The Blessed Virgin Mary
Celestial Experiences - a Glimpse of Heaven
(For those of you who visited before, please read my addition made on December 13, 2008, below)
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Retreat at Mt St Benedict
Several years ago something wondrous and miraculous happened to me.
During the
lenten season in February 1991, I went to a monastery on a private retreat at Mt St
Benedict, in the cool mountainside of St Augustine in Trinidad. Trinidad is
part of the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the most southern of
the Caribbean islands. I took
with me one book to read during what I intended to be a weekend of prayer and
self-reflection. As I checked in at the front desk, I asked for any reading materials they
might lend me for the weekend and they gave me one book - on the life of St
Therese of Lisieux, commonly known as Saint Theresa of the Little Flower or St
Therese of the Child Jesus.
Coincidentally, I had brought with me an autobiography by the very saint, as my
reading companion for the retreat.
Praying the way taught by St Therese of Lisieux
I played several Hindu religious songs in my room, and
spent the time reading the autobiography of St Therese. I prayed in the way that St
Therese suggested, trying her "Little Way", offering all that I was (good and
bad) to the Lord. I prayed sincerely. I was kneeling in prayer when a
strong scent of roses filled my room. It was overpowering and I got up and
looked through the window for rose bushes. None were in sight. The
monastery was on a hillside far from everything and everyone. I had not yet
read about St Therese and the scent of roses and I decided it
must have been some delightfully sweet perfume from neighboring guests or some
spray from the guest house
itself.
Scent of the roses
The next day, as I knelt in prayer, the very same thing happened - an
overpowering scent of roses filled the room. Then I remembered reading
that St Therese promised that she would bless the world with showers of
blessings and miracles, and would appear in the perfume of roses to many.
I suddenly realized that the saint was visiting with me and I felt blessed and
unburdened from the load my heart was carrying from personal matters that were
disturbing me. I went to Stations of the Cross at the monastery church and
every time I prayed to St Therese the scent of roses came back - three more
times.
"I will let fall from Heaven...a shower of roses"
St Therese of Lisieux
Painting of St Therese
I used to paint years ago. The week before coming to the monastery I had
picked up a little picture of a nun and had filled a large canvas with a
half-finished portrait of the nun with the roses and the cross in her arms. At the monastery, I
discovered that the picture I was painting was of St Therese. When I
returned from my retreat a dear friend sent me a little gift from abroad - a vial of rose
perfume. It all seemed to fit together... the one book for my retreat, the
manifestation of rose perfume several times, the painting, the gift of perfume.
So much was given to me from my small but sincere offering of prayer to St
Therese. The saint let me know in
many ways that in turning to her she was giving me her full attention.
Meeting the Head of the Carmelite nuns
This benediction of St Therese greatly affected me and I started reading more
about Carmelite nuns and went to meet the Mother Superior of the Carmelite
convent in Port of Spain, Trinidad - Sister Joan. That was the beginning of a
friendship that has lasted to this day. She in turn learned
transcendental
meditation from me soon after
I met her. She introduced me to her nuns and had me conduct classes for young
girls sent by the courts to her home for juvenile offenders - the St Jude's
School for Girls.
Returning to devotion to Mother Mary
The special blessing I received from St Therese opened my mind and heart again to formal devotion to
Mother Mary. I was raised a Catholic and my high school education was at a
convent - St Joseph's Convent in Port of Spain. I attended mass regularly
until I was about 21. For the following twelve years or so I spent time
more on private prayer and attended church mainly at Christmastime.
After the experience of St Therese's love, I started to say the rosary once again
very regularly and my devotion to
Mother Mary grew. In my heart I felt closer to her and I prayed, in my own way,
that I could somehow see her with my own eyes. At that time, the
Blessed Mother was appearing regularly at Medjugorje. I wished I could have
gone to see her there but had neither the resources nor support of my family to be able to do so.
Family tragedy
A few years ago, my elder brother and his wife suffered personal tragedy
when their house was burned to the ground and they lost their four-year old
son. Our nation mourned for our family then and my brother, his wife and
remaining three kids moved in with me (his wife was nine months pregnant at the
time and jumped to save her life from the second floor of her home). After
many inconsolable months with us, my former husband and I decided to go on a
trip to Europe with them, hoping to bring some joy to their shattered world.
Before leaving, I called all the children in the family together and we prayed
the rosary before a beautiful statue of Mother Mary which I had at home.
We took my brother and his wife on the trip and also to Maharishi, the founder
of the Transcendental Meditation program, for his
blessing.
Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary
During that trip to Europe, which started the week of 17 September 1992, one of our
first stops was in Belgium. We arrived in
a place called Beauraing at dinner time and the tour conductor informed us that
close by was a place where the Blessed Virgin Mary had appeared many years
ago. He indicated that anyone who wanted to go to the site could do so, even
though it was pitch black. I was very excited to go and right after
dinner I did so in the company of my ex and an Anglican couple from England.
We made our way in the dark wintry night, walking a few blocks to the shrine.
It was an open court yard that was filled with empty pews, save for one elderly
gentleman kneeling in prayer in one of the front pews. We four walked up to the
top, past the pews, and stood at the railing with all the lit candles,
before the beautiful life-size statue of Mother
Mary. We all stood silently, offering our private prayers, and felt the cold air on us.
Shortly after starting my prayers, I looked up and saw before me a most celestial sight - the whole area surrounding the statue and the courtyard was filled with glorious white light, blazing and hardly able to be seen without making the eyes tear. And the statue of Mother Mary opened her loving arms and closed them, opened and closed them, over and over, as if beckoning me to her. I saw her beautiful robes moving with the cold wind and noticed the pedestal on which she stood and the flowers at the Blessed Mother's feet were untouched and not moving. I saw a beautiful blue light come from Mother Mary's heart as She continued to open wide her arms and close them gently again, time and time again.
Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Beauraing, Belgium
Four of us saw Her
Because I've had other celestial experiences (not of the nature of an
apparition, however), I felt that this vision before me was perhaps being seen
only by me. To my joy, surprise and delight, however, the Anglican lady
beside me turned to me in amazement and said "are you seeing what I am
seeing? The statue is moving..." Knowing that Anglicans
do no believe in the Blessed Virgin Mary, I was really struck when my friend
said this. I immediately knelt down and
closed my eyes, feeling that the Blessed Mother Herself was in front of me.
Interestingly, the apparition continued, with my eyes closed, just as if my eyes
were opened. I stayed and enjoyed that sweet and divine benediction for
several minutes before my ex said he was leaving to go get my brother and
sister-in-law at the hotel to come and share in this wonderful vision. The Anglican couple said they were
also going to get their teenage daughters to come and see. I remained
there alone in prayer then went to the back of the church building in the court
yard to get a candle to light and offer at the shrine.
We four had beheld Mother Mary in the form in which she had appeared at that very spot in Beauraing decades before to young children. The lone gentleman in the pew was oblivious to anything happening. I felt that the silent wish of my heart, to behold Mother Mary in Her divine form with my own eyes was fulfilled.
Continuing devotion and blessing
That started a true devotion to Mother Mary for me and since then I have shared
this story with a few intimate friends and strangers who drew it out of
me. I have given away many books on St Therese of Lisieux and given away
many rosaries for devotion to Mother Mary. But more than that, I feel that
divine protection and love is surely around us all the time. We have only
to open our hearts and the heavens open for us. I freely call upon Mother
Mary during all times of crisis, big and small, and am never without
solace. I pray the rosary with our children daily and feel always the love
and protection of the Divine Mother around me.
Date celebrating the Feast Day of
Our Lady of Beauraing of personal significance
Since building this web page, I did some research on the internet on
apparitions of Mother Mary. I came across a beautiful website which
featured the apparition at Beauraing. I was really amazed to discover that
the
feast day of Our Blessed Lady of Beauraing is celebrated on the 22nd of August,
the Feast Day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the birthday of my second
daughter Annie! I feel again, in this discovery that the birth date of my
daughter is the same as the Feast Day of Our Blessed Lady of Beauraing, that Our
Lady has once again stamped Herself in my heart.
Tears
of Blood
Some years ago, I was also blessed to be taken to the Carmelite
convent in Diego Martin, Trinidad, by Sister Joan whom I mentioned above, to
witness another miracle - a beautiful statue of Mother Mary was crying
blood! A scientist from Trinidad, Dr Bartholomew, had tested the tears and
found them to be indeed human. It was a very sad and touching experience,
one that I will never forget.
Links
Here is a link to a webpage I found featuring the apparition of Our Lady
at Beauraing in 1932. Click here
to see this page or click on the photo of Our Lady of Beauraing above.
There are many websites on Saint Theresa. Click here for one of them, to read of her life story. And here for the Society of the Little Flower, a very devotional site. You can also click on the photo of Saint Theresa above to be take to the latter website.
My life has been filled with many extraordinary and wondrous experiences. I share some of these with you with all love, and with the hope and wish that Mother Mary bless you and that you would be inspired to devotion to Her and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Ruffina Farrokh Anklesaria
January 2002
The story continues! Fast forward to June 21, 2008
As I prepared to celebrate my 50th birthday on June 21, 2008, I thought it would be good to have a few lady friends over for an evening where we would exchange stories that had touched us, read poetry or play music that we enjoyed. I didn't want a lavish party, but I wanted to mark the occasion meaningfully. I felt I had been blessed already in so many ways. I wanted nothing more than a small warm gathering and lots of roses. My Mom had sent me a rose dipped in gold with a beautiful card. I enjoyed receiving this. My husband gave me two dozen red roses which filled two vases and fulfilled my desire for roses only on this occasion.
I invited about 10 ladies and these are the ones who ended up celebrating the evening with me - Regina Popper and her husband Frank (Frank stayed to keep my husband company while we ladies "partied"); Denise Mc Duffie; Jane Kaberere; Nadadoah; Inessa Spring; Annette Mayhew; Judge Mason's wife, Taunya Mason; and my friend Vince Huening, who dropped in to return some keys just when our party started. I invited him to stay. My daughters Julee and Annie (12 and 10), and my husband Farrokh, were also there.
We were all gathered in my living room sitting comfortably in sofas sharing stories that had touched us deeply in our lives. Many of the ladies were crying even before they started telling their story as they were so moved even to articulate them. We heard of one lady saving a co-worker's life by following him after work, on a hunch, and dialing 911 when her gut kept telling her that something was dreadfully wrong with him even though he didn't admit it. Another told of her standing on the brink of suicide and being saved by learning transcendental meditation. Another spoke of having to let go a child she thought was going to be her adopted child, after nursing him from birth to two years old...The stories were deeply personal and I felt greatly privileged to be with this group of ladies on my special day. I read two poems from my newly published book, "Kavita - Poems of Light and Communion" and tears came to my eyes both while reading them and while telling the story of my own father. This was the first time my daughters had seen me cry! I think it was the occasion that did it!
My friend Annette, our girls' piano tutor, played the piano and sang the Ave Maria. How I enjoyed this! After this, we all went across to the adjoining dining room for dinner, lovingly prepared by my husband. I sat at the head of the oval dining table which was beautifully set for the occasion. To my right and going anti-clockwise around the table were Jane (who joined us late), Annette, Taunya, Nado, Vince, Inessa, Annie, Regina, Frank and Farrokh. Julee was sitting in a chair in the living room.
While my guests served themselves and the meal started after my saying the blessing, I decided to tell them the story written above while they ate. I started off with the retreat at the monastery and continued. While telling the story, a strong scent of sweet roses became apparent! Taunya burst into tears as she exclaimed "I can smell the roses!" I was smelling them too, and her articulating it made it more real. One by one my guests confirmed that they were smelling it too - Nado, Vince, Inessa, Annie, Farrokh. Denise had left early to attend another engagement. Julee had just gone upstairs and come back down and settled into her chair. She didn't experience it; neither did Annette, Regina, Frank and Jane. But those of us who had, felt greatly blessed. It came as a deep drenching celestial sweet scent of roses that hung in the air just long enough for us all to observe it and acknowledge it then it disappeared.
I feel that heaven gave me a bouquet of roses on my special day!
December 2008
It seems that something marvelous comes when this story is told. I had hinted to my friend, Pastor Carla Fletcher, that I had a wonderful story to share with her some time. She asked me on more than one occasion to tell it to her. Finally, I did so a week or so ago, right up to the experience on my birthday. In Pastor's case, I went into some detail with her explaining what the "Little Way" meant. I did so as we were private; she was a Pastor with no real knowledge of St Therese; and she was open to hearing all that she could. She was moved by the story, as all listeners are. It was late when she left my home that evening.
The next day, I received an email forwarded by Pastor that I thought was interesting. The very first thing that morning, she received an email which spoke of the Saint of the "Little Way". She was not referred to by any of the other common names - St Therese of the Child Jesus, St Therese of the Little Flower, St Therese of Lisieux. Only the Saint of the Little Way! I do not think this is a coincidence. St Therese is at it again, opening hearts and showering roses on the earth.
I feel specially blessed to know that sharing this story may in fact start a heavenly chain of events for others. May God bless you. I have just started my own publishing company, Golden Light Books, and one of the books I am writing is "Magical Moments in My Own Life", which will include the above stories. There are many more. If you feel you would enjoy reading such a book, please let me know at: editor@goldenlightbooks.com Perhaps if enough people are interested, I will set aside what I am doing and get to writing this book.
Ruffina Farrokh Anklesaria
Dec13, 2008
More beautiful photos of Our Lady of
Beauraing
with the compliments of Leo de Bondt. Click on the above
Award to go to his inspiring website featuring the apparitions of Mother Mary.
Pope John Paul at the shrine
This site was updated November 16, 2005; December 13, 2008
