There are trials that hit us like “a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky” – a well-known expression that attests to how setbacks can visit our lives without any prior warning. Furthermore, few people nowadays think about this possibility, despite its being very likely, almost inevitable…
Dona Lucilia, by contrast, kept herself habitually well prepared, and faced the most unforeseen and even unthinkable trials that arose in her life with an attitude of total submission to God’s sovereign will, asking Him only for the strength to drink the chalice of suffering in its entirety.
An exemplary mother, she is attentive to come to the aid of those who ask for her intercession, not only to relieve their sufferings, but also to teach them how to face life’s struggles. Below we present our readers with two beautiful testimonies that show how Dona Lucilia knows how to “temper” sorrow and joy in the lives of her devotees, always with a view to greater spiritual perfection.
“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away…”
Adriana Vargas sent us this story from the city of Otavalo, Ecuador:
“I would like to share with you a ‘miracle’ that I received from God our Lord, and from our Blessed Mother, Mary Most Holy, through the intercession of Dona Lucilia.
My husband has a truck that functions as a taxi, and on October 19, 2023 he received a call for a job in a city far from ours, here in Ecuador. However, when he arrived at the appointed destination, a car appeared with some armed men who approached, took his vehicle and kidnapped him for around four hours. It was late at night when the bandits left him in a town on the Ecuadorian coast. Naturally, he was very scared.”
Overnight, the family found itself stripped of everything, since the stolen vehicle was the main source of income for that household
Added to the fear he felt immediately after the traumatic moments of the kidnapping, was the fact that he did not even know where to go, having been abandoned in a deserted and unknown place. Providentially, two young women appeared and very kindly helped him take a taxi to the bus station so that he could board a bus and safely return to his home.
However, while he was travelling home, Adriana received a telephone call, in which the kidnappers threatened to kill her husband if she did not immediately pay them a two-thousand-dollar ransom.
Adriana’s story continues: “We were in financial debt and I had to ask for another loan to get the money demanded by the extortionists. They left us with nothing, they emptied our accounts. We did not have enough to feed ourselves, to get around or to pay for our children’s school. We had nothing! But, thank God, kind-hearted people came to visit us and brought us rice, bread, sugar and some financial aid. That was how we were surviving.”
Overnight, Adriana and her family found themselves deprived of everything, since the stolen vehicle was the source of income that supported the household. Millennia ago, the holy Job had gone through similar trials, and his cry of conformity with God’s will served as an example for this family as well:
“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).
In the midst of the trial, confiding in Dona Lucilia
Supported by faith, reinforced by the bond of the slavery of love to the Blessed Virgin Mary – she had consecrated herself two years earlier, guided by the Heralds of the Gospel – and thanks to a life of intense piety that began with this consecration, Adriana was prepared to face these painful moments, aware of the good that Providence could bring out of them:
“I prayed the novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Dona Lucilia’s intercession, and she, like a mother, returned the vehicle to me intact”
“When God acts, everything becomes easier. We were not overwhelmed by despair; on the contrary, we preserved peace and tranquillity in the midst of the trial. It was very difficult, I had to ask for food from a charity, because I had nothing left. But God is good. I learned – as you say – to carry my cross and I said to Him: ‘My God, the Lord suffered more on the Cross; what I suffer is nothing! Take me by the hand!’”
Some “friends” took advantage of the occasion to criticize Adriana for her piety, even saying to her: “You pray a lot, you are very attached to the Church. That is why these things happen to you.” However, she did not let herself be shaken: “The more they told me to ‘stop praying,’ the more I grabbed my rosary and forged ahead with my husband. In fact, I prayed more than ever.”
In this difficult situation, she remembered having seen some videos about Dona Lucilia and her valuable intercession. She then asked a Herald priest she knew: “‘Father, please, if you can go to Dona Lucilia’s tomb, ask her to help me!’ He replied with great generosity: ‘If I can, I will go; if I cannot, I will send someone to pray for you.’ I was not asking for our vehicle to be returned, but for my husband to recover and for us to be able to pay off all our debts.”
Adriana also asked the priest to suggest a prayer to say in such circumstances, and he suggested a novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which Dona Lucilia used to pray during her lifetime.
Dona Adriana continued: “I said the novena, asking for Dona Lucilia’s intercession. Shortly after I finished, a police officer called me and said: ‘Madam, I am from the police, your vehicle has been found.’ I was reluctant to believe him, because it could have been another extortionist. I asked: ‘But do you have any photos? How can you be sure that it is really mine?’ He replied: ‘Madam, we have already verified it.’”
And it was true.
A dismantled vehicle
What had happened? The bandits had abandoned the truck in the mountains, where it was found by police officers who were searching for another kidnapped person. However, it was missing its tires, seats, gas tank, and radio.
“The car was taken to the police station and, that night,” says Adriana, “they sent me the notice of vehicle impoundment. Everything was missing from that car! It had been practically taken apart! This was very distressing, because it was a work car, with which my husband supported us, and for us that car represented everything…”
Despite their disappointment, on the advice of a lawyer friend, the family took steps to recover the vehicle that had been almost completely dismantled. But Dona Lucilia was quick to turn this disappointment into joy:
“On December 8, the feast of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the necessary inspection was carried out to release the vehicle. The vehicle’s condition was checked again and – oh, surprise! – it was intact. It was missing a few little things, such as the radio, and we had to repaint it. Nothing else!
“I had been praying the novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Dona Lucilia’s intercession, and she, acting just like a mother, returned the vehicle to me intact!”
Another financial aid
Amid the financial difficulties that the family was experiencing, Adriana faced yet another problem, as she recounts:
“I work from home, making phone calls. Well, at that time I did not have enough money to pay the cell phone bill, which I depend on for my job. But I had heard that Dona Lucilia works economic ‘miracles’. So I said to her: ‘Dona Lucilia, you know what my situation is like this month, I don’t have any money…’”
Bibiana experienced tremendous suffering: in those moments she was well aware that she could lose her little son at any instant
Inexplicably, that month’s bill was cancelled; Adriana did not even receive the routine notification. The following month, a little worried because she did not know what had happened, she went to the office of the service provider to check the total amount of her debt. However, the company’s employees informed her that there was nothing pending and that the previous month’s bill did not even appear in the system.
Adriana concludes: “Dona Lucilia helped me! We need to have a lot of faith that Dona Lucilia, Our Lady and above all, God, who is our Father, will not abandon us! This is what I want to share with you, dear Heralds. Continue with this apostolate that has changed the lives of so many people!”
A childhood illness that ends up in intensive care…
From Mairiporã, in Greater São Paulo, Mrs. Bibiana de Fatima Liobino writes to us, recounting the grace she received through the intercession of Dona Lucilia in benefit of her youngest son.
“I am thirty-eight years old, married to Marcelo Cavalcante Liobino and we have two sons, Gustavo and Emanuel. Today we would like to testify to a very great grace that we received through Dona Lucilia.
“The incident occurred on March 11, 2024, with Emanuel, our youngest son, who was then three years and nine months old. After he had spent a whole day with a fever, we decided to take him to the emergency room, where we arrived around seven o’clock in the evening and stayed until about ten. We left there with a diagnosis of acute laryngitis and medication to be taken at home: antibiotics and antipyretics.
“Around midnight, Emanuel, who had a fever again, woke up crying, short of breath and with severe respiratory distress. We rushed him back to the hospital. At the emergency room, his vital signs seemed normal, but the discomfort and stridor he was experiencing worried the doctor, who thought it would be wise to take him to the neonatal ICU.
“He was admitted to the ICU at 1:40 in the morning and until 5:20 in the morning the medical team was trying to stabilize his condition, which at that moment – in my opinion as a mother – did not seem as serious as it actually was.
“Then, through the ICU doctor, we received the news that Emanuel would need to be intubated… I felt like the ground was falling from under my feet! I started to pray, asking Our Lord and Our Lady not to take my son away. It was a very painful chain of events, I was alone at that moment, going through many other trials, and here was yet another sacrifice to make to Our Lord.
“The time seemed to pass very slowly. He was expected to spend two to three days intubated. He was diagnosed with stridulous laryngitis, which evolved into severe bronchospasm, followed by glottic edema and anaphylactic shock.”
“She won our admiration and our hearts”
Bibiana tells us that in those moments she was well aware that at any moment she could lose her little son, but, thanks to Dona Lucilia, at the same time she received supernatural strength to offer all this suffering to God and to remain, without discouragement, by little Emanuel’s side. Let us continue to follow her story:
“My husband brought me the greatest weapons: a rosary, holy water, an image of Our Lady and our oldest son’s prayer book. Around ten in the morning on March 12, I received a message from someone close to me, who said: ‘May Dona Lucilia protect you.’ I replied asking Dona Lucilia to support me with her example of maternal love. I soon received the reply that Dona Lucilia was there, even though I could not see her, but she was with me and, above all, with my little son.
“Well, she was truly there!
“A few hours passed. The physiotherapist came to talk to me about Emanuel’s situation and explained that the intubation cannula was very thin, since it was the only one they had managed to insert; however, as the swelling went down, air was escaping. He gave me two options: first, remove the thin cannula and, if it was comfortable for Emanuel, put on an oxygen mask, which is less invasive; second, remove the thin tube and, if there was still discomfort, insert a thicker tube, but in this case he would remain intubated for another two or three days.
“I then prayed the Rosary, and after opened my son’s prayer book and found a picture of Dona Lucilia inside. I looked at the picture and asked her to take care of my youngest son, because there was nothing else I could do. When this happened, I was alone in the hospital; my husband, Marcelo, was at his sister’s house, who had received a visit the week before from the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, brought by two sisters from the Heralds of the Gospel. During this visit, they left my sister-in-law a picture of Dona Lucilia.
“Therefore, at the same time that I was praying the Rosary in the ICU, my husband saw the picture of Dona Lucilia in his sister’s house, placed his hand on it and asked Dona Lucilia to take care of our son. We did this without planning or communicating with each other.
“We know what a great grace we received through the intercession of Dona Lucilia. She won our hearts, our admiration and our devotion!”
“At 4:15 p.m. on March 12 – that is, almost twelve hours after intubation – Emanuel was extubated, leaving only an oxygen mask, and remained that way until 10 p.m. At the end of that exhausting day, I was talking to my husband and he told me about the prayer he had said; full of emotion, I also told him what had happened to me in the hospital. Thus, we were convinced that Dona Lucilia had come to our aid and interceded for our son.”
Bibiana concludes her story with gratitude: “It was six days in the hospital and there were many struggles, but we left that ICU victorious and with our hearts full of gratitude. Almost a month after the incident, Emanuel was doing very well, and did not even show any sign of having undergone all of this. During an appointment, after reviewing his medical history, a doctor told us that Emanuel’s Guardian Angel is very good… And we believe her, because we know what a great grace we received through the intercession of Dona Lucilia. She won our hearts, our admiration and our devotion!” ◊
