You may have noticed a slight change to our Facebook page this week—instead of “Guideposts Mysterious Ways,” our page is now “Mysterious Ways.” Mysterious Ways magazine is, of course, still published by Guideposts, but we wanted the title of the Facebook page to match the title of our new magazine.
Our editor-in-chief Edward Grinnan wrote a blog post last week thanking subscribers for their overwhelming response to the first two issues, and I want to echo his sentiments as well. We knew that Mysterious Ways stories were a hit with our readers, and we’re happy to be able to pass along even more of the miracles and wonders that people have shared with us.
Everyone on our staff has enjoyed pitching in and finding Mysterious Ways features. I’d like to share a blog post that our online managing editor, Anne Simpkinson, sent me by a woman named Therese Borchard. She was named after St. Therese, a Carmelite nun who, on her deathbed, promised she’d spend her time in heaven “doing good upon earth,” and that she would “let fall from heaven a shower of roses.”
Last week, for the feast of St. Therese, Borchard wrote about how those words came true in her family…
“I could see my mother grasping for something that would heal the wound inside her when my father left. She went to prayer group once a week, said a rosary every morning and hung an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our kitchen.
But I especially remember her novena prayer to St. Therese: ‘St. Therese, the Little Flower, please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden and send it to me with a message of love. Ask God to grant me the favor I thee implore, [state intention here], and tell him I will love him each day more and more.’ Tradition holds that if you say the novena prayer followed by five Our Fathers, five Hail Marys and five Glory Be’s each day for five days, you will receive a shower of roses on the fifth day.
I knew my mom was particularly desperate and in need of a sign from heaven that she could raise her four daughters by herself, despite her hurt. On the fifth day of her novena, our neighbor Mr. Miller, who kept an impeccable garden, was pruning his rose bushes. As he trimmed off the fully blossomed flowers to make room for the tender buds, he noticed my twin sister playing soccer in the backyard.
‘Give these to your mom,’ he said. There must have been eight dozen roses of all different shades. With the skill of an artist, my sister went back and forth, from his garden to our kitchen, arranging all the roses until she ran out of vases and counter space.
Later, my mom came into the kitchen exhausted from a long day’s work to find what looked and smelled like a rose garden on our kitchen counter. Remembering it was the fifth day of her novena, she cried tears of hope.”
That wasn’t Borchard’s last encounter with her namesake saint. God also used St. Therese to comfort her during a difficult bout with depression. You can read the full story on her BeliefNet blog, Beyond Blue.
Got your own story to share? Send it to us or write in the comments below.
