I had the privilege to witness the journey of these 3 holy men as seminarians, deacons and now priests. They had become my friends and brothers in Christ. I had prayed for what special gift to give to them to celebrate their ordination and it came from Mother Mary. She wanted to journey with these 3 newly ordained grace-filled priests and with the help of the Holy Spirit, my husband and my amazing friends, everything fell into place, down to how I was getting there and back. As soon as I prayed for help, the answer was instantaneous!! There were so many challenges along the way in completing these paintings but with daily Eucharist, my guardian angel, the St. Michael prayers, and powerful prayers offered for me as I painted protected me from palpable attacks from the enemy.
I felt the embraces of Mother Mary especially when my energy waned and my spirit vulnerable. She gave me so much comfort and peace especially facing the most challenging task in the short amount of time I had thus far especially humanizing famous icons. Staring at Mother Mary as she emerged from the 3 paintings was in itself a miracle and her presence was so loving.
Anway, when the time finally came, I finished with less than 2 hours to spare. There are no words to describe how miraculous this event was. Answered prayers through it all. Thank you, Jesus! The sleepless nights were all worth it because when I finally presented the completed framed paintings to Fr. Luis Lozano, Fr. Javier Ebertowski and Fr. Jim Craig, witnessing their joyful surprise to receive their personal Marian Devotion on canvas (I had to covertly discover which ones they were), then bestowing their first priestly blessings upon me, melted all exhaustion – those were my Holy Spirit gifts.
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Perpetual Help – Our Most Blessed Mother Mary, please pray and protect your new priests and please pray for all of us.
