First Friday & Saturday Sep 1 -2 , 2006

This Sunday September 3^rd will be only the 2^nd public apparition of Our Lady of Emmitsburg I have missed since November 19, 1998. The first time I missed was only because we were in Medjugorje. I won’t be here this Sunday because our Lay Missionary of Charity group has been invited to attend a special week long retreat with the MC Fathers in Tijuana, Mexico. We will return on September 11^th.

I hate to miss this months prayer group because two special people have come back to Emmitsburg to lend their support to the apparitions of Our Lady here in Emmitsburg. They are Fr. Bill McCarthy and Wayne Weible.

Fr. McCarthy is well known for giving spiritual talks and retreats throughout the United States and Wayne Weible is a respected author of many books on the apparitions of Our Lady in Medjugorje. I picked up Wayne Weible at the Baltimore Washington International Airport and this is how it went.

First Friday September 1

Since I am off from work today I will be driving to Baltimore to pick up Wayne Weible who is flying in to attend the apparitions of Our Lady of Emmitsburg and to give a talk on Medjugorje at Liberty Mountain Resort on Saturday evening. Wayne will also speak at the apparition on Sunday at the Lynfield Event Complex.

I went to my normal Friday morning Eucharistic adoration at 5 AM at the Missionaries House of Studies. During that time I prayed the Sorrowful mysteries of the rosary and my Liturgy of the Hours prayers. At the end Brother Robert came in and adoration ended. I glanced at my watch as I was leaving and it said XX:XX:33.

I rode home and went back to sleep for a few hours. Later I rode out to St. Peter’s Books for coffee. I had not been to mass and was thinking about going tonight at 7 pm at the Grotto of Lourdes because Fr. Bill McCarthy will be celebrating mass there.

Since I was unsure of how the rush hour traffic would be after picking up Wayne Weible in Baltimore at 3:40 I decided to go to the noon mass at the Grotto just incase we did not get back in time for Fr. McCarthy’s mass. I did attend the noon mass at the Grotto and it ended at 12:33. After mass I went to confession and then as I got in the car to leave the CD flashed 33.

It was pouring down rain and I had some free time so I stopped at St. Peter’s and had some more coffee. While I was sitting there talking to some people I was suddenly struck with a sudden, interior feeling of peace. It was triggered by a sudden thought of me picking up Wayne Weible today at the airport. I glanced at my watch as this happened and the time was 1:13.

A short while later while I was driving home to get ready to leave for the airport I was again struck with another sudden, out of nowhere thought about Wayne Weible coming here again and how well respected he is when it comes to Medjugorje. I knew it was God Himself who was sending him here to Emmitsburg and it was an honor for me to be picking him up. I glanced down and the time on the dash was 1:33.

I arrived home and got ready to leave. As I walked to my car to leave for the airport I glanced at my watch and it said XX:XX:13. I needed gas and stopped at Tom’s to fill up and the cost was $33.00.

It continued to rain the whole way to BWI airport and at times it was raining so hard to you could hardly see the road. Just before I arrived at the airport my cell phone rang and it was Wayne Weible. He said he had landed and I could pick him up at the Delta Airlines terminal. He said he would be standing outside waiting. I arrived a few minutes later and just as I pulled up to the Delta terminal a car pulled in front of me with the license plate of 33.

When that car in front of me moved forward I saw Wayne standing there waiting for me. I pulled over and helped him load his luggage in the back seat of my car. After loading the luggage I glanced at my watch as I got back into the car and it said XX:XX:33.

It was a long ride home. It was still raining and on top of that we were now in rush hour traffic leaving Baltimore. That gave Wayne and I a lot of time to talk. He told me how he first met Gianna in Medjugorje and how he first came to know there was something very special about her and how he told her so.

He also told me about a time he was in Scottsdale praying the rosary with Gianna and how a plain, wood and not so attractive statue of Our Lady came to life and became beautiful during the 4^th decade of the rosary while Our Lady was appearing to Gianna. The whole time Wayne was telling me his stories I was bombarded from all directions, license plates, clock, CD, watch, etc with 13’s and 33’s.

We finally arrived back in Emmitsburg and we went straight to St. Peter’s Books because Mary and Peter Blanchard were waiting for us. We then decided I would drive Wayne to the Liberty Mountain Resort because it was on my way home. On the way we stopped at St. Joseph’s and when we arrived the odometer was 3.3.

I then asked Wayne if he wanted to go to Fr. Bill McCarthy’s mass at the Grotto and he said he was going to pass because he was very tired. I helped Wayne carry his luggage to his room and I left to go home. I was almost home when I saw S.C.C. coming down the road from the opposite direction. We stopped in the middle of the road and talked. She was on her way to Fr. McCarthy’s mass and she asked if I was going. I said no because I had already been to the noon mass.

When I saw how disappointed S.C.C. was I changed my mind and as I turned the car around to go to the Grotto the CD flashed 033. While we were driving to the Grotto a thought crashed through my mind. It was almost like a voice that said “Your mission here is special”. At that very instant an oncoming car passed with the license plate of 33 followed by another with the license plate of 13. We arrived at the Grotto and I glanced at my watch and the time was 7:13:13.

S.C.C. said “I think we are late and mass has already started.” I said “No, I think we are right on time.” We walked in the glass chapel at the very instant mass began. This mass was special. There was a special peace that I could feel the entire time. During Fr. McCarthy’s homily he said the following “How many people here know of Gianna Sullivan?” Just about everybody in the church raised there hands. Fr. McCarthy then said “She is a real !” It was a special moment. Gianna was not there. Mass continued and when it ended Fr. McCarthy prayed over people. The time was 8:33.

It was still raining very hard and Fr. McCarthy had a book sale afterwards. Phil C then came up to me and invited me over to his house for coffee and desert. Phil then told me that Fr. McCarthy was staying at his house. He also asked it I would wait until Fr. McCarthy was ready to leave so he could follow me out to his house so he would not get lost. I said yes.

When Fr. McCarthy was ready we left and he started following me. When I got to the end of the Grotto road I was not 100% sure the car behind me was Fr. McCarthy because a lot of other cars were pulling out at the same time. I got out of the car in the pouring rain to make sure it was him. It was. I then got back in the car and it was then I noticed the time on the dash was 9:13 and the CD flashed 13. We arrived at Phil’s house and the instant the car came to a complete stop the clock on the dash switched to 9:33.

There were a lot of people there. Fr. Jack Lombardi was already there when we arrived. He is the priest at the Grotto of Lourdes. It was a very nice time for everybody. When everything was over I got in my car to leave and just at that instant the CD flashed 13.

First Saturday September 2

I was very tired last night when I went to bed. I fell asleep on the couch in the living room and I woke up in the middle of the night and looked at the clock on the wall and the time was 3:13.

I went upstairs and went back to sleep and later in the morning I left to go to the 9 AM mass at the basilica, just as I pulled out of my driveway the odometer switched to 1.3. S.C.C. and I attended mass and both Fr. Steve and Fr. O’Mally’s replacement, Fr. Murphy said mass. I received Holy Communion and returned to my pew with the host still on my tongue and felt the peace as I knelt down. I glanced at my watch and the time was 9:33. Mass ended and I glanced at my watch as I walked out of the door and it said XX:XX:33.

I then rode to St. Peter’s for coffee and I stayed there until it was time for me to ride back to Liberty Mountain Resort to pick up Wayne Weible for his 11:30 book signing at St. Peters. I arrived at the hotel to pick up Wayne and looked at my watch and the time was 11:13:33. I waited for Wayne to come downstairs and then we left to go back to St. Peter’s Books. We arrived and I glanced at my watch and the time was 11:33:13.

I purchased one of Wayne’s books “Medjugorje The Message” and he signed it over to me saying we were in his prayers daily. I then left and I rode home. Later in the day I sat down to complete the August 14-16 paper and completed it at 3:33.

Later in the day I rode to the ATM machine to get a little cash for our trip to Mexico for the MC Fathers “I Thirst” retreat. S.C.C. and I then rode out to Liberty Resort for a talk given by Wayne Weible for the St. Peter’s Lecture Series about Medjugorje.

During Wayne’s talk he discussed the opposition to Medjugorje being very similar to what is happening here in Emmitsburg. Wayne publicly endorsed Gianna Sullivan. It was a very good talk and at the end Wayne said “I have said all I have to say” and I looked at my watch and the time was 8:13. We left and had to walk through a door to get to the exit and the number on the door was 133.