Miracles can happen at any moment for those whose hearts are full of faith. “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mk 9:23), the Divine Master teaches us. Indeed, when our difficulties are apparently insurmountable and doubts assail us, we feel that the time has come to implore help and await a solution from on high.
Healing of an infant illness
Truly, we will never obtain any grace by our own strength; but, by praying with faith and confidence, we can obtain supernatural intervention and even miracles. As a case in point, the account of Juliana Araújo Rosa about the decisive intercession of Dona Lucilia in favour of her daughter Ana Maria is touching.
The story of this grace began before little Ana Maria was conceived, as Juliana tells us:
“When I had only my first three children, I wrote a letter to Msgr. João, founder of the Heralds, asking him to pray for me, because I had undergone three emergency surgeries during my pregnancies, due to a liver disease, pregnancy cholestasis, a very serious inflammation that put my life and that of the babies at risk. I really wanted to have other children, but I was afraid because of this troublesome disease.”
The account continues: “Msgr. João answered me, advising me to be at peace and to entrust myself to Dona Lucilia, because through her intercession Our Lady would promptly hear my requests. His letter gave me great hope. A month later I found out that I was pregnant. During the whole pregnancy, I felt Dona Lucilia’s presence very much.”
When she had her periodic check-ups, Juliana was always afraid that the results might show signs of liver complications. So she asked Dona Lucilia to intervene before the examinations. And, remarkably, each new test revealed that her liver enzymes were better than before the pregnancy. She writes: “This was the first cure that Dona Lucilia effected.”
A terrible discovery
In the eighth month of pregnancy, the doctors discovered that the unborn baby had a dermoid cyst on her left ovary, that is, one that is not absorbed by the body. They recommended that the size of the cyst should be checked immediately after birth in order to take the necessary measures.
One month later, the baby girl was born in a normal delivery, without any irregularity. The next day she was assessed and it was found that the cyst was large, four and a half centimetres.
Juliana continues: “The doctor told me that the case required surgery, and that I would have to return with my daughter after thirty days to undergo an operation that would be risky because she was a newborn infant, but that had to be done because of the size of the cyst.
“By the grace of God, I was very calm despite this diagnosis. I told Ana Maria’s godparents about it and they began to pray for her. Her godmother consecrated her to Dona Lucilia and asked for her intercession so that the cure would be complete without surgery or, if this was really necessary, that we would have the tranquillity to wait for the best moment, and that everything would go well.”
“A gradually unfolding miracle”
Trusting in a supernatural intervention, the girl’s parents decided to wait. After five months, another ultrasound was done, which confirmed that the cyst had a solid part. But the doctor was surprised that the cyst was a centimetre smaller.
Juliana recounts: “Six more months went by, and we did the scan again. The doctor noticed that the cyst had regressed another centimetre, and declared, very surprised: ‘It’s impossible for that to happen because, from the previous diagnoses, it was a case for surgery!’
“Finally, when my little girl was two years and three months old, we decided to have another imaging scan. The doctor performed the ultrasound and found nothing! I was surprised, but quiet. Then he asked for the results of the previous exams. He read and reread them several times, and exclaimed: ‘But it’s a dermoid cyst; it’s impossible that it’s not here!’ He asked me: ‘Are you sure the cyst is on the left ovary?’ I replied: ‘Yes, I have all my daughter’s tests.’ He said: ‘Look, I don’t know, but… it’s not here. I can’t find anything.’ Finally, he changed ultrasound machines, and repeated the exam several times and… he found nothing!”
The little girl was cured, by the maternal intercession of Dona Lucilia!
Juliana closes the report expressing her gratitude for the great favour received: “We see that this was a great grace obtained by Dona Lucilia, who went about arranging things little by little, so that we could see the miracle gradually unfolding and confirm that she really does tend to everything! The paediatrician himself verified that this is, in fact, a miraculous case. So we are immensely grateful to Dona Lucilia for this grace, for her being so solicitous and so generous in the case of my daughter Ana Maria!”
“Dona Lucilia never, ever forsakes us!”
The testimony sent to us by Renilda Oliverio dos Santos, who was kindly helped by Dona Lucilia during a time when financial problems were causing her great distress, is also a stirring one.
After the death of her husband in 2019, Renilda moved from Recife to São Paulo to provide a better education for her four children. However, in São Paulo the family had many hardships and challenges to face.
To make the already difficult situation even worse, the tenant of her apartment in Recife told her that she would not be able to pay the rent on the agreed date that month. Now, this money was indispensable for the subsistence of the family!
In this distressing situation, Renilda remembered the devotion that her late husband had to Dona Lucilia. “I asked her to intercede with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, so that at the end of the month Providence would send me the resources necessary for the support of the family. I begged and I implored without ceasing!”
And the result from so much pleading was not long in coming: a bank notice arrived from Recife informing her that the amount relating to a court case which had been decided in her favour was at her disposal.
Extremely consoled, Renilda went to a bank branch to collect the money. “The amount was enough to pay some overdue bills and cover essential expenses, which was only possible thanks to the immense kindness of Dona Lucilia, who helps all her spiritual children if they only turn to her with faith and devotion. Dona Lucilia never, ever forsakes us! May the prayers of her children continue in gratitude for her maternal benevolence, and in the intention that she be as soon as possible raised to the honour of the altars among the Saints officially recognized by the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church!”
A peculiar intervention… by “sweeping”!
However, it is not only to those who ask her with devotion that Dona Lucilia attends. Sometimes devotion is born as a result of an intervention by this attentive mother, as happened to a Colombian woman, Andrea Gonzalez, who sent us a novel account.
“After hearing the podcast about Dona Lucilia, made in Colombia, I feel encouraged to tell you about a great favour she did for me. I live in Chia, Colombia, a town near Tocancipá, where the Church of Our Lady of Fatima of the Heralds of the Gospel is located.
“After the pandemic, through my mother’s influence, I began to go to Mass almost every Sunday and some Saturdays; I fell in love with the homilies and Confession, but I was especially convinced by the zeal shown by the Heralds of the Gospel for the Holy Eucharist.
“In March of this year, I asked advice from a priest, because I had a co-worker who was troubling my soul. She was gifted with great power of attraction, but not for good, since, although she claimed to be Catholic, she was trying to drag people into esoteric practices. Moreover, she encouraged licentious conversations, full of innuendo. It was horrible! I felt that my soul repelled her and I didn’t know what to do, because she was seated right in front of my desk and liked to start these conversations as if to annoy and provoke me.”
The priest gave Andrea two photos of Dona Lucilia, recommending that she always keep one in her purse and place the other on her desk. She recounts:
“The priest told me that, every time this colleague of mine started her conversations or her practices, I should ask Dona Lucilia to ‘sweep’ her away from me. I was surprised, because it was a rather unusual request to make…”
Andrea further explains that she had heard of Dona Lucilia on other occasions, but had remained incredulous about her intercession, because many doubts came to her mind. However, this time she paid full attention to the advice received.
Prayer promptly answered
Her account continues: “On the first occasion when my colleague started one of her obscene conversations, I made the request. But, for lack of confidence, I changed it and said to Mary: ‘My Mother, since it is beneath your dignity to pick up a broom, I ask You to send Dona Lucilia to grab one and “sweep” my co-worker out of here!’ This was my prayer and I remember that I only said it twice. What was my surprise when, less than a fortnight later, my colleague received, without having asked for it, an order to transfer to another section! She was removed not only from my side, but also from the building and almost from the town… And she was very upset by the transfer.”
An additional comment from Andrea shows us the “signature” of Dona Lucilia who, like the Sacred Heart of Jesus, desires the good of all, with a view to their eternal salvation:
“The greatest proof I had that this was a circumstance brought about by Divine Providence through the intercession of Dona Lucilia, was that, in the end, the transfer benefited my colleague a lot in her family life and she ended up being happy with the change.”
Andrea concludes: “This was just one favour that Dona Lucilla obtained from God for me. Now, whenever I meet someone who needs a favour from our Mother, Mary, or from Jesus, I say: ‘Ask Dona Lucilia!’ To thank her for her intercession and the future favours she will obtain for me from God, I have placed her photo next to the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Grant us God that, through her intercession, we may continue to receive the favours that we cannot obtain on our own!”
Unemployed, but not abandoned
Dr. Tarcisio Mattos, a Cooperator of the Heralds of the Gospel in Rio de Janeiro, was also promptly assisted during a difficult period.
The father of a family and unemployed, he registered for the open exam for the position of City engineer b However, he knew very well how slim the chance of getting the position was in competition with many other qualified candidates.
By a happy coincidence, the test was scheduled for April 21, the date of Dona Lucilia’s departure for Heaven. “Therefore,” he recounts, “before the test I asked her to help me, since I found myself in a difficult situation. Days later I received the news that I had placed first among sixty candidates.”
Very thankful, Dr. Tarcisio adds: “My devotion to Dona Lucilia dates from a long time ago, because I was a disciple of Dr. Plinio and I understood that God had placed her as the mother of our ‘spiritual family’. Therefore, I was sure that she would help me, one way or another. Indeed, we read in the Gospel that God always demands faith from us. I have no doubt that the effect of her intercession continues in my life.”
Some time later, he composed a song in honour of Dona Lucilia as a token of gratitude. ◊
