save my life. The doctor, who visited me, told me the operation was very difficult and there were a lot of doubts about its outcome. At night, when I was in Milan, I dreamt of Padre Pio. He came to touch my head and he told me: “Don’t worry you will recover in the future”. The morning after, I felt better! The doctors were astonished because of my improvement, however they thought it was necessary to operate on me. On my part, I was very terrified of the operation so I escaped from the hospital just some minutes before going into the operation room and I hid myself in my relative’s house in Milan, where my wife was as well. Some days later I had pain again and I went back to hospital. The doctors did not want to take care of me anymore but they did. They made other checks before going ahead with the operation. At the end of the medical checks all the doctors were astonished to realize, that I had no cancers. I was astonished too because I had smelt the scent of violets during the medical checks and I knew it was a signal of Padre Pio’s presence. I asked for the doctor’s bill before leaving the hospital but the doctor told me: “I haven’t done anything in order to heal you so you do not have to pay me”. When I went back home I wanted to go to San Giovanni Rotondo to thank Padre Pio. I was sure he had healed me. But when I arrived at the church convent, I started to have pain again. It was so painful I fainted! Two men carried me up to the Padre Pio’s confessional. As soon as I saw him I said: “I have five children and I am very sick, save me father, save my life.” - He answered: “I am not God, nor Jesus Christ, I am just a priest like any other priest, not more, maybe less. I can not do miracles! I implored crying “Please, Father, save me.” Padre Pio turned his eyes to the sky and I saw his lips praying. At that same moment I smelt the scent of violets I had smelt in hospital. Father Pio told me: “Go home and pray! I will pray for you! You will recover! - I went home and the pain disappeared.
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