Our Lady of Tears

From 29 August to 1 September 1953, a plaster plaque of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, placed over the headboard of the bed of a young couple, Angelo Iannuso and Antonina Giusto, at 11 Via degli Orti St., shed human tears.

The phenomenon took place at more or less long intervals inside and outside of the home. Many saw, touched, gathered and tasted the salt of the tears.

On Sunday, 30 August an amateur film maker of Syracuse, Nicola Guarino, was able to capture the event on film, making this one of the very few miraculous happenings with such documentation.

On 1 September, at 11:00 a.m., a Commission of doctors and analysts went to the Iannuso home sent by the Chancery of the Archdiocese of Syracuse. They withdrew a sample of the liquid that flowed from the eyes. The microscopic analysis verified: “They are human tears.” After the scientific analysis, on the fourth day of the lachrymation, the weeping ceased.

Why did the Blessed Mother weep?

“Will humanity understand the mysterious language of those tears?” asked Pope Pius XII in the radio message of 1954.

Mary, in Syracuse, did not speak as to Catherine Labouré in Paris (1830), as to Massimino and Melanie at La Salette (1846), as to Bernadette at Lourdes (1858), as to Francis, Jacinta and Lucy at Fatima (1917), as to Mariette at Banneux (1933).

When there are no more words, tears are the last word.

The tears of Mary are the sign of the maternal love and of the participation of a Mother in the life of her children. Someone who loves, shares.

The tears are an expression of the sentiment of God towards us: A message of God to humanity.
It is a strong invitation to conversion of heart and to prayer, addressed to us
by Mary in her apparitions and repeated again through the silent, but eloquent, language of her tears.

Mary wept from a humble plaster plaque, in the heart of the city of Syracuse, in a home next door to an Evangelical Church; in a very modest home of a young family; over a mother awaiting her first child, sick with gestational toxicosis ... all of this cannot be without significance.
The tender message of help and encouragement of our heavenly Mother is evident. She suffers with those who suffer to defend the values of the family, the inviolability of life, the sense of the Transcendent before the prevailing materialism, the value of unity. Mary, with her tears, admonishes guides, encourages and consoles us.

Blessed John Paul II speaks
“Shrine of Our Lady of Tears, you were erected to remind the Church of the tears of our Mother.”

“The tears of Mary belong to the order of signs: They testify to the presence of our Mother in the Church and in the world. A mother weeps when she sees her children threatened by evil, be it spiritual or physical.”

“Shrine of Our Lady of Tears, you were erected to remind the Church of the tears of our Mother. May all those who are oppressed by the awareness of their sins, come here, within these welcoming walls, and experience the richness of the mercy of God and of his forgiveness! May the tears of their Mother guide them here.”

“They are tears of sorrow for all those who refuse the love of God, for those families which are broken or in difficulty, for the young people seduced by a consumerist civilization and so often disoriented, for the violence that still spills so much blood and for the misunderstandings and hate which dig deep trenches between individuals and peoples. They are tears of prayer: the Mother’s prayer that gives strength to every other prayer, and that rises in supplication for all those who do not pray because they are distracted by a thousand other interests, or because they are obstinately closed to God’s call. They are tears of hope, which melt the hardness of hearts and open them to meeting Christ the Redeemer, source of light and peace for individuals, for families, for the whole of society”.

Our Lady of Civitavecchia

On the 2nd of February 1995 - Feast of the Presentation of Jesus and the Purification of Mary - a small statue of our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary began to weep tears of blood in a family garden in St. Augustine’s parish Civitavecchia, Roma.


    The statue which came from Medjugorie, represents Our Lady Queen of Peace.


    From 2nd February to lSth March 1995, the statue wept tears of blood for 14 times in the presence of many people who deposed their sworn testimonies to a Theological Commission instituted by the bishop. The last lacrimation of blood by the statue happened while it was held in the hands of the bishop of Civitavecchia, Mons. Girolamo Grillo. This superceded all doubts and opened the path towards an official recognition to the event.


    The small statue has been scientifically examined with positive results. There were no tricks, deceptions or apparatus hidden inside it. And the tears are those of human blood.


    Finally, after many difficulties extraneous to the fact itself, the bishop placed the statue in a vase on l7th June 1995, and exposed it for veneration by the faithful.


    From that l7th day of June 1995, a considerable pilgrimmage to this statue began from all parts of the world. Many testimonies of grace have been related, accompanied with tokens of appreciation that all attest to the intercession of She that all now invoke as "Our Lady of Civitavecchia" - "Madonnina di Civitavecchia".

The Visions of Saint Veronica Giuliani

From http://faithofthefathersapparitions.blogspot.com

Ursula Giuliani was born in Italy in the year 1660. Even from an early age this little girl was touched by God to fulfil His purpose in the world. Little Ursula would often insist on being taken to a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus, where she would say, "I am Yours, and You are all mine, dear Jesus!" Upon uttering this she would hear the response from the child Jesus, "I am yours, and you are mine!"

From an early age little Ursula was infused with a knowledge beyond her years and a heart that was full of love for all, but most especially the poor both physically and spiritually. When a poor man asked for some shoes Ursula gave him a pair of her own shoes, it was many year later that Jesus appeared to her and told her of her kindness to that beggar in these words, "These are the shoes you gave to Me when you were a little child. I was that beggar!" This was just one of many instances in which Ursula showed her love for the poor and impoverished. She also had a great love and devotion to spreading the Love of Jesus through His Passion which He suffered for love of sinners.

When Ursula, after much longing, was finally of an age to receive our Lord in the Eucharist, her heart near exploded with the joy of finally receiving Him, whom she loved dearly into her soul. She told many later that she had felt her 'heart burning' with a real fire, she took this to be a sign that the Lord was calling her to a special purpose as she said in her diary, "In First Communion, I think the Lord was teaching me that I had to be His bride. I experienced something special. I don't know quite know what; I was beside myself, but I couldn't understand a thing. I thought it was always like this at Communion."

Upon returning home Ursula prayed to the Blessed Mother to help her to love Jesus and to suffer for him, the child Jesus said to her, "I have suffered so much." Ursula with real zealousness responded, "I want to do everything You did". The baby Jesus then told Ursula, "The Cross awaits you."

And so it was that in the year 1677 Ursula entered the Capuchin Order and became known as Sister Veronica. As a nun Sister Veronica was to be the recipient of many more Divine images and messages which did not always go well with her other Sisters and Superiors. But Veronica was not there to please people, but to remind them of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ in His Passion, which He suffered for love of all men.

During this time Sister Veronica began to feel a pain in her heart where in Communion her heart had burned for love of Christ. She explained this in her diary, "One occasion, when I was dry and desolate and longing for the Lord but unable to find Him, I would come out of myself and run from one place to another. I called for Him out loud, using all kinds of magnificent names, repeating them several times. At times, I seemed to hear Him, but in a way I cannot explain....I felt as though I were on fire, especially around the heart."

This was a real pain and not a figment of Veronica's imagination as she tried various ways to alleviate her suffering where an excruciating pain could be felt in her heart. The heat that emanated from her heart was so intense that upon placing cold cloths on her heart they would immediately become dry! And during this most painful time, Veronica also suffered what many Mystics have termed 'the dark night', for like Jesus, Veronica too could be heard moaning from her cell, "My God! My God why have You forsaken me?"

The sufferings of this very holy sister was also witnessed by others as one explained, "one day, I saw her suspended in mid air, shedding tears of blood which stained her veil. Later, she told me that God was greatly offended by sinners and that she, in a trance, had seen the wickedness of sin, and of sinners ingratitude." One can only imagine what Sister Veronica was experiencing for love of God and her fellow man, as the baby Jesus told her, she certainly would join Him in His sufferings!

During another vision Jesus showed Sister Veronica hell, where the souls of unrepentant sinners chose to go to spend their eternity in its fiery depths, Sister Veronica wrote down in her dairy what she saw. "At that moment I was once again shown hell opened, and it seems that many souls descended there, and they were so ugly and black that they struck terror in me." This holy sister upon seeing such a sight begged our Lord for mercy and prayed before the Divine Justice, with outstretched arms, "as long as I stand in the doorway, no one shall enter: O souls go back! My God, I ask nothing of You, but the salvation of sinners, Send me more torments, more crosses!" Our Lady appeared before Veronica and said to her, " Many do not believe that hell exists, and I tell you that you yourself, who have been there, have understood nothing of what hell is."

Another miraculous event would touch the heart and life of this remarkable Mystic when in Easter 1694, Jesus appeared to Sister Veronica as the Prince of Peace where He was seated on a throne and just before Him sat His Mother on a throne of alabaster, where Victoria could see our Holy Mother praying to Jesus to prepare the way for Veronica to become His Mystical bride. As Sister Veronica explains in her diary, she tells of the rays of light that came from Jesus' wounds and became small flames of fire, four in the form of great pointed nails, the fifth a spear-head of gleaming gold. She writes, "I felt a fearful agony of pain, but with the pain I clearly saw and was conscious that I was wholly transformed into God. When I had been thus wounded, in my heart, in my hands and feet, the rays of light gleaming with a new radiance shot back to the Crucifix, and illuminated the gashed side, the hands and feet of Him who was hanging there. Thus My Lord and My God espoused me, and gave me in charge to His Most Holy Mother for ever and ever, and bade my Guardian Angel watch over me, for He was jealous of His honour, and then thus He spoke to me: 'I am Thine, I give Myself wholly unto thee. Ask whatsoever thou wilt, it shall be granted thee.' I made reply: 'Beloved, only one thing I ask, never to be separated from Thee.' And then in a twinkling all vanished away."

This is when Sister Veronica received the Stigmata granted to a few chosen holy souls, this would bring great anguish to this remarkable woman. But it also brought investigations from the Bishop, and upon testing this holy Nun where many witnessed her levitating and smelt a aromatic odour of roses which emanated from her wounds. The Bishop upon completing his investigation proclaimed that what Sister Veronica had seen and felt was genuine.

But Sister Veronica was also a very practical woman and remained as novice mistress for over 30 years because of her deep sense of practicalities, her obedience and her humility. She was a shining example for all to follow as to what constitutes a good and holy nun.

Here are some other insights that God revealed to this most holy woman:

On the Sacrament of Penance, "a Tribunal of Mercy... the confessor takes the place of God: he speaks in the very Person of God...When I go to this Tribunal, I am terrified from head to foot. I do not seem to have a tongue to confess my failings...I wish that the confessor would be able to penetrate every thought I have, not only as it is in me but also as it in the Eyes of God. I feel such sorrow, I do not know how I can utter a word...In the act of receiving absolution from the confessor I seem to feel myself renewed and so light-hearted that really it seems that I have had a mountain of lead lifted off my shoulders. I experience the loving embrace God gives my soul. I sense that Divine Love makes it clear to me what He has and is doing, so that I may say everything to him who stands in His place. Thus with entire frankness, I reveal everything just as if I were at the feet of God, and while I am speaking I feel myself changing into someone else, so much so that I remain astonished. He has made me to understand that the obedience of revealing things is my cooperation as is the Penance of writing about them."

On receiving the Eucharist, " in some way, the Three Divine Persons, present in the most Holy Sacrament revealed themselves to my soul, and my soul received a deep and penetrating understanding of this Divine Mystery...there is no way I can find to explain how this was seen. I can only say it was presented to me as a precious joy. Every time we receive Communion, our soul and heart become a temple of the Most Holy Trinity and, with God coming to us, all Paradise comes. In this joy, I saw how God exists, enclosed in the most Holy Host , and this Grace was for me superior to all other Graces, I have ever received in my life."

On God's Grace, "Revelation teaches that God dwells in us through Grace that the soul becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit and in addition, a dwelling place of the entire Trinity."

There is much for us to learn from this great Saint and stigmatic, who revealed her visions and insights in her diary. Upon her death when her body was examined her heart miraculously showed signs of a cross and a crown of thorns which looked to have been imprinted within her heart itself. Sister Veronica's right shoulder also had curvature as if she had been carrying a very heavy load all her life.

Many had witnessed the miraculous happenings surrounding this remarkable Saint and said so at her cause for beatification.

I would encourage all to read more on the life of this most holy Saint

Eucharistic Miracle of Alberta

On July 18, 1946, Father Gino C. Violini stood before a small wooden church in a little town nestled in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies in Southern Alberta. St. Joseph's was a forlorn, nearly-abandoned little mission church.
A small group of people gathered around this man dressed in mourning. They said they didn't need a priest; Cowley didn't need a priest, and if it ever came to pass that they needed one, they would inform Bishop Carroll of the fact. Furthermore, they didn't want to see him reading his breviary, and he could get rid of that cassock.

He celebrated his first Mass at St. Joseph's the following Sunday. There were nine people in the pews. Well, he had to start somewhere, and he delivered the best sermon ever, in his opinion, to those nine people. The following Sunday, there were only four who had come to adore their God.

The next two years were not crowned with success. The collection was laughable. He could afford a loaf of bread which he'd cut into seven parts, one part for each day of the week, and feasted on dandelion salad. Winter is an especially cruel season in Cowley, and he'd find his blankets snow covered when he awoke in the morning, as the rectory walls were split open from the many seasons that had dried and shrunk the logs apart. His first Christmas collection was a dollar and thirteen cents. The church was no warmer than the rectory, so the water would freeze in the cruets, even though he placed them on a little coal stove.

Father had had it. One day he sat down and wrote a sixteen-page letter, addressed to Bishop Francis P. Carroll, the gist of which was — this town is a write-off, and I want to stamp the dust of it off my feet. The Bishop rejected each and all of his requests for a transfer, and told him to stay put. He had full confidence in Father Violini, and he expected him to bring about a full Catholic revival in this parish, which had been so long neglected. After the latest of these rebuffs, Father was ready to pray for a noble death. But he was in for a great revelation.

On the feast of Corpus Christi, he awoke early and headed for the church for morning prayers. As he walked to the church, he noticed the front door hanging off its hinges. He hurried in and gazed at a scene of great destruction. The walls were in shambles, the statues destroyed and then he noticed the tabernacle had been split open and the consecrated Hosts were scattered down the main aisle. One by one, he gathered them up, counting each one. They were all there except the large Benediction Host which he could find nowhere.
It was raining, The gray sky reflected his anguish. He notified Father Harrington of the Crowsnest deanery who quickly organized a search party of some two-thousand people. They searched Bellevue and Hillcrest, Blairemore and Coleman; some came from as far as Michel and Natal in British Columbia, yet none of the people of Cowley would help. The search party combed miles of Highway 3. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police picked up two suspects at Cowley, and questioned them at Blairemore. They had stolen a pickup truck, and abandoned it down the highway when the police had discovered them.
Father Gino recognized them as transients from Lethbridge who had been seated next to him at a baseball game a couple days before, and who were looking to find work in the coal mines at Crowsnest Pass. He listened to the questioning by Sergeant Parsons: “Remember, it may not mean much to you or to me, but you fellows stole his Jesus.” Father explained the meaning of the Blessed Sacrament to them, and how precious it is to Catholics. He then offered to drop all the charges if they would tell him where they had discarded the Host.

Touched by his explanation, they began to show remorse and offered to help find It. One admitted to having discarded it through the truck window just before the police took them into custody. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it was incriminating evidence. The rain had hardly stopped when they all piled into the police cruiser, the two suspects still handcuffed. Father calculated that if the Host had been dropped as these two men had said, the search parties would surely have found it if the rain had not dissolved it. It was about six o'clock that evening when they arrived at the spot. The sky was clearing; there was a bit of blue in the West.

As they rounded a corner east of Bellevue, they all saw the Host suspended in midair beside the highway. Beautiful rays of coloured light shone from it. Even before the car had stopped, Father leaped from the car and ran towards this astonishing sight. Sergeant Parsons was right behind him. Father fell to his knees in adoration, overcome with joy and wonder. Sergeant Parsons did likewise, and landed in a pool of mud.

Father stood up and reached for the Host. It looked as white and fresh as the day he had consecrated it. As he touched it, they heard: “Father Gino, please take me back to Cowley.”

Here was Christ on the road, asking to be returned to a desecrated church; to a parish that Father had long wanted to leave. As they returned to Cowley, Sergeant Parson's eyes constantly left the road to gaze at the wonder Father held there, beside him. The Bishop arrived the next day. He told Father Gino that he would be the one to rededicate the church. The Bishop prayed with him in the devastated sanctuary. As he finished, he turned to Father Gino to say: “Great changes will soon take place in this parish.”

Sergeant Parsons came to ask for instruction a few days later. His wife and children soon joined him, and later two of his constables from Pincher Creek. As time went on, more and more Catholics began to return to their church. The parish mission was so popular that the beer hall shut down when it was in progress. The patrons, many of whom were not Catholic, would carry the bar stools to the church to listen to Father's sermons. They even had to take out the pot-bellied stove to make room for everyone.

The little church, so long abandoned, was now full to overflowing every Sunday.

Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano

Ancient Anxanum, the city of the Frentanese, has contained for over twelve centuries the first and greatest Eucharistic Miracle of the Catholic Church. This wondrous Event took place in the 8th century A.D. in the little Church of St. Legontian, as a divine response to a Basilian monk's doubt about Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist.

During Holy Mass, after the two-fold consecration, the host was changed into live Flesh and the wine was changed into live Blood, which coagulated into five globules, irregular and differing in shape and size.

The Host-Flesh, as can be very distinctly observed today, has the same dimensions as the large host used today in the Latin church; it is light brown and appears rose-colored when lighted from the back.

The Blood is coagulated and has an earthy color resembling the yellow of ochre.

Various ecclesiastical investigation ("Recognitions") were conducted since 1574.

In 1970-'71 and taken up again partly in 1981 there took place a scientific investigation by the most illustrious scientist Prof. Odoardo Linoli, eminent Professor in Anatomy and Pathological Histology and in Chemistry and Clinical Microscopy. He was assisted by Prof. Ruggero Bertelli of the University of Siena.

The analyzes were conducted with absolute and unquestionable scientific precision and they were documented with a series of microscopic photographs.
These analyzes sustained the following conclusions:

The Flesh is real Flesh. The Blood is real Blood.

The Flesh and the Blood belong to the human species.

The Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart.

In the Flesh we see present in section: the myocardium, the endocardium, the vagus nerve and also the left ventricle of the heart for the large thickness of the myocardium.

The Flesh is a "HEART" complete in its essential structure.

The Flesh and the Blood have the same blood-type: AB (Blood-type identical to that which Prof. Baima Bollone uncovered in the Holy Shroud of Turin).

In the Blood there were found proteins in the same normal proportions (percentage-wise) as are found in the sero-proteic make-up of the fresh normal blood.

In the Blood there were also found these minerals: chlorides, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium.

The preservation of the Flesh and of the Blood, which were left in their natural state for twelve centuries and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remains an extraordinary phenomenon.

Eucharistic Miracle of Santarem

An unhappy woman lived in Santarem between the years of 1225 and 1247, because she was convinced that her husband was unfaithful. She tried all the possible means to bring back her husband with out any results. Desperate before her situation, she turned to sorcery visiting the soccer of the town. She promised her that her husband would again love her like before, but with the condition that she would pay her with a consecrated Host. This frightened very much the women, she knew this to be a sacrilege, but finally yield to it.  After receiving communion in her parish church of Saint Stephen, she did not consume the host but left the church immediately took the host out of her mouth and placed it in her head scarf.

On her way to the sorceress house, the Holy Host started to bleed. The woman did not realized this was happening until the people passing by informed her, thinking that she was bleeding. The woman’s heart started to panic. She went home and placed the Host covered in the scarf at the bottom of a chest made of wood where she kept personal items in her room. She remained there with fear all day until night time.

When her husband arrived late that evening, they went to sleep, with the possibility that she herself did not rest much. The guilt of her sin tormented her, and also the idea that perhaps the Host continued to bleed.

In the darkness of the room, a great miracle occurred. From the chest brilliant rays of light shined through, allowing the couple to awakened. They saw a spectacular vision of angles adoring the Holy Host bleeding.  The woman no longer contained herself and confessed the great sin to her husband. Both repented and spent the rest of the night kneeling in adoration and reparation before the miraculous Host.

The next morning they informed the parish priest. He went to the house and heard the story from the woman. The priest returned the Host to the Church of St. Stephen in a solemn procession, accompanied by many priest and lay people. The host continued to bleed for three days. Finally it was decided to place the holy host (still bleeding) in a reliquary made of beeswax. The holy host remained their until a second miracle occurred.

The priest enclosed the holy host in the beeswax reliquary and placed it in the tabernacle. This is were the second miracle occurred. When the priest opened the tabernacle door, the beeswax reliquary disintegrated in small pieces. In its place was a recipient made of glass that contained the blood of the host together with the beeswax. We can contemplate it together with the main reliquary that dates from 1782. Since the XVIII century this reliquary remains in the Eucharistic throne on the mayor altar. Today it is known as the Sanctuary of the Holy Miracle.

Through the centuries, the Host has bleed repeatedly and several images have been seen in the host, images of our Lord Jesus. Among the many witnesses, is Saint Francis Xavier, the missionary apostle of India who saw the sanctuary of the miracle before departing to the missions. It is known that an archbishop of Lisboa broke the glass reliquary trying to detain the bleed flow.

The Eucharistic Miracle of Santarem is considered the most important after the Miracle of Lanciano.  Studies and canonical investigations have been made during the years, being the most important the one in 1340 and 1612, which proved without doubt the authenticity and antiquity of the Eucharistic Miracle.

The Holy Blood has been liquified, 750 years after the miracle occurred. The old, original group (Real Brotherhood of the Sacred Miracle) in charge of safekeeping the Holy Miracle still exists today.

Popes that have granted Plenary Indulgence to the Eucharistic Miracle of Santarem:
Pope Pio IV: (1559-1565) granted Indulgence to pilgrims who visit the Church.
Pope St. Pio V and Pope Pio VI: granted privileges to pilgrims that visit the Church.
Pope Gregory XIV (1590-1591): granted Plenary Indulgence to all the members of the
Real Brotherhood of the Sacred Miracle on the day they entered the brotherhood and the day of their death.

Saints that are in some way united to Santarem and the Eucharistic Miracle
Saint Irene : Santarem in Portuguese means “Saint Irene”, patron of the city. She is a martyr of the year 653. In the Church of St. Irene we can find the Miraculous Crucifix of Monteiraz. Chuch documents relates that the Body of our Lord became alive (like the Miracle of Limpias), Jesus arm came down from the crucifix and embraced a small shepherd girl of the time of the Eucharistic Miracle. The crucifix belonged to a community of the 12 benedictine monks (Abby of 12 apostles) is from the XII century, it is still venerated today.

Saint Stephen: martyr and patron of the Church of the Holy Miracle.
Saint Leonor Alfonso : daughter of the King D. Alfonso, who became a religious of the order Poor Clares and is buried in the Monastery of Santarem.

Saint Francis Xavier: visited most of the sanctuaries of Portugal. He also visited the Church of the Holy Miracle before being sent to missions in India by the King of Portugal. St. Francis Xavier’s image is venerated in the Church of the miracle.

Saint Isabel of Portugal: most of Portugal’s Kings of that time visited the Eucharistic Miracle . The most famous visit was from two visits that Queen Saint Isabel(Isabel of Aragon), in 1295 and 1322.

Her first visit was during her trip to Coimbra coinciding with the feast of St. Irene. The second visit was to request before the Holy Miracle peace between her husband, King Dionisio and her son, the future Alfonso VI, who were in discord.

She requested the Holy Host be taken in procession in the streets. She herself accompanied the procession, deposing of her royal vestments, her crown and jewels. She covered herself with ashes, walked barefoot, with a rope around her neck. This act of penance from the Queen was very pleasing to the Lord, granting her the grace of peace and reconciliation between her husband and son.

Little Audrey Santo

Audrey Marie Santo (December 19, 1983 - April 14, 2007), often referred to as Little Audrey by pilgrims to her home, was a young woman from Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, through whom miracles are said to have happened.

On August 9, 1987, when Audrey was three years old. She was playing in the driveway with Stephen, her brother. It was on this day that Audrey fell into the family swimming pool.

Audrey recovered but was rushed to the hospital where she was overmedicated. The doctor prescribed too much phenobarbital, and Audrey lapsed into a coma. Audrey was in a coma for about three weeks.

The hospital’s physical therapist broke Audrey’s legs and dislocated her shoulder. Then the doctor insisted on insertion of a tracheotomy tube. She remained in ICU with 24-hour nursing care. She was out of the coma in three weeks. She remained in a state called Akinetic Mutism — non-speaking and limited movement.

The "professionals" insisted that Audrey be placed in an institution. Audrey’s mother Linda, felt that she would receive better care being home with her family. So in November four months following the accident, Audrey was brought home.

Right from the beginning in the hospital hundreds of people came to pray for Audrey. Old friends, relatives and even strangers. Catholics and people from other faiths came, sent prayers, cards and gifts to Audrey. The hospital was so inundated with people, media and phone calls they eventually put Audrey in a private room in the PICU. For some reason God wanted Audrey to be known right from the beginning.

St. Paul tells us in scripture God sends us signs and wonders to get our attention. So is this what God has done with Audrey?

We believe that signs and wonders are manifesting with Audrey, around her and about her. Audrey seems to manifest unexplainable (medically) marks on her body that resemble the wounds of Christ. St. Paul also tells us that we must offer up our suffering to continue for Christ’s redemptive suffering. We also know Jesus Christ is the ultimate Victim. Suffering is not useless when offered up. We believe that Audrey does this. Suffering united to Christ takes on meaning.

The religious images that exude oil and blood are unexplainable to us. We believe because of the good fruits these unexplained happenings are of God. The Bishop’s commission has stated clearly they have found no trickery.

The healings that take place here are not completely investigated by the Bishop’s Commission but they are open to a full study in order to validate any claims. Prayer works therefore anytime Jesus tells us "there are more than two gathered in My name ..."

The greatest healing power God has left us in His Son, Jesus Christ, in the Eucharist. We must receive Him everyday and visit Him often. If we don’t do this the fault lies with us. Audrey brings us to the Eucharist. There are five consecrated hosts that have exhibited human blood, this does not mean these five hosts are better than any other consecrated host. This simply means that God in His goodness has given us a profound and awesome gift. Again signs and wonders to get our attention.

Audrey is also clearly telling us God doesn’t make junk! That life is valuable at any level. We live in an epidemic of unmercy. So therefore Audrey is a sign of hope and mercy. We believe even though Audrey does not walk or talk that she is valuable and God chose her as He often chooses the seemingly inadequate, unproductive but mostly the pure and innocent to convey His message. In a world of infanticide, homicide and genocide God wants us to choose the right side.

We place our confidence in faith, therefore believing this is to prove there is life in the Eucharist and the value of life in us.

Having resigned herself to God’s will prior to the age of seven (the age of reason), it is unlikely that Audrey has ever sinned. Father Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, a Massachusetts based Melkite Catholic priest whose ministry centers around peace and justice, believes that the little girl is redemptively connected with the sins of nuclear destruction.

Significant dates in Audrey’s life often echo monumental historic events as well. August 9th, 11:03 a.m., the first recorded medical entry on the day of the drowning accident, is also the exact date and time of the bombing of Nagasaki some forty-two years earlier. The date of Audrey’s initial release from the hospital, November 14th, is the anniversary of the bombing of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, in 1921.

Father Renê Laurentin, a world-renowned theologian, concluded a four year personal investigation into the life of Audrey Santo. The esteemed Catholic scholar expects to report his favorable findings to the council. He visited Little Audrey in July 1993 and was deeply moved by being in her presence and stated "This is Holy Ground." Little Audrey is a soul truly blessed and chosen by God.

It is imperative that Audrey’s role, regardless of its magnitude, be kept in perspective. She is an instrument, an extraordinary one to be sure, but an instrument nevertheless. Audrey was fed by a "g-tube" but she did consume one thing, and one thing alone by mouth: the Eucharist. Each day, Audrey received her precious Jesus in the greatest miracle of all.

Although we must not elevate Audrey that we lose sight of Jesus, neither should we discount or ignore His gift of Audrey to us. Let us go to this little thornless rose and ask for her assistance that like her, we too may truly become one with Christ. "But if we are children, we are heirs as well: heirs of God, heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with Him so as to be glorified with Him."

As difficult as life for this family sounds, their home is so peaceful and full of love. When you meet Linda you would not think she had a care in the world. Many have written to little Audrey and their letters were read in Audrey’s room and placed before the Tabernacle.

Bishop Daniel Reilly of Worcester, Massachusetts set up a commission of psychologists, doctors and theologians to study the events at Little Audrey’s. We also remain obedient to the Pope and the Magesterium of the Church in all matters of faith and doctrine. We would like to add, we were profoundly affected by Bishop Reilly’s visit and blessings.

Audrey was received by God on April 14, 2007. Audrey's wake and funeral took place at St. Paul's Cathedral. Rev. John Foley (Audrey's pastor and president of the Foundation for the Cause for Canonization of Audrey Santo) was the homilist at Audrey's wake.

Bishop Robert McManus (our local ordinary) and Bishop Daniel Reilly (bishop emeritus) were present at the funeral Mass. Also in attendance Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, Melkite Catholic priest (Christian Nonviolence Ministry) delivered the homily. Several priests and deacons and hundreds of people attended both events.

In September 2007, Dr. Andrea Ambrosi, postulator from the Congregation of the Causes of Saints visited with the Santo family for four days. He met with Bishop Robert McManus to begin the Cause for Audrey by making her a Servant of God which begins the process. We ask for your support, spiritually and financially to accomplish this. We desperately need a pro-life saint in these times. Audrey is the light in the darkness to be that saint. Please pray for the family, postulator, foundation, friends and benefactors. We pray for all of you and thank you for your continued support.

An eyewitness account: On June 5, 1996, seventy-six year old Father Thomas McCarthy was concelebrating Mass in the little chapel of the Santo home in Worcester, Massachusetts. At the moment of the elevation, a small host lying in the paten on the altar began to bleed. Father McCarthy witnessed this event with his own eyes, and from that moment on his life would never be the same again.