I took a bus trip recently. The bus was half full, with plenty of empty seats, but a woman asked if she could sit next to me.
I was reading a book called “The Wonder of Guadalupe” by Francis Johnston, and after a few minutes of small talk, she motioned to the book and asked if I was religious. I told her I was a Catholic.
She told me she had been raised as a Pentecostal, but fell away from the church when her mother died. She also said she was taught to be wary of Catholics because they changed the Bible and worshipped Mary.
I told her the Bible came from the Church, and that Catholics don’t worship Mary, but they do pray to her to intercede on their behalf.
“Suppose I had a friend whose father owned a business,” I told her. “And I wanted to get a job there. I could talk to my friend’s father myself, or I could talk to my friend and say, ‘Hey, can you put in a good word for me with your dad?’ Since the recommendation is coming from his son, the father might give it more weight than if I just asked him for a job myself. Catholics pray to Mary to ask her to put in a good word for them with her son, Jesus.”
“When you explain it that way it makes sense,” she said.
We talked for about two hours and when we parted she said she might try going to church again.
Later, thinking of Mary’s role as an intercessor, I leafed through a book called “Our Lady of Beauraing” by Don Sharkey and Joseph Debergh, O.M.I. On page 79, I discovered the Irresistible Novena.
A girl named Fortuna Agrelli was very sick and pronounced incurable. On February 16, 1884, she and her relatives began a novena of Rosaries. (In my understanding, a novena is a prayer or an act of grace repeated for nine days in a row.) On March 3, Mary appeared to Fortuna and said:
“Since you have called me by the title so pleasing to me, ‘Queen of the Holy Rosary,’ I can no longer refuse the favor you ask, for this name is most precious and dear to me. Make three novenas and you shall obtain all.”
Fortuna performed three novenas over 27 days and she was cured.
Later, Mary appeared to her again and said, “Whoever desires to obtain favors from me should make three novenas of the prayers of the Rosary in petition and three novenas in Thanksgiving.”
This has become known as the Irresistible Novena. Three novenas of Rosaries in petition, followed by three novenas of Rosaries in Thanksgiving, whether the favor is granted or not. A total of 54 days of Rosaries.
If anyone has ever performed the Irresistible Novena, please post your experiences. I would love to hear them.
