www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Anyone Have Any Unusual Devotions ?

Just thought about this subject this morning when I visited the grave of Chicago's Miracle Child, Mary Alice Quinn at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Worth.

Mary Alice was briefly investigated for Sainthood by the Chicago Archdiocese in the 1940's, and to this day, people from all over the world come to visit her grave, and leave prayer requests. This morning, I told her story to some Californians who came to visit the site.

Mary Alice Quinn was a sickly, but deeply religious young girl from St Laurence O'Toole Parish, in Chicago's Grand Crossing area on the South Side. She was said to have a deep devotion to both the Blessed Virgin (who was said to have once appeared to her in a vision) and St Therese of Lisieux, who was her role model. During her short lifetime, Mary Alice was believed to have been partly responsible for the cures of numerous people on the South Side, and when she died in 1935, at age 14, people began visiting her grave to ask for her intercessory prayers. In similar manner to St Therese of Lisieux, people often report smelling the powerful odour of roses at Mary Alice's gravesite, and I can personally attest to this phenomenon, along with at least 4 friends of mine, who have smelled the roses on different occasions.

Nowdays, Mary Alice's grave is decorated with religious statues, crucifixes, rosaries, prayer cards, flowers,toys and prayer requests. I try to visit the site at least once a week, and yes I believe Mary Alice was a Saint.

Dear Lawrence,

Thank you for sharing your veneration for someone who is obviously a Saint glorified by God.

It is sometimes the unknown and forgotten saints that have somehow come into our lives that keep us close to the Lord and otherwise make a great difference to us.

My father died on October 16, 1982. I invoked him to help me find employment, as I was just coming out of school and was married.

My first contract was signed on an October 16th and I haven't had a job since that wasn't formally signed contractually on a day other than October 16th!

Alex

I have always taken the attitude that there are folks who are saints that Rome or Moscow simply havn't finished the paperwork on.

I consider (I never can remember if he's Ven. or Bl. now) Solanus Casey to be a very good friend.

Also have great affection for Pope John Paul I - Albino Luciani

From the East-ish corner, there's also Sr. Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, and of course Met. Andrey Sheptytski and Fr. Alexander Men. And I have an abiding love for others through their writing - don't know them otherwise - Frs Lev Gillet, Alexander Schmemann and the great lay theologian Paul Evdokimov.

I'm not entirely sure what "devotion" means when it comes to a saint. I still retain a lot of my former-Jewish-kid's discomfort with garish holy cards and Mary-in-a-bathtub statues, which seem to be tied up in a lot of folks' expressions of their devotion. I'm NOT in any way disparaging that devotion - most of the folks who express it are far better Christians than I. To me, a saint - official or not - is an older and holier brother, sister, mother or father-in-Christ, who can also be a co-conspirator (with better aim) in throwing pebbles at the good Lord's window.

Musing....

Sharon

Alex

Thanks for your comments. I can think of all the times I've heard references to the unrecognized Saints that have lived among us. Ironically, despite being a hardcore Chicago History buff, particularly interested in the South Side, I never had even heard of Mary Alice Quinn, until about 7 years ago,when a friend who studies psychic phenomenom told me about her, yet the faithful have been visiting her grave for nearly 68 years now !
Also, I'am finding out that quite a few people ask for the intercessory prayers of deceased family members and friends. I know a couple of times when my girlfriend has begun acting like she's from another planet (a trait peculiar to the sex) I've sought the intercessory prayers of her late father, and it seems to work.