Featured article from November's Spirit of Medjugorje
Alan’s Wish
By June Klins
Every Monday evening, the website, marytv.tv broadcasts
a wonderful program called “Fruit of Medjugorje” at
8:00 P.M. Each episode features the testimony of one or
more people whose lives have been changed through
Our Lady of Medjugorje. All of the programs can be
accessed in the archives on their website. The following
testimony was taken from Episode #133, which was
originally aired on September 29, 2014. This is the testimony
of Barbara Labrosse.
As she introduced herself,
Barbara explained that she
wanted to share a story that
happened to her brother, Alan.
She began by saying that
her family was from a town
in Northern Ireland called
Ballymena. Her mother was
Catholic and her father was
Protestant. After her mother’s
first pilgrimage to Medjugorje
in the 1980s, she began leading pilgrimages there, and after
25 years of going there and praying, her father converted to
Catholicism.
In 2009, Alan, the youngest of Barbara’s three brothers,
was invited to go on a pilgrimage with his cousin and aunt.
Alan protested, “I’m not going there among those holy
rollers.” But his cousin did not want to go without him, so
he finally agreed.
His aunt attested that Alan was the first one to come up
with the deposit. Barbara was surprised at that, because
Alan, who was 29 at the time, spent what little money he
had for partying.
Ave Maria” spelled out in stones on Cross Mountain
The first day that Alan arrived in Medjugorje, he climbed
Cross Mountain. He did the same on the second day. He
said that he did not know why he was in Medjugorje, but
he knew that there was a reason. On the third day, he
mentioned to someone, “If there was anywhere I’d like to
die in the world, it would be here.” On that same day, he
climbed Cross Mountain again, while his friends waited for
him in the café below. He asked them to keep an eye on him
because it was very dark. He sent a text message which read,
“I knew I was meant to come here. This is the most beautiful
place on earth.” When he descended the mountain, he met
his friends in the café.
As he was leaving, Alan phoned his mother, Teresa, in
Ireland. He told her, “I love it here. It is the most beautiful
place. I was meant to come here.” His mother said that he
sounded happy and said that he had had a full Confession –
a good Confession. His mother was pleased because he had
not been attending Mass and had not gone to Confession
for many years, although he had been brought up in the
faith. His mother said, after that, there was a pause, as if
he wanted to tell her something. But they hung up, and she
went to bed at midnight, after saying her prayers. At 2:45,
Teresa was awakened to use the facilities. Upon her return
to the bedroom, she heard a voice she described as coming
from the Holy Spirit, clearly say, “Teresa, you must pray for
Alan’s soul.” She really didn’t think much of it, because she
had just spoken with Alan hours before and he sounded
good. Nevertheless, she prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet
for him, and then went back to sleep.
The next morning, Barbara’s aunt went to awaken Alan
and her cousin, who were sharing a room. As her cousin
tried to wake Alan, he realized that Alan was no longer
alive.
Barbara’s aunt called two priests in Ireland with the news
and they came to the house to
break the news to Teresa and
her husband. Barbara was living
in England at the time, so she
flew back to Ireland. She tried to
make some phone calls to find
out about Alan’s body, but it
was difficult with the language
barrier. Finally she was able
to connect with someone who
spoke English. They explained
to her that Alan’s body could
not be released until an autopsy was done. Alan died on
Saturday, September 26, 2009. The following Wednesday,
they got a phone call saying that Alan’s body was sent to
Mostar for the autopsy and would be sent home after that.
The undertaker who most of the Catholics in Ballymena
used, Wally John, came to see Barbara and her family and
explained that they would not be able to see Alan because
he would not be embalmed. He said that in Bosnia, they
do not embalm the bodies and usually bury them within a
day because of the heat. Teresa and her husband were very
distressed. Teresa cried, “I will not accept that. I need to see
his face. I need to see that it was my son!” So Wally John
explained that all he could do was put a glass thing over his
face and under a special light, and they could see him for 10
minutes.
In the meantime, Barbara’s aunt was still in Medjugorje,
and she shared with the people there how distressed Teresa
was because she would not be able to see the face of her son.
People in Medjugorje they didn’t even know started to fast
and pray that Barbara’s mother and father would be able to
see the face of their son.
After the autopsy in Mostar, Alan’s body was flown to
Vienna and then on to Heathrow. His body stayed overnight
there in a car and was brought to Belfast the next day,
where it was picked up. It had been seven days now since
Alan’s death. His body, which had not been embalmed, had
traveled in the heat through all those different countries
and climates.
When Wally John, the undertaker, arrived at their house,
they were surprised to see a smile on his face. He brought
the body into the sitting room. While they sat in another
room waiting, Barbara dreaded what would happen when
her parents would see their son. Soon Wally John called
the family into the room and opened the coffin. They were
all shocked when they saw that Alan had no signs of rigor
mortis. There was not a mark on him. Barbara related, “He
actually was dressed and looked like a saint. He had a
black suit on him, a white shirt, and a black tie.” Wally John the airport that morning. Apparently a gentleman in Mostar
dressed her brother. He personally bought the suit. On the
pocket it said, “To my Mama.” This gentleman wrote a letter
to explain that he wanted Alan’s mother to see her son in a
beautiful suit to go home.
Wally John said that he couldn’t understand – that this
was a miracle – a miracle due to the people’s prayer and
fasting in Medjugorje. He said that after 25 years of being an
undertaker, he could only describe it as a miracle. Alan was
laid out until the third day. He was buried on the feast day
of St. Faustina, October 5.
As if this were not incredible enough, Barbara said
there was more to the story. When they got the autopsy
report, it said that Alan had died of natural causes. It is
called “Sudden Death Syndrome.” He did not have a heart
attack; his heart just stopped beating. The report said that
he had died between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning, but the
pathologist in Mostar said that his heart stopped beating at
3:00 A.M. When Barbara told her parents this information,
her mother jumped off the sofa and was hysterical. After she
calmed down, Teresa related that the night that Alan died,
she was praying at 3:00 A.M. for her son’s soul as Our Lord
had requested, as He was coming for him. Here she was
thousands of miles away, praying for his soul as he passed
away!
Theresa passed away 18 months later. Up until that time,
she had been to Medjugorje 60 times! She had witnessed
many miracles, but this one was the greatest. Barbara said,
“And the greatest thing that Our Lady repaid her back for was
my mother needed to see the face of her son. And [through] Our Lady – due to the people of Medjugorje praying and fasting and believing – she got her wish. She didn’t just get
to see his face – she got to spend three beautiful days with
him.” Barbara repeated that Alan was sent home looking
like a saint – no marks or embellishments. She concluded
her testimony: “And in his pocket, when his body was taken
from the hotel where he had passed away – there was a
medal. And on this medal was the Divine Mercy. It was sent
home with him in his coffin. Amen.”
Following Barbara’s testimony was the testimony of a
funeral director from Ireland. He said: “My name is Martin
and I’m a funeral director in Ireland and I just listened
to Barbara’s testimony and I’m just giving a professional
opinion in regard to the human remains being dead for 10
days. We’re sitting here [in Medjugorje] at the minute and
it’s into the middle of
September, and it’s quite
warm. The human body
can start to break down
quite quickly after death–
within a very short period
of time, discoloration
of the body. The more
the body is moved, the
more discoloration takes
place… I think the family has received a great grace from
the prayers and fasting of the people of Medjugorje, that
[they] were able to see their brother [and son], which is a
very important part of Irish culture – to be able to see this
body before burial. Our Lord came back to the apostles to
let them see Him after the Resurrection. I think that tells us
as human beings that a loving God has given them a great
grace where he has allowed the family to do their goodbyes.”
20 Reviews. All 5 Stars!
I Have Come to Tell the World that God Exists
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Thank you June for this Masterpiece!
Thank you June, you have rekindled, in my heart, the fire for Our lady's messages so much after reading this book that I am working out the details to start a Prayer Group devoted to spreading/sharing and living Our Lady's messages! I started with this lovely book and I am now reading the rest of your books!! Thank you so much and God bless you!!!
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