I Dug a Miraculous Medal in a Civil War Camp
September 4, 2017
It seems hard to believe but this coming November 19th will be 19 years since I first went in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Emmitsburg, Maryland and was present for the apparition of Our Lady to Gianna Sullivan. That was Thursday November 19, 1998 and it has been the best 19 years of my life because my life changed for the better because of it. The effect it has had on me and my family has been and continues to be a gift from God to which there is nothing I can compare.
One of the many things I became aware of during this time is that God loves the world so much that not only did he send His Only Begotten Son to save us but also His Mother to help show us the way and point the way to Her Divine Son. Throughout history Mary has appeared here on earth with warnings, guidance and the request for prayer, especially family prayer.
As I have learned more about the history of Our Lady’s appearances the more I have come to realize that in most cases they are linked to one another in one way or another. After all they are all the same mother who comes to guide, correct and request prayer and help people such as myself to get back on the right track. She is a very loving mother!
With this said I will describe the events leading up to me finding a Civil War soldiers Miraculous Medal with my metal detector in a Civil War camp on September 4, 2017.
I found my first Civil War relics back around 1973. Since then hunting for Civil War relics with a metal detector has been a part of my life. Since that time up to now I have dug well over 100,000 Civil War bullets. I have also dug about 500 Civil War buckles and I have no idea how many thousands of buttons off of the soldier’s uniforms. But one thing I had never found was a soldier’s Miraculous Medal.
I knew other people who found them and most of them had no idea what it was. They simply called them religious medals and placed little value on them. I would buy them when I ran across them at Civil War metal detecting shows or from people I personally knew who dug them. I ended up with a nice collection of them over the years and I have given away some of them as gifts to priest I know. There were many occasions when I ran across one at a show and it would be 13 or 33 minutes after the hour.
I have always felt like the day was going to come when I finally dug one myself. I have long looked forward to that day as I would consider it to be the best thing I ever found. I was also expecting that when I did it would be 13 or 33 minutes after the hour when I found it. Well today I finally found one and the events of the day leading up to it went like this:
My friend Don Abramson lives near Westminster, Maryland and when I was living in the Emmitsburg area he was my digging buddy up there around the Gettysburg area. Since I moved back to Virginia Don comes down to go digging with me several times a year. Chuck Thompson was also digging with us today and so it was the three of us.
We went back to a small Civil War camp that I found on the back side of Brandy Station in Culpeper County. When we arrived Chuck and Don went their own separate directions and I went mine. I returned alone to the spot where I found a bullet a few day earlier and started hunting around. I found several more bullets then suddenly received another signal that I knew was not another bullet. I dug it out of the ground and I first thought it was a brass cuff link and then realized it was a Miraculous Medal. I just knew that when I looked at my watch it would be 13 or 33minutes after the hour BUT IT WAS NOT. Because of the events in my life that I have described in these papers it left me somewhat surprised and bewildered.
I continued to metal detect and started finding some good stuff such as a US bridle rosette and more bullets. My mind got lost in my good fortune of finding lots of Civil War relics when SUDDENLY OUT OF NOWHERE a thought CRASHED through my head and I realized that I had not even as much as said a prayer for the soldier who lost the Miraculous Medal about 154 years ago. I walked about 40 feet back to the hole where I found it and started praying for the soldier. It was then when I glanced down at my watch and realized the time was 2:33.
After I finished praying for the soldier I continued detecting. While I was detecting I had another SUDDEN thought crash through my mind that said I should write a paper about this event because this was the miracle of this Miraculous Medal being found in association with Our Lady of Emmitsburg. The time was 3:13:33.
Later in the evening I sat down to pray my daily rosary and during this rosary I continually remembered the soldier who originally lost the medal. I completed the rosary and glanced at my watch and the time was 10:33:33.
R.C.
Sep. 29, 2017
2:13 PM
