6th Anniversary of The Eucharistic Prayer Group for Peace and Unity
Over the years there have been many reports of The Blessed Virgin Mary currently appearing in many parts of the world. Some of them genuine and I am sure some of them false. I don’t know much about most of them because they never intersected with my life. There are three however that I have absolutely no doubt about whatsoever when it comes to The Blessed Virgin Mary’s actual presence in our modern times. The reason I have no doubt about Emmitsburg, Fr. Stephanno Gobbi and Medjugorje is because of the fact that I NEVER went looking for them. They found me and my life was changed for the better because of it. I made no conscious effort to seek them out. Despite the fact that I did not seek them out I still found myself suddenly in the epicenter of it all at St. Joseph’s on Thursday nights where Our Lady appeared to Gianna Sullivan each Thursday night from 1993 to 2000.
It all started in Emmitsburg back on July 3 of 1998 where upon my first visit ever to the Grotto of Lourdes resulted in my son C.R.C.’s baptism. I was just passing through on my way to Gettysburg and had no intention of stopping at the Grotto, but I did. That day changed the course of my life forever. That in turn resulted in a sequence of events that put me at the Thursday Night Prayer Group at St. Joseph’s for the first time on November 19, 1998. Early papers describe these events so there is no need to describe them again here. Shortly after arriving at St. Joseph’s for the Thursday Night Prayer Group where Our Lady was appearing to Gianna Sullivan something very strange began happening to me. Every time I arrived at St. Joseph’s the time would be 3:33 or the odometer on the car would be 333 and this would cause my mind to be flooded with thoughts of Jesus. After the prayer group I would drive 2 ½ hours home and again arrive in conjunction with another 333. After some time the exact same thing began to happen with the number 13 and when it did my mind was flooded with thoughts of Our Lady. Our Lady came to Fatima on the 13th of each month. It made me think of 13 as symbolic of the Holy Trinity, 1 God, 3 Divine Persons. So it came to be that every time I arrived at St. Joseph’s even to this day I am met upon arrival with and unexpected 333, 33 or 13.
Time went on and it continued to happen (and still does) and it left me wondering how this was possible. I had no answers but somehow deep in my heart I knew it was God doing it because of the strong feeling of peace that accompanied it. One Thursday night during the silence of the apparition of Our Lady as she was appearing to Gianna I prayed to Our Lady to let me know what this was all about. I prayed very hard for some type of explanation. The following week at the prayer group at St. Joseph’s, Sister Claire Mahoney just out of the blue gave me a book, To The Priests Our Lady’s Beloved Sons. I had never heard of Fr. Stephano Gobbi or this book. I thanked Sister Claire and after the prayer group that night I drove home. Sometime during the middle of the following week I sat down in my living room and saw the book sitting on the table. I picked it up and opened directly to the page that said this:
The number, 333, indicates the divinity. Lucifer rebels against God through pride, because he wants to put himself above God. 333 is the number which indicates the mystery of God. He who wants to put himself above God bears the sign, 666, and consequently this number indicates the name of Lucifer, Satan, that is to say, of him who, sets himself against Christ, of the antichrist.
"333 indicated once, that is to say, for the first time, expresses the mystery of the unity of God. 333 indicated twice, that is to say, for the second time, indicates the two natures, that of the Divine Person of Jesus Christ. 333 indicated thrice, that is to say, for the third time, indicates the mystery of the Three Divine Persons, that is to say, it expresses the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Thus the number, 333, expressed one, two and three times, expresses the principal mysteries of the Catholic faith, which are: (1) the Unity and the Trinity of God, (2) the incarnation, the passion and death, and the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. (No. 407 Pg 610)
After I finished reading this for the first time ever I glanced at my watch and the time was 3:33. This left me stunned beyond belief. This would have been sometime in early 1999 before I started keeping a written record. So here again I did not go looking for Fr. Gobbi’s book of messages from Our Lady it was unexpectedly given to me by Sister Claire at St. Joseph’s Thursday Night Prayer Group and it provided a clear explanation to my prayers and questions I had asked Our Lady of Emmitsburg the previous Thursday night during the silence of the apparition! Twenty one years later and I am still stunned and it is still happening. It became crystal clear to me that what started happening to me regarding the 333’s at the St. Joseph’s Thursday Night Prayer Group was in complete harmony with the words of Our Lady to Fr. Gobbi and this is why I include Fr. Stephanno Gobbi as the 2nd in my list of 3 manifestations of The Blessed Virgin Mary that I consider central to my life.
That brings me to Medjugorje. Again I did not go looking for Medjugorje. Ted Szymanski was a member of the Thursday Night Prayer Group. He had been to Medjugorje a few years earlier. He wanted me to go but I did not want to. I felt there was nothing there that we don’t already have right here in Emmitsburg. After months and months of Ted asking that we go with him because he needed assistance due to his age I relented and Ted, Susan, C.R.C., David Guinn and myself made the trip to Medjugorje in August of 2000. It was a wonderful trip and at the same time a sad trip because Susan’s father, Garnett Carpenter died while we were there. However during this trip it became more than abundantly clear to me that Emmitsburg, Fr. Gobbi and Medjugorje were uniquely tied to one another and most certainly of the same source. Our trip to Medjugorje originated in the parish hall of St. Joseph’s in Emmitsburg. The entire trip was punctuated from beginning to end with the 333’ 33’s and 13’s. Medjugorje turned out to be a realization of what began with me at St. Joseph’s in Emmitsburg, being clarified by Our Lady through Fr. Gobbi. These three occurances of the Blessed Virgin Mary have been a big part of my life because through no action on my part did I seek them out. They found me, not because I was good and deserved such an honor but because I was not good and my soul was in dire need of the help they provided. Because of this I am able to see the fabric that holds these three manifestations of Our Lady together is seamless.
Twenty years have passed and what began with me with Emmitsburg, Fr. Gobbi and Medjugorje continues to this day. I have been writing papers describing the events for years and I still feel called to do so. Our Lady of Emmitsburg is here and as she has said many times She Is Not Leaving. If she were not here I don’t believe the sequence and timing of events as they happened to me this past Sunday July 14, 2019 could have possible happened.
Sunday July 14, 2019
Today is the monthly Eucharistic Prayer Group for Peace and Unity at St. Mary’s in Fairfield, Pennsylvania. It is a perfect example of how what began in Emmitsburg, clarified by Our Lady to Fr. Gobbi and continued to Medjugorje tie these events together. It does not seem possible but today marks the 6th anniversary of the prayer group. I decided last night that I would attend the 12 noon mass at the Grotto of Lourdes. When I woke up this morning I noticed the clock next to the bed and the time was 6:33. After getting ready to leave to go to Emmitsburg I started the car to leave and the time on the dash was 9:13.
It was a rough ride to Emmitsburg today because of construction on Rt. 29. They had a back road detour that put traffic at a near standstill. I actually thought I might not make it in time for the 12 noon mass at the Grotto and started thinking about other mass opportunities along the way such as St. John the Apostle in Leesburg. After a while the congestion broke and traffic started moving at a normal rate of speed again. The rest of the trip was fine. I arrived at the Grotto and parked with about 2 minutes to spare before mass was to begin. I glanced at my watch and it said XX:XX:33 (33 seconds). I saw C.R.C. as I was walking into the Glass Chapel for just a split second. Mass began and Fr. Ted was the celebrant, he announced the death of Fr. Daniel’s brother in Argentina. During the Prayers of The Faithful we prayed for vocations to the priesthood. This instantly made me think of C.R.C. which caused me to glance at my watch and the time was 12:33.
The Glass Chapel was packed with people and I looked around for C.R.C. but I did not see him. Communion time came and I received the host and returned to my pew. As I knelt down I just happened to look up and I saw C.R.C. kneel down to receive Holy Communion. I saw Fr. Ted place the Host on his tongue. At that very instant I again thought of C.R.C. as a future priest. I glanced at my watch and it said XX:XX:33.
Mass ended and C.R.C. is always very busy after mass so I walked up to the statue of Our Lady of Fatima and started praying the Luminous Mysteries of the rosary for C.R.C.. I had just finished the 2nd decade when C.R.C. came walking up. I stopped the rosary and we just sat there and talked for a while. C.R.C. said things were going “real good”. I was glad to hear that. I had to be at St. Mary’s at 2 PM so I did not have time to finish the rosary and decided I would have to finish it later. C.R.C. and I walked out and as we parted gave each other a hug. I left for the prayer group and C.R.C. returned to work. I glanced at my watch and the time was 1:33.
I picked up Brother Paschal O’Brien (Jim) and we rode to St. Mary’s. Mike Sullivan led the prayer group. We prayed the Sorrowful mysteries of the rosary. When it came time to do the Chaplet of Divine Mercy Mike called me up and I led it before the exposed Blessed Sacrament. I finished the chaplet and as I genuflected before the monstrance I just happened to notice the time was 3:33. I returned to my pew and simply said to God “Thank You” I glanced at my watch and the time was 3:33:33.
After the prayer group Mike, Br. Paschal, Raymond and myself went to eat at Tavernas. Afterwards as I was driving Br. Paschal home he asked if I could take him to the Jubilee grocery store. I did and when he came out a woman walked up asking for gas money. I got her some gas and noticed the time was 6:13. I then drove Br. Paschal home and then stopped at St. Joseph’s to finish the rosary I started at the Grotto. I picked up the rosary right where I had left off and when I finished I glanced at my watch and the time was 6:33:33. I drove home and pulled in my driveway and the odometer was 12 at the last 6 inches of the trip as I stopped at my garage door the odometer switched to 13.
R.C.
July 19, 2019
1:13:33 PM