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Home / News & Events / 'Miracle in the Snow'

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Photo: Felix Carroll

'Miracle in the Snow'

10,000 Brave Wild Storm to Celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday

Photo: Felix Carroll

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Neither snow, nor sleet, nor rain, nor driving wind could keep God from his appointed rounds at Eden Hill on Divine Mercy Sunday.

The predicted Nor'easter didn't materialize, though it sent its younger brother to do a spot-on imitation. The skies opened over the Hill — snow resembling manna, rain like baptismal water, wind recalling the entrance of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost — saturating the diverse multitude in a special delivery of mercy.

If this wicked brew couldn't cancel Divine Mercy Sunday in Stockbridge, it's safe to think nothing ever will. The weather was, in a word, nasty — the day of days for a test of one's convictions. Do you really trust? This was the day to find out.

And they still came — an estimated 10,000 pilgrims, under deplorable conditions that kept worsening throughout the day. Ironically, it turned out to be the perfect day for the best in people to rise to the top.

"This is amazing," said Fr. Kazimiercz Chwalek, MIC, the Marians' Director of Evangelization and Development, his face beaming. "The weather is more than challenging, but it has not discouraged pilgrims from being here. To see this taking place under the most difficult circumstances is just amazing!"

Years hence, when they tell the tale of this day, they will recall the "Miracle in the Snow."

'Consolation and Hope'
That was the feel of an unforgettable day, both wintry and joyous, as the Marians of the Immaculate Conception celebrated the feast day at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass., April 15, a day that looked more like Dec. 15. In addition, countless millions around the world watched EWTN's live broadcast of Holy Mass in both English and Spanish.

In his homily, held outside at the main field altar, chief celebrant Cardinal Adam Maida, Archbishop of Detroit, urged pilgrims to open their hearts and souls to the mercy of God as the only remedy for our troubled time.

"In our world today," the Cardinal said, "as we are overshadowed by much violence and suffering, including the persecution of Christians, the tragedy of abortion, and the breakdown of the family, more than ever the healing rays of Divine Mercy offer us consolation and hope."

He said, "The image of The Divine Mercy reminds us that God always takes the initiative to reach out to us in our times of doubt and anxiety. Just as Christ hastened to offer peace and consolation to all of His disciples, and especially 'doubting Thomas' in today's Gospel, He continues to reach out to us in our times of stress, loss, and fear."

Cardinal Maida concluded by calling to mind the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy as revealed to St. Faustina Kowalska by Jesus. He noted that the Chaplet is an ongoing extension of both the Holy Eucharist and the forgiveness of sins.

After Mass at the field altar, about two-thirds of the pilgrims stayed to recite the Chaplet, some kneeling in the deep, muddy slush. Benediction followed.

Cardinal Maida, president of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., said in a one-on-one sit-down interview before Mass that his father grew up in a Polish town only eight miles from Glogowiec, St. Faustina's birthplace.

"Divine Mercy and me, we go back a long way," the Cardinal said. "Today we have the most urgent need for it. We are pressured by an awful lot of secular culture that leads people to sin. Sin divides. Divine Mercy unites. No question, it is the message for our time."

Cardinal Maida also called it "a singular honor" to be chosen as main celebrant on Eden Hill for Divine Mercy Sunday. "This place is special. You can feel the presence of God. I made my first visit to Stockbridge [on Divine Mercy Sunday] 20 years ago. There were about 200 pilgrims, as I recall. My, how it has grown."

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FOR MORE ON CARDINAL MAIDA'S HOMILY & INTERVIEW, PLUS OTHER NUGGETS FROM DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY, READ "DAN VALENTI'S MERCY BLOG."
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Pilgrims' progress
The determined gathering of faithful spent the day (and many, the full weekend) in prayer, song, witness, Confession, fellowship, meditation, Adoration, and in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In most every way imaginable, on a wild day that threw almost every form of harsh precipitation conceivable, pilgrims expressed their thanks for God's blessings and their desire for His mercy, both for themselves and others, with one woman calling the day as "a huge advance of my faith."

As best they could with umbrellas, rain capes, parkas, hand warmers, and boots, pilgrims ignored the brutal weather, determined to wring blessings out of their day on Eden Hill. They stopped at grottos to pray, sampled the food, purchased mementos at the gift shop, and generally shared with each other the wonder and awe bequeathed to us as mercy by Jesus, The Divine Mercy.

Faith had rendered the frightful weather, if not inconsequential, then certainly an afterthought.

"I'm glad the weather is like this," said Louis Alcide from Brocton, Mass. "It makes me feel special. I feel I'm here with others who are going through the same thing. It unites me to them, since we are suffering together."

From the Adoration Tent, Lalaine Nassiri of Roslyn, Long Island, N.Y., shot a glance at the Blessed Sacrament and observed, "We don't want Jesus to be a fair judge, to punish us for our sins. Really, we are here begging for His mercy, not only for ourselves, not only for our loved ones, but for the whole world. He has promised that mercy to us."

"This is a day of unbelievable grace," said Marie Bageo, of Livingston, N.J., just off a tour bus and making her way to the Shrine. "God's mercy is there for the asking. We only have to be open to it. Today, we are here seeking the Lord's forgiveness and blessings."

Bernadine Seiszo of Tenafly, N.J., stood patiently under a red-and-blue striped umbrella in the long, slow-moving line for confession. She says she came to "receive the graces of mercy. The weather? I think it only makes me try harder to find God. I am wet and cold, so where else do I go?" she asked with a chuckle. "I offer it up."

With a rain/sleet/snow cocktail assaulting them from the sky and temperatures in the mid 30s made to feel colder by a gusting wind that at times pushed the falling frozen concoction nearly horizontal, many pilgrims went out of their way to help others, lending a warm blanket, sharing a pair of gloves, giving away an extra hat.

Folks showed great patience queuing in lines waiting for confession, to enter the Shrine, to receive information. Their forbearance, as well as their joy, was infectious, spreading over the Hill, despite the deteriorating conditions.

"This is one of the graces of a day like today," said Shrine Rector Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC. "It challenges people to live with virtue in a way 72 degrees and sunny doesn't."

And trust they did
In fact, the Sunday outdoor Mass almost didn't happen. Late Saturday afternoon, there had been an executive meeting involving concerned parties in the office of the Shrine Rector deciding whether to cancel the outdoor Mass because of the potential Nor'easter that Doppler radar had been tracking throughout the day. The storm had been progressing in from the midwest, making an ominous track toward western Massachusetts.

Shrine officials and local police and emergency crews consulted continual weather updates. Then, at the last possible moment, a surprising thing happened. The brunt of the storm shifted just a trifle enough east to make Divine Mercy Sunday in Stockbridge a go.

Father Kaz emerged from the office to inform a roomful of Eden Hill coordinators of the decision. The small talk of 30 people faded into a hush. What would it be, up or down?

"Divine Mercy Sunday will not," Fr. Kaz said with the slightest of dramatic pauses, "be cancelled." The room greeted the news with audible sighs of relief and applause.

At 3:51 p.m., Saturday, as if on cue, the Stockbridge Police Chief, consulting his hand-held computer, read the latest National Weather Service advisory for the town. "The National Weather Service has cancelled its winter storm watch."

More applause.

"We will go forward with Divine Mercy Sunday as an act of trust," Fr. Kaz said. The Lord Jesus is asking us to trust."

And trust they did.

Divine Mercy workers, virtually all of them volunteers, came back the next day and responded with a Herculean effort that had to be seen to be fully appreciated. They ignored the hardship, dealt with numerous problems, and made the day as comfortable as humanly possible for the pilgrims. They rose to the occasion in a way that would qualify for combat pay.

"It is wonderful to see the joyous giving in human relationships among the pilgrims and volunteers," Fr. Kaz said. "They deal uncomplainingly with the elements, because they are co-equals — they are equally wet and cold but also equally open to our Lord's mercy. On this day, the floodgates of mercy are open. The weather is incidental."

Jeff Bradford, a police officer from Pittsfield, Mass., serving with the Berkshire County Regional S.W.A.T. Team assigned to a security detail attached to Cardinal Maida, said, "I've been doing this for five years, but I've never seen anything like this. No matter what this day brings, pilgrims come. They come here out of faith, regardless of the weather — I understand that. But this? Incredible," he said, shaking his head.

Father Anthony summed it up this way: "Two years ago, we had 'Mercy in the Rain.' Last year, we had 'Mercy in the Mud.' This year, the Lord gave us 'Mercy in the Snow.' I think He's trying to tell us something."

Loaves and fishes
At the end of the day, thousands of tired, cold, wet but rejuvenated pilgrims left Eden Hill on foot, in busses, and in cars. After they return to their communities, having long shaken off the fanged weather, they will bring their memorable experience with them. The fount of mercy will spread in their homes, workplaces and communities.

That is the great multiplying effect of Divine Mercy Sunday spent by good people showing near-miraculous tolerance in near-impossible conditions.

Like the Lord blessing the loaves and fishes to feed 5,000, the momentous mercy experience of 10,000 will go about its work of replication by an incalculable amount only God will ultimately know.

On Divine Mercy Sunday, the gentle hand of God reached out to touch the hearts of the faithful, the faithless and everybody in between, for Divine Mercy is like the weather. When two or more are gathered in His name, they are exposed to the same elements, whether that element is rain, snow, sleet, mud, slush, wind, or mercy itself.

Our Most Merciful Savior is an equal-opportunity redeemer.

Countless prayers were offered on this indelible day, each one making their way heavenward. Prayers, petitions and blessings were mailed heavenward. There, they were heard, grew infinitely in grace, and were marked in red and pale rays, "Return to Sender."

The Miracle in the Snow won't melt from memory for a long, long time to come.