Yesterday I spent the first half of my night at Guildford Seniors to visit Father John. I was really happy and hopeful on my way there. Working at a seniors home during the day, I have always appreciated seeing the families who come in and visit. I don’t have my grandparents here with me, so when there is the chance to visit a friend or a friend’s loved one it’s such a blessing.
Fr John was not in his room when I came in; the nurse said he was at the lounge area since it was just after dinner. When I saw him he had his right hand stretched out over a lady beside him, seeming like he was giving her a blessing because she was crying. I was watching this for a good 2-3 minutes because he still hasn’t seen me yet. Then he turns around, says hi to Neil (hi Neil), looks at me, then smiles. I knew that he had asked for me before and he said that he was glad that I was there to visit him. This made so happy haha.
We went to his room and just started talking. He was telling me all the physical pain he was feeling. He said that his head was feeling numb because he fell from his bed last night, and that he can hear me just fine but he couldn’t hear himself too well. After a couple minutes, he showed me this book called “The Divine Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.” He flipped through a couple pages and made me read out a paragraph on the mystery of The Annunciation. He said that this book is so helpful and is so important for us to visualize and live through the mysteries in great detail. So he points to this particular section and tells me to read it out loud:
“The bodily shape of the heavenly Queen was well proportioned and taller than is usual with other maidens of her age; yet extremely elegant and perfect in all its parts. Her face was rather more oblong than round, gracious and beautiful, without leanness or grossness; its complexion clear, yet of a slightly brownish hue; her forehead spacious yet symmetrical; her eyebrows perfectly arched; her eyes large and serious, of incredible and ineffable beauty and dove-like sweetness, dark in color with a mixture tending toward green; her nose straight and well shaped; her mouth small, with red-colored lips, neither too thin nor too thick. All the gifts of nature in Her were so symmetrical and beautiful, that no other human being ever had the like. To look upon Her caused feelings at the same time of joy and seriousness, love and reverential fear. She attracted the heart and yet restrained it in sweet reverence; her beauty impelled the tongue to sound her praise, and yet her grandeur and her overwhelming perfections and graces hushed it to silence. In all that approached Her, She caused Divine effects not easily explained; She filled the heart with heavenly influences and Divine operations, tending toward the Divinity.” -Description of Our Lady from The Mystical City of God, (Pt II, Bk 3, Ch 2).
I had a smile on my face as I looked back up at him, and oh man. I saw his eyes so wide and his smile so sincere as if he was telling me “See? Do you see her yet?” He was also looking past my shoulders as if he was smiling at someone else; as if Our Lady really was in the room.
We talked again for some time after this. I also asked if he would be willing to hear my confession and he said, “Of course.” Before I left, he told me to encourage the young to be good and be holy now. And that in life, two things are important: to be honest and to be sincere. He also asked me to pray for him, and I said I do and I have in my prayers all the time.
