Saturday, May 02, 2015

The Lumberjack and the Scapular - A Moment with Mary



* May 2 - St Athanasius of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria and Father of the Church (d. 373)  * The Lumberjack and the Scapular ----- A Moment with Mary --

Une Minute avec Marie
An initiative of the Association Mary of Nazareth 

May 2 - St Athanasius of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria and Father of the Church (d. 373) 

The Lumberjack and the Scapular

 Wikipedia

Towards the end of the 19th century, Bishop Polding, a missionary, was crossing a desert in Australia, when he fell ill. He was nursed back to health by a widow. When the bishop recovered, he promised the woman to come administer the last rites to her in person when she would be close to death. Many years later, the prelate was told that the widow was dying and was calling for him.

It took the bishop several days of walking before he arrived at the widow’s house. But he found the house empty. An Irish lumberjack who was working nearby explained that the woman couldn’t wait and had been taken to see another priest.

The bishop then turned to the Irishman: "Well, my good man, I don’t want to have come for nothing. Why don’t you kneel down, and I will hear your confession." The man had not confessed his sins for years. He hesitated, but then agreed to confess. He received absolution and promised to go to communion the following Sunday.

No sooner had Bishop Polding left him than he heard a crashing sound, followed by groans. Returning in haste, he found his penitent crushed under a tree, dead... Under his jacket was found the scapular of the Virgin Mary: the good Mother had not allowed him to die before being reconciled with God...

In Le scapulaire du Mont-Carmel, Editions Traditions Monastiques, March 1997

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