By Mario I. Chaparro

I was at St. Joseph’s Church, one of the most beautiful churches in Astoria, where there is a lovely statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when I fell in love with the Miraculous Medal Novena.

After the 8 a.m. Mass, a small cardboard box full of Miraculous Medal Novena booklets was placed at the foot of the altar. I picked one from the box to follow the novena, just like everybody else.

As I was praying, I was inspired by the words, which sound like a beautiful melody, especially the invocation to the Holy Spirit at the beginning, and the Act of Consecration to Our Lady at the end.

When we finished, all of the parishioners started returning the booklets to the small box. I felt in my heart the need to own one. I went to the lector, and I asked where I could buy such a beautiful booklet.

She told me, “Don’t say anything to anybody; just take one!” I said, “Thank you very much,” and went home very happy.

I started praying the novena every Monday for some months, but after a while, I felt the need to do it more often in my room – with my heart, my soul, my inspiration and at my own pace to really enjoy it.

Thanks to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I have more strength, and my hope is vibrant. I have seen graces in my life that have made my faith stronger, and more importantly, I have learned to trust in God.

Even though I got the booklet for free, I felt that I had to pay for it. So I sent a $5 check in the envelope that came inside the booklet. Then I started a good relationship with the nice people at the Miraculous Medal Shrine in Philadelphia, Pa.

Pray Before the Shrine

One day, in the middle of my prayers, a thought came to my mind: “Pray the novena right in front of the Blessed Mother at the Shrine in Philadelphia.”

I thought about how wonderful that would be. So I started to make plans to go. The big question was: “How will I get there?”

I cannot use my car, and I didn’t know if I could take public transportation to Philadelphia. I thought it must be complicated to go there.

One day, I said to myself, “I need to get answers to all my questions, and then I can find the best way to go.”

I went to Greyhound, BoltBus and finally to Penn Station in Manhattan. All of these options were out of my budget, or the schedule did not work for me.

When I was about to finish my investigation, I bumped into a man who was selling tours around New York City.

He told me, “Guy, if you want something less expensive, go to Chinatown and look for Focus Travel. They will take you for $20 round trip.”

That’s the deal I was looking for.

The big, glorious day of victory was Friday, May 2, 2014. I woke up at 4 a.m. to take the 7 a.m. Chinatown bus to Philadelphia.

Dream Come True

I attended the 12:15 p.m. Mass at the shrine, after which I prayed the novena and Holy Rosary. I was very happy to be there before Our Lady; it felt like a dream had come true.

When I finished my mission, I went to the gift shop in the lower level to introduce myself to the lady at the counter.

She said, “I am very glad to meet you. Welcome to the Shrine.”

She handed me a bag of goodies, and invited me to visit the Marian Museum across the street. I expressed my gratitude to her and said, “Part of my goal today is to meet Father (Carl) Pieber, C.M., (executive director of the shrine). Is that possible?”

In no time, he arrived. I met Father Pieber. He gave me a special blessing, then blessed my Miraculous Medal and thanked me for my visit. What a great welcome!

I took many pictures of the shrine’s artwork, which included the Miraculous Medal history.

Since that day, I offered to visit Mary the First Friday of each month, non-stop.

Most Holy Virgin, help me to pray with devotion, faith, gratitude, reverence and love. Grant that I may always love you more and more!