“I believe that the many promises Our Lady attached to the wearing of her Matrix Medal had a mysterious significance in her dramatic recovery” Testimony by Karla O’Kane
There have been certain times in my life and I am sure this is the same for everyone, when God has allowed that invisible veil to be lifted, where we become so acutely aware of the reality of God and heaven and the realisation that He has a great and merciful plan for all of us. I would like to give an account of such a time, when as a family and in particular my mother, was bestowed a special grace and blessing.
In May of last year , my elderly mother developed pneumonia for the second time in her life. I was telephoned by my family to come to her bedside quickly. When I arrived there, I was so shocked at what I saw before me. My brothers and sisters were gathered around the bed where my mother lay dying. She had an extremely sudden weight loss, where she now weighed just 4 ˝ stone. She was so weak, I had to put my ear close to her mouth to hear what she could barely utter. I felt as my family did that this was the end for her.
I took off my matrix medal and placed it around her neck.
When the doctor arrived, he told us that she was in the terminal stage of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. We were asked if we wanted her to be transported to hospital, but the doctor understood when we declined, saying she would be more comfortable and familiar at home. In addition, she always had a great adversity to hospitals. The doctors arranged for medical personnel to come and install a special air filled bed and link her up to the strong antibiotics required, although they confided in us that they didn’t hold out much hope for her to pull through.
My sister telephoned for a priest to come to her, a priest that was well known to the family and whom she was very fond of. When Father Mc Kenna arrived, my family gathered around her beside as he administered the Last Rites of the Church. I was deeply moved when he finished the prayers and lent over to kiss her on the cheek.
The next hours where spent in vigil where we rotated in giving sips of water through a syringe and liquid medication. Hours passed and the next day came. After a brief spell at home, when I returned my sister told me that my mother had whispered to them that during the prayers of the Last Rites an angel appeared in the room.
I went to my mother and asked her if she could tell me about what she had saw. She was able to convey to me that during the prayers she saw a large angel appear and stand in between my brother and his fiancée. She described the angel by saying that she could not tell if it was male or female, it had shoulder length brown hair and had very large wings. The garment the angel wore was changing in hues of colour from, yellow to orange to green. She said the angel stayed for several minutes and looked around at each of us gathered there saying the prayers, the angel then looked back at my mother and smiled. It then faded away from sight. I asked my mother if she felt afraid by the angel and she said no there was no fear.
Like everyone else I was amazed to hear this and so grateful to God to allow her to witness that.
The matrix medal was always pinned now to my mother’s garments, and the nurses transferred the medal onto every change of her clothes.
The days passed and turned into weeks, then months, where my mother made a slow but steady recovery from what I, my family and doctors and nurses who tended to her firmly believe was the brink of death.
Today over a year later, she is now well enough to talk and laugh and visit her family.
On reflecting back, I am grateful to God for letting us have this precious time with our mother and I believe that the many promises Our Lady attached to the wearing of her matrix medal has a mysterious significance in her dramatic recovery.
Recently I had the opportunity to relay to the priest who gave my mother the Last Rites, what my mother had witnessed during his prayers. He also expressed great thanks to God for her recovery and allowing her the very special privilege of witnessing His angel.
In October 2011 Josie Butler and her sister Mary gave public witness at the House of Prayer in Achil to their testimony of healing.
Josie's testimony describes how her sister Mary who had fallen into a coma was taken to Our Lady's Hospital, Cashel and how she was told her sister might not survive.
Her conditioned deteriorated further and she was taken to St Joseph's Clonmel. "The consultant and his team could get no response from her and were discussing sending her to the Regional Hospital in Cork. After they left the ward" Josey said, "I went in and I pinned a Matrix Medal on to her clothes. I then made the sign of the cross on her with Holy Water from the font at Our Lady Queen of Peace House of Prayer and also spinkled some on her face and neck. She immediately opened her eyes and spoke to me."
"She later told me that she felt as if she was very far away and was being washed in a lovely cool stream. She felt peace within her.
"The doctors were puzzled at her sudden recovery. Over the next couple of weeks they carried out various tests including two brain scans which thankfully all returned normal and she suffered no long-term ill effects. The doctors said she was lucky to be alive but Mary knows that it wasn't luck that brought her out of the coma but Our Lady Queen of Peace. Not a day goes by without her thanking Our Blessed Lady for the gift of life which was given back to her."
