Fr. Svet
The Miracle Healing of My Son
By Loretta Broughal
My son, Peter, was born on June 25, 1985. When he was about five
months old, I noticed a growth
under his tongue. I took him to the pediatrician and was promptly sent to a
pediatric mouth surgeon. The doctor said he would need surgery if it
continued to grow. His tongue would be
raised to the roof of his mouth without surgery. The doctor also said if
the growth happened to break, he was to go to the emergency room immediately, as
it contained poison.
At this time a friend of mine, Kay, asked me to
attend our parish's Sodality of Our Lady meeting. That night the guest speaker
was Joan O'Neil (a friend of Penny
Abbruzzese, Editor of Mary’s Mantle). Joan began to tell us a story about her daughter. Kim had met a priest
while traveling to Europe after her
college graduation during the summer of 1982. Kim did not know, when they started
talking, that he was a priest. He was going back to his homeland from his
assignment at Saints Cyril and Methodius Church in New York City. The priest
was
Father Svetozar Kralejevic [Fr. Svet].
Father Svet and Kim talked throughout the whole plane
ride and toward the end of their flight, she mentioned her mom was very religious. He gave her a rosary from his pocket
for her mom. Father spoke to Kim
about the happenings in Medjugorje and gave her his
address.
Joan spoke of how she wrote to Father Svet and thanked him for
the rosary, and continued her
witness. Within nine months of Kim's journey, in April, 1983, Kim
was diagnosed with Stage Four Hodgkin's disease. Joan wrote to Father Svet, asking for
prayers through the intercession of Our Lady in Medjugorje. At this time, Kim,
being 21 years old, and an adult, was cutting out of her chemotherapy treatments
which were supposed to be for a year to eighteen months.
Joan and her husband were desperate.
Around Thanksgiving of that same year, 1983, Joan said she received a small package in
the mail wrapped in brown paper. It turned out to be a simple light blue
turtleneck shirt that Father Svet had the
Sisters in Medjugorje purchase for Kim. Father asked Joan, in the letter within
the package, to have Kim put the shirt on in blessing. He wrote that Our Lady had touched
the shirt during the time of Her
apparition. Initially Kim rejected the idea, but gave into her mother's
heartfelt plea to at least wear the shirt for the next CAT scan. She did, and Kim was, and
still is to this day, totally free of any
cancer.
As Joan was telling her story, you could hear a pin drop in the
cafeteria which was filled to
capacity. Joan was very gracious and humble and passed the blessed shirt
around the cafeteria for all of us to see and touch. When the shirt came
to me, my friend Kay said, "Touch it, and when you go home,
put your finger in Peter's mouth." When I arrived home, I
picked up the baby, put my finger
in his mouth, and said a Hail Mary.
Several days later, I came home from work and noticed the growth
was gone
in the baby's mouth. I asked my mom, who was watching Peter, if it had broken and she said, ”No.” I
was totally confused and couldn't understand how it just disappeared. That
evening I called Kay to share the
wonderful news with her. Kay said to me, "Did you put your finger in his mouth as I
suggested during the Sodality meeting?" At that, I realized what had truly
happened!
My mother had a great devotion and love for Mary. She taught my
brothers and me so much about the Blessed Mother and to always turn to Her in a time
of need. I knew in my heart of hearts that
it was a miracle for my son. There was no doubt! The next day I called
the doctor. He said that medically, he had no explanation why the
growth was gone.
I had read that the Blessed Mother in Medjugorje said She wanted
Her feast day to be celebrated on
June 25th, and She was to be called the Queen of Peace. June 25th is my son's
birthday!
Over the years, many friends have gone to Medjugorje, and I just yearned to go.
They brought me back pictures, rosaries, and rocks from Apparition Hill. I
always knew in my heart one day I would get there. Penny
used to say to me, ”When it is your time, you will
go!”
I
didn't think it would take me 28 years to get there; but then
again, I didn't know if I would ever get
there!
In our April church bulletin, I saw that Penny
advertised trips to Medjugorje in July and
September of this year [2013]. I felt this jolt in me that said, ”This is
my time.” I couldn't get it out of my mind. My daughter is having her first baby
in October, so I felt September may not be good for me, but July was
perfect.
On July 14, 2013, my friend Kathy and I set off for our
pilgrimage. We both had no idea what to expect, and it didn't
matter. All we knew was that we were going
to a village where the Blessed Mother has been
appearing for 32 years.
During my week in Medjugorje I experienced many feelings of joy
within,
and more love than you can imagine for Mary and Her Son. There were so many experiences that happened
during our pilgrimage that I'm still
thinking, remembering, and reflecting on them. One blessed
experience, in particular, I have to share.
On July 17th our little group was invited to attend an apparition
in the visionary Ivan's house. We
were all very excited and felt very privileged to be asked to attend.
I couldn't stop thinking: I will be in a room where the Blessed Mother
will be appearing. Is that possible? That was the furthest thing from my mind when I
set out on the trip. I was so grateful and happy that I was bursting with joy!
When we arrived at Ivan's house, he told us
what pew to sit in. I was in the
third pew along with Penny on the right side. We began to say the Rosary at 6:00 p.m. sharp and at 6:40
Ivan knelt down, and looked straight up as if he was looking toward
Heaven. Where I was sitting, I could see
the side of his face, and his mouth was moving although no sound came
out. I could also see that he was smiling. Mary's
presence was felt in the entire room.
At some
point during the apparition, I was getting a distinct scent of roses although there were no roses visible in
the room. After the apparition I asked Penny and the other people in our
group if they smelled the roses. No one else did! Fr. Justin, who
traveled with us and was our spiritual advisor, told me I was given a gift.
Another gift from Mary!
Mary’s Mantle, SummerSource of this article http://www.spiritofmedjugorje.org/
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