On the worst day of Kimberly Marchese’s life, Aug. 21, 1998, she experienced the first of what she calls her “Divine Mercy miracles.” It happened in the moments following the death of her husband and first born.
They were all heading back home to Scranton, Pennsylvania, from what she describes as a “picture perfect family vacation.” Her husband, Edwin, was driving. She was in the passenger seat. Two of their three children — Bradford, 5, and Grace, 4 — were riding in the back. Their third child, Harrison, an infant, was home with a babysitter.
They were stopped in traffic on the interstate when their Mercury Sable station wagon was rammed from behind by a tractor trailer. Kimberly recalls that everything went black. She remembers clutching at her necklace pendant of Our Lady of Sorrows. She had no faith to speak of at the time; she hadn’t even known the pendant was of Our Lady of Sorrows. Still, that’s what she reached for.
“I just grabbed the necklace and said the three prayers I knew: Hail Mary, Glory Be, and the Our Father,” Kimberly recalled. Like watching old home movies, her mind flashed to images of her First Holy Communion and then her Confirmation — back to those long ago days when she still went through the motions of being Catholic.
Suddenly, she was back in the present tense. Rescuers had pulled her from the car, and she now lay on the ground. She said she could feel God at work on her soul. First, He had her recall a terrible argument she had recently had with a loved one. “I felt God say, ‘If you have mercy upon those who have offended you, I’ll have mercy upon you.’” Then, she felt God ask her, “Do you want to come home, or do you want to stay here?”
It was then that Kimberly heard the cry of her daughter, Grace: “Mommy, where are you? I’m scared.” Kimberly noted that at the time she didn’t hear Bradford’s voice or the voice of her husband, Edwin, and she knew in her heart they were dead.
She then said yes to God — that she would forgive and be forgiven. And she called to Grace. Holding on to each other’s hands, the two were transported by helicopter to the nearest trauma hospital. Once there, Kimberly called for a Catholic priest. She said that, upon receiving the Anointing of the Sick, she knew she was a child of God; that Heaven existed; and that she had to get there upon her death.
When she and Grace were released from the hospital five days later, she vowed to “give up on giving up” on the Catholic faith. As a child, she never felt loved or secure in a Catholic church. “I always felt it was all just jammed down my throat,” she recalled. Yet now, she felt drawn back to the faith, starting with Confession.
“I made an appointment,” she said, “and I was thinking, ‘Lord, if this priest isn’t merciful, I’m gone.’” By the grace of God, the priest was the renowned Msgr. John Esseff, a gentle spiritual giant. He became her spiritual director. When she encountered rough patches in the years ahead, she always took his advice, which came down to: Trust God, and He will take care of things.
About three years following the accident, she learned about St. Faustina and the Divine Mercy message through a local man, a Marian Helper, Jerry Bauman, who runs a street ministry in Scranton. She began attending a Divine Mercy prayer group, which led to her second “Divine Mercy miracle.”
At a time when she was experiencing severe emotional pain, she was introduced to Eucharistic Adoration. While visiting St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Emmitsburg, Maryland, she prayed before the Monstrance, “If You’re real, You got to heal me. Take away this pain.” She says she walked out of the church that day emotionally and spiritually healed.
She delved into St. Faustina’s Diary, discovering within it a spiritual blueprint from which to build a sacramental life. She became a frequent visitor to the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy.
This all led to a third “Divine Mercy miracle.” She founded a religious gift shop in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, that she named Building the Kingdom of God. This puts her where she feels she needs to be: on the frontlines of spiritual warfare, helping to save souls.
This led to a fourth “Divine Mercy miracle” — having the confidence to befriend a spiritually broken man whom a friend introduced her to. Joe is his name.
“I felt God say to me, ‘If I made you a Divine Mercy miracle, what makes you think I can’t make him one?’” Kimberly recalled. “I wasn’t too crazy about it, but that’s what ended up happening. I took him to healing Masses. We came up to the National Shrine twice together, and that was it.”
They were married eight years ago, by Msgr. Esseff. The date was Sept. 15, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
There’s one more “Divine Mercy miracle” to share: Her son, Harrison. He feels called to the priesthood. He’s now a seminarian with the Marian Fathers.
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