By Father Luigi Gabris
Following my ordination to the Sacred Priesthood of Jesus Christ, I was assigned to a parish where God gave me wonderful friends. They include a young couple named Jan and Beba (Beada). We remained close friends after I was assigned to another parish the following year.
At the time, Jan and Beba had two sons, Mario and Christian, who were 13 and 10 years old. The couple was obedient to God by practicing natural family planning and they were open to life. They were very happy when Beba became pregnant with the couple’s third child, so many years after the birth of their second child. Immediately they shared the good news with me, and asked me to be the child’s Godfather.
Serious complications began in the first month of the pregnancy. Beba was losing blood, and needed to go to her doctor many times. The physician was a highly skilled obstetrician and university professor who taught obstetrics and gynecology. He was the same doctor who had delivered the couple’s two sons.
As time went on, the medical problems became more serious, and the doctor grew more concerned about the unborn baby. Beba was required to take medication to save the child’s life. The doctor recommended that she be admitted to the hospital, but she remained at home so she could care for her two sons.
The pregnancy had a transformative effect on the family. The boys became watchful, caring, cooperative, and looked after their mother. The entire family became beautifully integrated. This difficult pregnancy was a tremendous blessing for them, because it caused them to treat one another with greater compassion.
Jan and Beba were so happy to be having this baby. I visited them when the pregnancy was three months along, and by that time they knew the baby was a little boy. They had already named him Damian, and had already prepared his clothing in anticipation of his arrival. We sat on the floor and spoke openly about this high-risk pregnancy, and as they showed me Damian’s clothes, it became clear that we needed to pray more.
Jan gave me a pair of the baby’s tiny socks. They were white with red stripes. He said, “Luigi, keep them and pray for Beba and Damian, because this is a high-risk pregnancy. He is your Godchild, and we need your prayer support. Pray for your Godchild.”
I kept the socks in the rectory, on my desk, so they would be close to me and always visible as a reminder to pray for the baby.
One day Jan and Beba called to tell me that Beba was losing blood again. They were so sorrowful. Whenever we spoke by phone, it was always a three-way conversation. The couple explained that the doctor had said that the placenta was very small, oxygen was not reaching the baby, his brain was most likely damaged, and there was a high probability that the child would be born handicapped due to a lack of oxygen.
The doctor recommended that Jan and Beba abort Damian because the loss of blood indicated that the placenta was separating from the uterus, indicating the baby would eventually miscarry.
The couple told the doctor, “We have faith, and it will change the situation.”
I have been asked what I said to my friends at that moment. Their faith was strong, so they only needed someone who cared to listen.
After our conversation ended, I was very sad. I had been in my office in the rectory, and looked at Damian’s little socks. It was a very powerful moment.
The first time I went to Jerusalem, having traveled there with Jan and Beba, I bought an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in a shop close to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. That icon was hanging in my office and at that moment, when I was so sorrowful, God’s light came to me.I took Damian’s socks and put them on the icon and said to our Blessed Mother, “I can’t hold my Godchild. You held your Child during many perilous moments in your life. Please take one more child. Please take Damian, keep him, and take good care of him.”
After that prayer, Beba did not lose any more blood.
It is also important to mention that Beba, along with her mother and sister, was faithful to the First Five Saturdays devotion throughout her pregnancy, through which the promise of a delivery without pain is granted.
As the pregnancy progressed, baby Damian grew, but the placenta remained small. We remained confident in God’s providence.
Baby Damian was born on time. Jan was there and witnessed his birth while assisting Beba. It was the first time he had been present at the birth of one of his children. Jan said that he was a totally changed man after that experience.
Jan reported that Beba’s delivery was really beautiful; it was quick, and she did not experience any pain. He shared his surprise that when Damian was delivered, he looked clean and pure, had no streaks of blood on his body, and he radiated with incredible beauty.
After the delivery, the doctor asked Jan if he could keep the placenta.
Jan asked him why. The doctor explained that Damian’s survival was a miracle, because it is impossible for a child to survive having a placenta that small. He wanted to keep it to show his students the miracle. The doctor said to Damian’s parents, “You gave me a lesson of faith.”
Damian’s Baptism was followed by a big celebration, and Beba’s obstetrician was among the guests. The doctor met and spoke to many people who had prayed for the family, and he was profoundly affected by the miracle, as were so many others.
One year later, Jan and Beba had another baby. During that pregnancy, another pair of socks was placed on the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and many people prayed for baby Simon throughout the couple’s fourth pregnancy.
Damian is now five years old. He is healthy and bright and remains a tremendous gift to so many.
In time, other expectant couples heard the story, which inspired them to pray and place socks on icons, statues, and pictures with various representations of Our Lady. I know of six children whose loved ones were granted the intercession of the Virgin Mary after they had prayed to her this way.
Please share this story with others, and encourage them to pray the First Saturdays devotion during their pregnancies or on behalf of others. Encourage them also to continue the devotion of placing the baby’s socks on images and statues of our Blessed Mother. Say to her, “Blessed Mother, I can’t hold this baby. You held your Child during many perilous moments in your life. Please take one child more. Please take this baby and take good care of him/her.”
Or:
Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help
To obtain some spiritual or temporal favor recite the Hail Mary nine times each day, and then say the following prayer:Our Lady of Perpetual Help, show that you are indeed our Mother, and obtain for me the favor I desire (specify the desired favor) and the grace to use it for the glory of God and the salvation of my soul.
Glorious St. Alphonsus, who by your confidence in the Blessed Virgin did obtain from her so many favors, and who, by your writings, have shown us what graces God bestows on us by the hands of Mary! Obtain for me the greatest confidence in our good Mother of Perpetual Help, and beg of her to grant me the favor I am asking of her power and maternal goodness.
Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus, and by the intercession of our Mother of Perpetual Help, and of St. Alphonsus, I pray You to hear me and to grant my request, if it be to Your greater glory and good of my soul. Amen. 1
~ Father Luigi Gabris is the associate pastor at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Catholic Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan, U.S.A. He contributed three stories to God Moments III and also arranged the beautiful image on the front cover of the book, which was photographed by Tim Fuller.
Father Luigi and Baby Jesus, Christmas 2011.
Photo courtesy of Sandi Brady.
Photo courtesy of Sandi Brady.
Father Luigi and our Lord in the Eucharist,
Benediction at Ss. Cyril and Methodius, October 2012.
The third book in the award-winning God Moments series is currently in print and will be available late December 2012 in e-book format on Amazon Kindle, and in print January 2013 on Amazon.com and from Joseph Karl Publishing.
True love leads to life, and so many other beautiful things!
_______________
Source: 1. Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. © 2009 William J. Hirten Company.