In obedience to the decrees of Urban VIII. of holy memory, I protest that for all miraculous events, visions, apparitions, revelations, graces and incidents ascribed in these e-pistles to certain servants of God, which have not been formally investigated and approved by the Church, they claim no other authority and belief than that which is ordinarily conceded to narratives based upon merely human evidence, and do I in no wise presume to pronounce upon their authenticity or supernatural character; neither to the titles holy or blessed applied to the servants of God not yet canonized, except in cases where these have been confirmed by the Holy Roman Catholic Church and by the Holy Apostolic See, to whose judgment I submit myself and whatever I have written in this e-pistle and of whom I profess myself to be an obedient son.
The Holy Hunny Discernment Novena has generated quite a few marvelous miracles which I number among my favorites the following involving one of the delighful dasmels for whom it was originally composed. One night she went dancing and a gracious Galahad optimistically opened with a dashingly disarming “Why are you wearing a quarter around your neck?” The rest, as they say, is history.
The “quarter” she was wearing was actually the famous jubilee medal designed in 1880 under the supervision of the monks of Montecassino, Italy, to mark the 1400th anniversary of the birth of Saint Benedict. To liberally and extensively quote from the famous Benedictine Abbey of Collegeville, Minnesota: “The purpose of using the medal is to call down God’s blessing and protection upon us, wherever we are, and upon our homes and possessions, especially through the intercession of St. Benedict. By the conscious and devout use of the medal, it becomes, as it were, a constant silent prayer and reminder to us of our dignity as followers of Christ. The medal is a prayer of exorcism against Satan, a prayer for strength in time of temptation, a prayer for peace among ourselves and among the nations of the world, a prayer that the Cross of Christ be our light and guide, a prayer of firm rejection of all that is evil, a prayer of petition that we may with Christian courage ‘walk in God’s ways, with the Gospel as our guide,’ as St. Benedict urges us. A profitable spiritual experience can be ours if we but take the time to study the array of inscriptions and representations found on the two sides of the medal. The lessons found there can be pondered over and over to bring true peace of mind and heart into our lives as we struggle to overcome the weaknesses of our human nature and realize that our human condition is not perfect, but that with the help of God and the intercession of the saints our condition can become better. The Medal of St. Benedict can serve as a constant reminder of the need for us to take up our cross daily and ‘follow the true King, Christ our Lord,’ and thus learn ‘to share in his heavenly kingdom,’ as St. Benedict urges us in the Prolog of his Rule.”
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