Dona Lucilia’s intercession transcends barriers. Since her death in 1968, we have witnessed the discreet but ever-growing blossoming of a devotion that opens up new paths. The number of people who have been helped by her in the most diverse parts of the world is a pledge of hope for all those who turn to her because, for this very good mother, distances no longer exist.
On that note, today we invite our readers to travel the more than thirteen thousand kilometres that separate us from India, so that we can learn about an incident which occurred in that South Asian country: another episode in the maginificent picture painted by God through Dona Lucilia.
In the city of St. Francis Xavier
The family of Mr. James Kurian and his wife Nadisha Coelho live in the state of Goa, a land blessed by the evangelization of the great St. Francis Xavier. A coastal state, it has the peculiarity of being one of the smallest in India and is divided into two districts: North Goa and South Goa. One of its main cities is Old Goa, in the northern district, as it is home to the Basilica of Bom Jesus, a point of reference for Catholics in the region and for any travelers visiting the region, for it houses the holy missionary’s incorrupt body.
In March of this year, James had to replace a co-worker at a big event, as she was on leave. On the evening of March 5, he contacted her to iron out some practical details about the activity. After the call, the lady, in conversation with her husband, went on to comment a little on him and his work in the company.
The following day, March 6, while passing near Old Goa on his way to work, James noticed two missed calls from this lady on his mobile phone and immediately called her back to find out what she needed. She explained that she was on her way to the hospital with her mother and requested prayers for her, as she was very ill. However, as his colleague spoke, James had an inexplicable inner certainty: “This illness will not lead to death, but is for the glory of God.”
He promised to include the whole family in his prayers and recommended that they not lose hope.
In the hospital, death and resurrection…
But God’s ways are often inexplicable to our earthly way of seeing things… And this is what became apparent when they arrived at the hospital. Despite medical care, the elderly woman had a cardiac arrest under which she succumbed, and the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) process, during which she was defibrillated three times, was unsuccessful.
As a result, the doctor declared the patient dead, as there was every indication of her clinical death.
Half an hour later, when the family had already been informed of the lady’s death, the doctor decided, quite unexpectedly, to intervene once again by performing one last defibrillation. This time, against all odds, the elderly woman revived. She had been without vital signs for more than thirty minutes!
At the same moment, her daughter sent a message to James, informing him that her mother had revived, but that her heart rate was very low, and for this reason she was asking him to continue praying.
That afternoon, James went to the hospital to pay a quick visit to his co-worker’s mother. As he approached her bedside, he noticed that she was very restless and, bothered by the pulmonary ventilator, was trying to remove her mask. He placed a rosary in her hands and prayed for her, and was pleasantly surprised to see her open her eyes for the first time after the onset of the emergency.
However, the situation was still a precarious one. The medical team feared that the poor lady would be left with irreversible brain damage, as she had been without oxygen for half an hour. After two days, however, she overcame the crisis, started breathing on her own again and her vital functions stabilized. The tests showed no sequelae, and the doctors gave assurance of her complete recovery!
On March 15 she returned home. Today she can walk and her memory is in perfect order.
Having reached this point in the story, the reader will surely be wondering how this event – in which the power of prayer is evident, it is true, but whose happy outcome could well be attributed to natural and ordinary factors – has anything to do with Dona Lucilia’s intercession, since her name was not even mentioned… Let us continue with the story.
An inexplicable encounter
On March 17, James’ colleague returned to work and came to thank him for his support and prayers. She also wanted to tell him about an unusual episode for which she could find no explanation.
On the day her mother had suffered the heart attack, she and her husband were on their way to the hospital and, just before Old Goa, in a place where nobody usually stands even to wait for a bus, they both saw an elderly woman asking for a lift. She was well dressed and very respectable and distinguished.
On the streets of India, the couple saw a distinguished elderly lady, dressed as in former times, and asking for a lift. Who was she?
They decided to stop the vehicle and offer her a ride. She accepted and, when she got in, declared that she wanted to go to Panjim, the administrative centre of the North Goa District. Shortly into the journey, she asked the couple: “Is something bad happening?” James’ colleague explained what had happened to her mother and why they were going to the hospital. In response, the stranger recommended: “Just do one thing: call that gentleman you were talking about last night, and everything will be fine.” Having said that, she asked to get off right there, the car having already left the territory of Old Goa, and without further explanation she left.
How was it possible that she knew who James was, and that the couple had had a conversation about him the night before? Without understanding, but following her advice, she actually did call her colleague to ask for prayers, as we have seen.
Searching for an answer
At first, James thought it was an apparition of a soul from Purgatory, but when he told his wife, Nadisha, what had happened, she immediately thought that the case was more akin to Dona Lucilia’s way of acting, as she knew of reports of similar manifestations by her in the past.1
Curious to see if it had been Dona Lucilia, after the conversation with his wife James called his colleague and asked her for more details about the lady she and her husband had met. She replied that she was an elderly woman with short grey hair and white skin. She then commented that she was wearing a dress from former times, blue in colour with embroidered sleeves, and repeated that she was a distinguished lady, adding that she spoke English very well.
James told his mother-in-law, Anna Coelho, everything that had happened and she sent him two photographs of Dona Lucilia to show to his co-worker.
“Who is she?”
While in his office on March 20, at the end of another day’s work, James remembered Dona Lucilia’s photographs and went to show them to his colleague, asking if the lady who had got into her car looked like the person pictured there. When she saw them, she was deeply shocked, sat down and asked: “Sir, who is she?”
Realizing what an effect the photograph had had on his colleague, James was at a loss to say who Dona Lucilia was… After all, how could he explain the appearance of this lady who had been dead for decades, in a city on the other side of the world? In a few words, he explained his connection with her: “My wife’s siblings belong to a religious community, and this is the mother of their founder. She is from Brazil,” was his initial attempt.
Still not fully understanding, his colleague asked in bewilderment: “So was she born here, or something?” James had to explain again that she had been born and lived in Brazil, and this time he added that she had died many years ago… Hearing this, the lady was even more astonished.
After perceiving the supernatural nature of what had happened, she understood the message from God that it contained and told her story to James.
Her grandfather had died of a snakebite a few months after her father’s birth, leaving her grandmother in a very difficult financial situation. She was advised to sell food at the market during the St. Francis Xavier novenas, and this is how she managed to raise her children. As a result, her father always retained a great devotion to the missionary Saint and later passed this on to his whole family, so that they never did anything important without first visiting the basilica in Old Goa.
The confirmation of Dona Lucilia’s intervention was in the basilica of Old Goa, so symbolic for that family: “Only God can do something like this!”
In this she recognized the message of the episode that took place on the way to the hospital, because Dona Lucilia got into her vehicle before Old Goa and left after they were out of Old Goa, in other words, she was with her all the way through the symbolic place where her family had always gone in order to ask for divine protection, meaning that they would not lack it during the hard phase they were entering. Filled with gratitude, she exclaimed: “Only God can do something like this!”
Without a doubt, Dona Lucilia was at this family’s side, helping them to get through their difficulties, and she will also be by the side of each one of us, wherever we find ourselves, even in faraway India! ◊
Notes
1 In this regard, see the article: Immense Goodness and Compassion. In: Heralds of the Gospel. Nobleton. Vol. 16, No.181 (Nov., 2022), p.38-41.
