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TWENTY-EIGIIT
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
AUGUST 2b, 194ft
Soldier From Maryland Tells Slory of
Agony and Ecstasy of Theresa Neumann
as She Witnessed the Passion ot Christ
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
BA1.TII ;ORE—A story of alter-1
Bate agony, error and rapture writ- i
ten on (lie entranced face ot the
German -digmatic, Theresa Neu
mann. as she witnessed the passion
and death of our Savior in ecstasy
is told in n letter by Warrant Of
ficer William Long, of Cumbe>'-
land. Md., published in the Cath
olic Review here.
Warrant Officer Long witnessed
46 minutes of the stigmatic’s
ecstasy, which usually starts' at
midnight on Thursday and con
tinues intil an hour after noon on
Friday. Throughout her agony and 1
for the rest of Friday she is blind,
he writes, and she loses much
blood. However, the following day
she is healthy and normal. War
rant Officer Long saw Theresa sil
ting erect in bed in ecstasy, with
outstretched arms and her eyes
completely bathed in blood.
RELIVES THE PASSION
"The blood and tears trickled
down her cheeks,” he writes,
"coursing to a point under hoi'
chin, leaving a wide, deep blood
trace on her checks. The ex
pression on her face changes con
stantly. She is so completely ab
sorbed in the agony and death of
Christ she is oblivious of anyone’s
presence in the room.
"She now sees Christ being
raised on the cross,” the pastor ex
plained. Then her expression
changed to one of most excruciat
ing pain: she wrung her hands.
The pastor said she actually suf
fers with Christ the agony of hang
ing on the cross.
“Presently she turned her head
to one side and listened with rap
ture. Again the pastor explained
si. hears the Lord-t.lling the good
thief he will be in paradise. Sud
denly she turned her head to the
other side and gesticulated angril 1 '.
muttering something indiscernible
—she heard the other thief mock
ing Christ. About this time 1
noticed blood from her side, stain
ing her dress. There were nine
blotches of blood on her linen veil
coming from the wounds on her
head.
Georgia Priest
Visits Stigmatist
SCENE ON CALVARY
“During most of the time her
face was upturned. Her eyes. too.
which could scarcely be seen for
the blood, were gazing upward. Her
fingers twitched as if something
was piercing tht nerves of her
hands
“Occasionally her head would
lower as if looking at.someone just
in front of her. Once she slowly
moved her head as if following
someone. The pastor told us she
saw the Blessed Mother and heard
/.’hrist address her: ‘Mother, be
hold Thy Son.’ Mother, when Christ
said to him: ‘Son, behold Thy
Mother.'
In a little while a rapturous
smile came upon her face and she
laughed fairly audibly. The pastor
explained Our Lord was smiling at
her and she was moving closer to [
the cross.
‘ When she experienced the thirsi I
witli Christ, ner fact bore an ex- ‘
pression of pain. She tried several !
times to moisten her lips with her i
tongue. Then suddenly she was
convulsed. The pastor said: She
is tasting h. hitter gall ’
i A LONG JOURNEY
■ “After a while her face assumed
an expression of unutterable lone
liness and she groaned ‘Abba. Abba.
. . The pastor told us she feels
the abandonment of Christ when
He cried out. Father, Father, why
hast Thou forsaken Me!
"The most dramatic moment
came when she was suffering with
Christ on Ihe point of death She
paled. Her skin was transparent
and we could see the blood leave
her face. We saw her make one
last determined struggle for life.
Suddenly she dropped back on her
pillow.
"She inained in this state sev
eral minutes, then suddenly came
out of her ecstasy. The pas'tor hur
ried to her side as she said: The
*■ Lord is so good and so sorrowful.’
About an lour later 1 saw her
again. She was lying in bed com
pletely exhausted. Her face was
toll and her cheeks rosy, but she
was temporally blind. An Ameri
can chaplain. Father Murphy, went
to her side.-and placed her hand in
his. ‘A consecrated hand is touch
ing me.’ she said.
"Then she said to her pastor,
There are American soldiers in
here who have come far.across the
\»ea. 1 am so happy they are here.
They have liberated us.’ Then she
•4ooked blindly at the soldiers in
bar room an., said: ‘I, too, have
Just come from a long journey
where I here were many soldiers.’ ”
FATHER JAMES H. GRADY
AND THERESA NEUMANN
In a letter received by his broth
er. Hugh H. Grady, of Savannah,
chaplain James H. Grady, who has
been serving at a U S. Army Evac
uation Hospital in Naumberg, Ger
many, tells of his recent visit to
Theresa Neumann, the stigmatic,
in Konnersrcuth, Bavaria. Father
Grady, who was pastor of St.
Mary's Church, Rome, Ga., when
he entered (he Army Chaplain’s
Corps, writes that if you did not
look closely at Theresa Neumann
and see that her hair is white, you
would hardly believe that she is
forty-seven years old, for she. looks
much younger. She was very
graceful, says Father^ Grady, .or
some three bund cd plastic medals
which he gave her, as they were
(he first she had had in years be
cause the Nazis would not allow
any medals to be made. Father
Grady, is pictured above with
Ihe Bavarian peasant woman, who
has borne for years many physical
murks resembling those of the Sav
ior in His passion. Born in Kon-
nersreuth, near the Czechoslovak
ian border in 1898. Theresa was
the eldest of ten children. At the
age of twenty she injured her
spine and became blind and paral
yzed. In 1925 she regained her
sight and attributed her eyre to
the intercession of St. Thcrcse of
Lisieux. Each week, from Thurs
day midnight until the afternoon*
of Friday, she is said to have suf
fered an estatie agony during
which drops of blood exuded
through the pores of her skin
Though she constantly endures
physical suffering from the stig
mata on her hands, l'eet, head,
back and heart regions, Theresa
Neumann looks quite hale and
hearty and animately carries on
conversations with her visitors. For
years she has lived with the Most
Blessed Sacrament as her only
nourishment, yet her strength and i
weight did not diminish.
Chaplain Grady recently had the
privilege and pleasure of a ten-
day leave in Rome. While in Vati
can City lie conversed with His
Holiness Pope Pius XII and cele
brated Mass in St. Peter’s Basil
ica. He expects to return to this
county in the near future for re
assignment.
Five Baptist Ministers
Attend Jesuit University
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
CHICAGO.— Five Baptist min
isters were enrolled in the School
of Philosophy at Loyola Univer
sity here for the summer session
At last year's Summer session, ten
ministers of various denominations
look courses at the Jesuit institu-
I ions.
ORDINATION., of unmarried
women as ministers in the British
Methodist Church was authorized
by the Conference of Great Britain
and Ireland, meeting at Notting
ham last month, thus ending a
twenty-year controversy over the
extension to women of the full
ministry. Sharp debate occurred
over the question of the marriage
of future women ministers, and it
was finally agreed that marriage
should involve the woman’s retire
ment from the active ministry
"except in special cases.”
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