 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| JOEY'S STORY SPECIAL EDITION - Continued Do You Want to See? How did the prophecy come about? There’s a little more background to it than is generally known. Some months after the accident (June 27, 1947) that blinded him, Joey was asleep at home in Brooklyn. He shared a bedroom with his three brothers. Joey’s bed was farthest from the door. He woke to a voice which seemed to be coming from the hallway:
Concerning this voice, Joey is emphatic: “I never had any visions, locutions or any of those things. I’m just ordinary. But God knows what it takes to move me. This thing that happened to me was real and I know it, and I will never believe I dreamed or imagined it.” Many years passed and, as Joey puts it, “Nothing happened.” But the reality of it never diminished. He continued to say the requested prayers faithfully three times a day. Seventeen years later, in Garabandal, he told Conchita about it. He told her at the same time about his desire to establish a home for the abandoned afflicted, a project he’d conceived as a result of having participated in several pilgrimages for the sick to St. Anne de Beaupre' Shrine in Canada. Conchita told Joey she would speak to the Virgin Mary about him. Joey left Garabandal on the same day, March 18, 1964. Two weeks later at his home in Lindenhurst, New York, he received a letter from Conchita:
“It took some time for the prophecy to sink in,” says Joey. “But the thing that made me very happy immediately was the confirmation of the voice. God rewarded my faith in His own wonderful way.” As to the “House of Charity,” Joey believes the Virgin referred to his New York Garabandal Center. “Everything we do here,” says Joey, “is for the glory of God.” Organization and Expansion Invitations to hear Joey speak began to come from out of town, and, as a result of these engagements and the rapidly mushrooming mail operation, new Centers for the promotion of the Garabandal Message began to sprout throughout the country. In 1968, the magazine NEEDLES, later to be renamed GARABANDAL, was developed for Centers, specifically to answer the most frequently asked questions- so that the workers would have the benefit of Joey’s firsthand information from Garabandal. Also Dick Everson made the Garabandal documentary 16mm film and Joey began to show it and promote it. In the meantime, Joey’s conferences had averaged out to six a week in the New York area alone. All around him, people grateful for their own spiritual rebirth wanted to help. Joey put them to work- making rosaries and scapulars, setting up Eucharistic Vigils and Rosary Rallies, helping with the printing and mailing. One man with a photo album had begun a Garabandal apostolate in America that grew into 400 Centers of varying size and scope. They show films, distribute literature, promote the rosary, the scapular, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. An Inspiration to Millions Back home he visited 40 states across America. In addition, he appeared on national television and radio programs. His personal mail became voluminous:
In truth, untold thousands of people have turned to God because of Joey’s zeal. But he puts it in the proper perspective: “In the beginning it’s all Joey, Joey. But as they pray, Joey decreases, God increases- because they get the grace to understand. I’m only an instrument. We are all instruments and God wishes that the particular charisma that each person has be used to bring others to know, to love, and to serve Him.” Joey contends that most people are not drawn to spiritual things. “They don’t have the inclination- like a priest has, for example. They need a Padre Pio or a Garabandal, something to snap their attention.” He says, once turned on, there’s confession and Communion and they find themselves before the Blessed Sacrament more and more. From this they go to Third Orders, they work in the Church, devote time to charities, and so forth. From the overflow of their prayer life comes the zeal to save souls. Those who suffer, physically or otherwise, feel a special affinity to Joey. “When we carry our cross, “ he tells them, “living in grace with God, we glorify God, obtain graces for the conversion of sinners, free souls in Purgatory and strengthen the Church. Think of the passion of Jesus and unite your suffering to His. God will give you the grace to understand the mysteries of the Cross and Salvation, and to persevere in love.”
“A child is playing in the street, and his mother is watching him. He sees a big dog or there’s a loud noise and, frightened, he runs to his mother. On the other hand, the child could be playing and not see that a truck is coming his way and about to strike him. The mother runs to the child to save him. Mary runs after us because we’re in trouble and don’t see it. She see that we’re in danger of losing our souls.” Time to Spread the Message Driven by an urgency to reach people everywhere before time ran out, he pressed on. The more he worked, the longer the road became. Soon his travels would expand, he could sense it, there was a new horizon dawning for the blind man with a mission. * * * * It was November 1977. Joey Lomangino was in Africa. Waiting in the hot night air of the Lagos airport in Nigeria, Joey’s mind wandered back in time. He thought of his first visit in February 1963, to the remote village of Garabandal in the snow capped mountains of northern Spain. His friend had wanted to visit the place where Our Lady reportedly appeared. Yes, it was true that Our Lady was appearing there. Padre Pio has assured Joey personally. Never could he have dreamed the impact that journey would have on his life. Straight out of Brooklyn, tragically blinded at age sixteen in a freak accident, Joey was determined not to wind up on a street corner with a tin cup in his hand. Heavily burdened by the impending poverty of his family, he resolved to make the most of every opportunity to learn. When, at age twenty-four, the chance to go into private business presented itself, Joey seized it, and along with his three brothers, began to build a future. It was apparently a part of God’s bigger plan that for a time Joey became materially successful and financially secure – a situation that would later allow him to travel on behalf of his rapidly evolving apostolate. A loud screech brought Joey’s attention back to the airport. Again he felt smothered by the steamy Nigerian air, the clamor of foreign voices around him, the strange atmosphere. He inquired about the delay. “Trouble with the tickets,” he was told. He took out his rosary, “Hail Mary, full of grace…” The heat was stifling. He wanted to think about somewhere fresh and cool…Ireland in May! How many years had he visited Ireland? Up to 1977 it would be eight years in a row. Joey remembered it was Charles Horan, a retired gentleman from California who first invited him to Ireland. In one of the largest halls in Dublin on a Sunday there were two conferences back to back. Over 1,300 people came to hear Joey talk about Padre Pio and Garabandal. The Irish took the blind man to their hearts and it proved to be the beginning of a beautiful and rewarding experience that would lead to a strong Irish Garabandal movement. It was Richard Stanley and his young wife, Maura, who eventually stepped forward to build a Center that, in the promotion of Garabandal, brought Joey over every year and sent him on his first trip to England and Scotland. Working closely with the New York Garabandal Center, the Stanleys became the first to reproduce GARABANDAL magazine overseas. Joey enjoyed the Irish: their laughter, their simplicity, and most of all their holiness and deep faith. Probing for answers he asked his friend, Richard Stanley, “Why is there so much strife in Northern Ireland?” He received a profound reply, “Well, Joey lad, I guess not enough good Irish people are praying.” This man understood the Garabandal Message. LAGOS, Nigeria, 2:00 a.m. On this trip he was received as Mary’s ambassador by cardinals, bishops and priests. Only in third world countries was he to experience such a reception and witness overwhelming public Marian devotion. Seventeen thousand people were present when Valerian Cardinal Gracias welcomed Joey, and spoke of Garabandal, placing it in a similar category to Lourdes and Fatima. With Fr. Benac as the spearhead in India. One of the most effective Garabandal Centers in the world emerged. Through “New Horizons,” Joey’s special appeal fund, a steady stream of literature, books, films, magazines, rosaries, and scapulars traveled into India, Burma, and Pakistan – all spreading the Garabandal Message. Because of the strong support he was receiving from so many Garabandal promoters in the United States, Joey knew the harvest would come from that fertile ground. He had initiated the Garabandal Message in forty states across America and knew the Americans would continue the effort, showing the film house to house and publicly when they had an opportunity. He was not disappointed. He knew, also, that God was directing him to reach out and tell the Message to everyone who would listen. Reflecting on his travels to establish and strengthen Garabandal International, Joey told his friends at home that religious devotion and prayer life seemed to be strongest in those places that are simple, poor and humble. He found this so throughout his conferences in Nigeria. His trip had been very successful. Hundreds came
from remote parts of that African country to hear Our Lady’s
Message and their enthusiasm would be sustained through the ensuing
years.
|
|||
|
COPYRIGHT CLAIM |
Garabandal
and Fatima
