Mary, Mother of Jesus, is the gateway of God. It was through her that the eternal light of Jesus Christ entered the world. Recognized throughout the world as the Mother of God, the most Holy Vessel of Light, as well as the Virgin Mary, the miracle of Mary did not end with the earthly birth and life of Jesus. Since the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ there has been more than one miraculous appearance of the Virgin Mary and countless miracles are attributed to the eternal grace of her infinite presence, love, and compassion. Truly, Mary is a mystical demonstration of the unlimited grace and light of God. As Jesus points out, his mother is the mother of everyone, revealing the light that unites us all to the infinite light of God – a demonstration of eternal life.
A woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!” But Jesus responded, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:27-28) Jesus always turns your attention back to the source, back to God. Nothing was more important to Jesus than abiding in the word of God. It is by abiding in the unlimited grace and power of God that Saints are born into the world, as was the case last week when the Pope Canonized Franciscan Monk Antonio de Sant’Anna Galvão of Brazil. How can looking at the life of this simple monk help you understand the unlimited power of prayer, the limitless grace of Mary Mother of Jesus, and the infinite love of God?
Other than the infinite grace of Mary, the most Holy Mother of Light, there is perhaps no greater demonstration of the grace and humility of being a true disciple of Jesus than the life and teaching of Saint Francis of Assisi. Saint Francis founded the Franciscan Order of the Catholic Church also known as the Order of the Friars Minor. He is famous for his profound mystical experience of Jesus, which led him away from the worldly riches of his family to a life of abstinence, poverty, and service to others. He is known for his kindness, compassion, helping lepers, and healing the sick. He is also known for the Christ-like peace that emanated from him. He was so peaceful and loving, that he was known to preach the Gospel to wild birds, who would sit quietly listening to his sermons and were known to come to him and sit on his shoulders. Later in his life, he received the miracle of the Stigmata, which is the sudden mysterious appearance of the wounds of Christ that materialized on his hands, feet, and side and remained with him for the rest of his life.
Jesus said to the disciples, “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay. Take no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food.” (Matthew 10:7-9) Saint Francis was so inspired by this commandment of Jesus that he took a vow of poverty wearing only a simple tunic, with a rope for a belt, no shoes, and he carried, no money, or food as he went from village to village preaching the Gospel. To this day Franciscan Monks are recognized for their simple brown tunics and rope belts. Given the profound nature of the Friars Minor, it is no surprise that Friar Galvão was member of this divinely inspired order of the Catholic Church. He is both a disciple of Saint Francis and Jesus. By abiding in these two, Friar Galvão was transformed into a beacon of the healing light of God and has over 24,000 miracles attributed to him.
Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. (John 14:12) Friar Galvão is best known for his prayer pills, which consists of a small piece if rice paper inscribed with this simple prayer: “After the birth, the Virgin remained intact / Mother of God, intercede on our behalf.” Long after his death in 1883 and continuing to this day, nuns at the Monastery of Light, where the Friar lived, have continued to create his prayer pills. But his devotees claim that he also demonstrated supernatural abilities, such as levitating during prayer, being in two places at once, mind reading, and his unexplainable ability to witness events where he wasn’t physically present.
However, it was not his supernatural powers that paved the way of Friar Galvão’s sainthood, but two extremely well documented miracles, out of the many thousands of miracles that are attributed to the power of his prayer pills. One confirmed miracle occurred when a 4 year old girl was cured of Hepatitis after ingesting one of Friar Galvão’s prayer pills and the other is the clearly documented case of a woman with deformed uterus who doctor’s confirm was too small to allow for a full term pregnancy. To the doctor’s amazement, after eating one of these pills she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Of course, skeptics scoff at this idea that the prayer pill had anything to do with these unexplainable healings and feel that these so-called miracles are simply a demonstration of what is known as the placebo effect. But this idea fails to recognize the infinite power of prayer and the unlimited nature of God. Perhaps what is called the placebo effect is simply a demonstration of the power of your eternal nature and the unlimited power of your own mind – the power of faith! As Jesus illuminates, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.” (Matthew 9:11)
Even the former archbishop of Aparecida, a neighboring city to Guaratingüetá where Friar Galvão lived, failed to recognize the infinite depth of these simple albeit powerful prayer pills. Archbishop Aloísio Lorscheider was very outspoken about his opposition to Friar Galvão’s prayer pills openly stating in a 1998 interview, “I consider it even ridiculous that, in the evolved and progressive days in which we live, there are still people who pursue this.” He was so against what he called the “superstitious” prayer pills of Friar Galvão that he banned nuns in the region from producing them, but the nuns continued to make the pills despite this order.
Regardless of what skeptics might say, upon close examination of Friar Galvão’s prayer pills you can begin to see something extraordinary. After all, how many people would think about making an edible prayer?! Remember, prayer is surrender to God. It is a Holy Communion of your mind and your heart. Surrender means to merge with or have complete trust and faith in the unlimited power of God. By creating, an edible prayer, Friar Galvão opens the door of your heart, and demonstrates the power of merging with the unlimited grace of God. By creating these edible prayers, he is literally enabling you to ingest this prayer, or simply merge with the prayer, opening your heart to complete union with the unlimited Grace and power of God!
The other aspect of these prayer pills is that the inscribed prayer asks for the intercession of the most Holy Mother of Jesus. Some would argue that praying to Mary for intercession, or more simply to pray for Mother Mary’s help is not necessary, since God alone answers your prayers. Still others might be concerned that asking Mary for help transforms her into an idol, which violates the first commandment of God that was given to Moses;Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (Exodus 20:3-4). But these ideas fail to recognize the essence of Friar Galvão’s prayer; Love, Surrender, and Service to God. There is no greater love of God than that demonstrated by the life and service of Jesus and his Holy Mother. One of the great gifts of the Virgin Mary, like Saint Francis, is she reveals the eternal nature of true service to Jesus and his life-changing message of Light.
These mysterious pills of Friar Galvão reveal the true nature of the Virgin Birth – the birth of a new understanding of God – Emmanuel – God with US (Matthew 1:23). Friar Galvão wrote, “After the birth the Virgin remained in tact…” Virgin means pure or untouched by human hands. The Virgin Birth symbolizes the eternal nature of life, the invisible eternal presence of God – that which cannot be seen, heard, described, or fully understood by the mind alone. It is the living Truth that is alive within you at the core of your being. As Jesus illuminates, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8) Can you see your spirit? Do you know where your spirit comes from? Or where it goes? In recognizing that you do not know, naturally opens you to a deeper recognition of That, which never comes and goes!
From the moment the Angel Gabriel appeared to announce the birth of Jesus to the moment of his crucifixion, Mary demonstrates tremendous courage, love, and surrender to God. How many disciples had the courage to stand by while the most Holy Son of God was brutally beaten and crucified? Who was with Jesus in the beginning, the middle, and in the end of his life on earth – the Alpha and the Omega? Even though their hearts were breaking, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and the most loved of Jesus’ disciples, John, demonstrate the courage of faith by remaining with Jesus while he died on the cross. Ultimately, the prayer pills of Friar Galvão honors the sacred moments of the birth, life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which opens the doorway of eternal life – that which remains in tact forever! In this context, it is no surprise that these pills have resulted in many thousands of miracles! Wow!
It is important to note that the pills in and of themselves do not have any real power. The power exists in faith and belief in the unlimited power of prayer. The pills simply turn your mind to that which does have the power to heal – the infinite healing light of God. Ultimately, it is your own faith in God that heals. These simple prayer pills only serve to remind you of the most Holy Mother – that which is untouched within you – the unmoving light of God. As Jesus illuminates, “You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14) With a piece of rice paper, Friar Galvão demonstrates the unlimited grace of God as well as the eternal light of the most Holy Union of Mary and Jesus Christ – one could not exist without the other. Together they symbolize the most Holy Communion of God. Mary was the catalyst of the earthly life of Jesus as well as a living demonstration of the eternal light that lives forever.
When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them,“Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast. So they took it.” So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him. (John 2:3-11)
Mary knew that Jesus was no ordinary human being. Of course she knew this, simply because she was visited by the Angel Gabriel who foretold of the divine birth, her husband Joseph was told the same thing in a dream, and as she held her new born baby in the light of a divine star she found herself in the presence of Kings. It was Mary and Joseph who found the young Jesus, demonstrating unearthly wisdom, and teaching the elders of the temple. And it was his mother, mentioned above, who encouraged Jesus to demonstrate his first miracle of turning water to wine. Perhaps more importantly, the Mother of Jesus became an example that Jesus used to drive home the importance of returning your attention to God.
By using his mother as an example, Jesus teaches us the importance of hearing the word of God and keeping it or more simply putting his teaching into practice by recognizing that truly God is with YOU – Always! As he was dying on the cross he calls out to both his mother and John, the only disciple present, and says “Behold your mother.” And to his mother says, “Behold your son.” Revealing that we are one with God at the core. As Jesus explains, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20)
Who would have thought that such a simple act as writing a prayer on a small piece of rice paper could reveal so much about the unlimited grace of the most Holy Mother of Jesus and the unlimited power of God? Truly, Friar Galao has earned his new title – Saint – one who demonstrates the eternal grace and power of true humility, faith, and service to God. He is a living demonstration of the eternal light of the most Holy Mother of Light – the eternal Light of God!
Many people, even Christians, have a hard time believing in the Virgin Birth, or the eternal light and grace of the Virgin Mary. But in the context of the unlimited nature of God, as well as the eternal Light of the Mother of Jesus Christ, it is not difficult to recognize that there is so much we do not understand about the true nature of God. If you believe in the miracles of Jesus, why is it so difficult to believe in the Virgin Birth? Remember, all things are possible with the unlimited nature of that which is known as God. As Jesus intimates, “With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
In Truth, your understanding of the unlimited nature of God is limited by your own mind. Only in infinite realm of the heart, can you begin to understand the infinite nature of the living Truth that is alive with in you at the core – the infinite grace of the Mother of Light and compassion of Jesus Christ. As Jesus intimates, “For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:34) Only when you look deep within yourself, do you have an opportunity to recognize that at the core, everyone is a Saint, that everyone has the capacity deep within themselves to demonstrate the unending love, compassion, and light of Jesus Christ.
As Jesus intimates, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Saint Galvão carries with him the eternal legacy of Saint Francis and clearly demonstrates the infinite power of prayer through his now famous prayer pills and compassionate presence.
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