Testimonies & Conversion Stories

Note to reader: June Klins is a writer for The Spirit of Medjugorje, published monthly. If you are interested in this publication you can write,
The Spirit of Medjugorje Information Center
P.O. Box 8786
Erie, Pennsylvania 16505-0786
 

Intercessory Prayer

When I returned from Medjugorje in the summer of 1998, I brought back over a hundred medals of Our Lady of Medjugorje. I was so grateful for the healing I had received after having been given one of these medals that I began passing them out to everyone. As time passed though, and my supply diminished, I stopped handing them out to everyone and began to let the Blessed Mother guide me as to who should receive her medals.

I was at a graduation party in June of 1999 when my friend Pam introduced me to a couple named Rita and Walt. We talked very briefly because they were leaving to go visit someone in the hospital. At this point I only had a few medals left, but I felt prompted to offer them a medal to take to this person they were going to visit. They were deeply moved, and said that this man would be very grateful.

The following week I made a second pilgrimage to Medjugorje, and purchased more medals. When I returned, Pam asked me if Rita could have another medal. The man to whom they gave the original medal had made a remarkable recovery. He had been crippled, and the day after he received the medal, he was up and walking again. This time Rita was requesting the medal for Walt because he was very ill and in the hospital. I gave Pam a medal for Walt, and he too made an amazing recovery. In transit from the hospital though, Walt lost the medal. Rita, who is a woman of great faith, asked Pam if I could give them another one to replace the one which was lost. I, of course, granted her request.

Then in October, Pam and I were at a friend's house for a get-together, and Pam happened to mention that Walt had taken a turn for the worse and was dying. She quickly changed the subject, and it was never brought up the rest of the night. The next morning I was awakened by a strong motivation to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet over Walt. I thought it a little strange, because I really did not know Walt. I had only met him very briefly 4 months before, and I didn't even know his last name. When I called Pam to tell her about this, she was astounded. She said that she had wanted to ask me the night before if I would pray over Walt, but could not bring herself to do it because it would make her depressed when we were having such a good time. Pam and I then made plans to visit and pray over Walt that afternoon.

We arrived at Rita and Walt's around 2:00 in the afternoon. We visited with Rita for a bit first, and I was impressed by her strong faith during this trying time. She was completely accepting of Walt's impending death. Then Rita took us into a room with a large picture window overlooking a beautiful garden. Walt was lying there on a hospital bed, and a nurse was there to attend to his needs.

Walt's breathing was very labored, and he was totally non-responsive. I noticed that he was wearing the medal of Our Lady of Medjugorje on a band on his wrist. First I put Medjugorje holy water on his forehead, and gave him Mary's special blessing. Then I prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet over him. I had read that if someone says this powerful chaplet at the bedside of a person in their hour of death, "unfathomable mercy envelopes the soul." (from the diary of Blessed Faustina, soon to be Saint Faustina). Finally, I touched him with my stone from Medjugorje which has the face of Jesus, and asked that if it was the Lord's will, Walt be taken to heaven soon. After I was done praying, Pam and I went into the kitchen to visit with Rita again.

A bit later, the visiting nurse came into the kitchen to tell us that Walt was gone. After Rita had a few private moments, Pam, the nurse, and I went back into the room where Walt lay. As we walked into the room, the nurse exclaimed, "Look at the butterflies." Right outside Walt's window two monarch butterflies were hovering in the garden. I cried at the sight, I felt such a sense of peace. A bit later it dawned on me that it was October 2, the feast of the Guardian Angels!

The nurse recorded Walt's time of death as 3:10. Blessed Faustina's diary describes the 3:00 hour, as "the hour of mercy." Although I never thought about the time when we made the plans to pray over Walt, I believe it was no coincidence that we were there at that exact time. I had actually been running a little late that day, and had planned on meeting Pam earlier than I did.

Although I have been saying the Divine Mercy chaplet every day since my healing two years ago, I did not experience the real power of this prayer until I said it over Walt. When I told this story to a priest, he said, "I don't doubt that for a minute. That (the Divine Mercy chaplet) is a very powerful prayer."

I have mulled over this story for some time now and have wondered why I was part of God's Divine plan for Walt. God could have taken Walt to heaven without my having said the Divine Mercy chaplet over him. In my heart, though, I believe that I was inspired that morning to pray the chaplet over Walt so that I could share this awesome story. I think God used me as an instrument to bear testimony both to Our Lady of Medjugorje, who led me to Walt in the first place, and then to His great unfathomable Divine Mercy.

To Jesus through Mary.
June Klins