Albuquerque, NM. Here is a great report from one of our teams:
“The SPSE team of the Our Lady of Victory Legion of Mary praesidium received the startup pack you sent from SPSE. We opened it after the Monday Holy Week meeting, were pleased with the contents, and decided to go out on the street to evangelize. We chose a very busy intersection on Central Avenue across from the entrance to UNM. Book stores, a restaurant, and bus stops are all there. Sister Helen and Brother Rudy and myself carried a small tray, bag of rosaries, miraculous medals, holy cards, and pamphlets to the corner and set up. Even before we had finished setting up the sandwich board people started coming to us; we did not have to go to them.
I think the first man that Rudy and I talked to will be illustrative of our experience. He wanted a rosary and the pamphlet on how to pray it. Then he and I talked about the miraculous Medal, the Immaculate Conception, and Mary’s promises to those who wear it or keep it on them. He said he understood and believed in miracles. Looking at me, he said, “Aren’t you going to pray for me?” I said “yes,” realizing that “Need Prayer?” was on the board, and so right there in the small crowd he leaned forward for prayer. I asked if there was something special he wanted me to pray for. Then he showed me his side and there were there were two large wounds closed up by plaster, where he had been knifed; that he had just been treated at the UNMH ER.
He said they told him that all patients they treated with wounds like his died. His story was confusing, but he had survived the night, and said that he knew that he would be prayed for. I said to him this was holy week, and that we knew another man who had a wound in his side that died for all of us so we could go home to our family in heaven; we would pray to that man, Jesus Christ the Son of God, for his healing and life, for repentance and forgiveness of his sins, and for faith to do what he says and to be his disciple… That pretty much represents how it went from then on for all of us. We said prayers for many who came. Sister Helen was a wonder talking to quite a few who were Catholic, convincing them to go to Mass on Easter. Sr. Helen was aglow telling them not to be afraid because Jesus loved them and is waiting for them.
We gave out all the rosaries and medals with holy cards that we brought with us in about an hour and were about to leave but many in the restaurant had been watching and they pressed on us to talk to them also so we left later than expected. I can tell you it we all thought our time on the corner was an anointed time, and many were touched with the grace we felt passing through us to the people.
When we got to the car we were still amazed and praised God in prayer as we drove home. And we realized that most all people know we are Catholic by our rosaries, and were not put off by the offer of a rosary, even before we put up the SPSE sandwich board. We seemed blessed by the ancient prayer beads.
I guess we were all surprised at how effective your start up package really is. Thank you and all your workers at St Paul Street Evangelization. Many of the people remarked that they were happy to see us and thanked us for coming. They had never heard of Catholics on the street before, we said we were Evangelical Catholic Christians and that there were of course many like us for the last 2000 years, but that street evangelization was restarted by the Legion of Mary, which started in Ireland in 1921, and the support of the St. Paul Street Evangelization ministry came more recently in 2012 in the USA.”
Praised be Jesus Christ! Thank you Paul, Sr. Helen, and Br. Rudy! As for you – people are waiting for the message of Christ. Please join our efforts and restore our culture to God!