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Some of the Favours Attributed to the Intercession of Queen Isabel Three Operations My dear sirs: I have received your kind letter and the magazine. I congratulate you on the very noble and valiant decision to publish the magazine ISABEL, in favor of the Cuase of the Beatification of saintly Queen Isabel. She knew how to govern and bring about the national unity of Spain while providing an admirable example of the perfect Catholic woman, practicing the Christian virtues, with great fervor for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Congratulations! On a trip to Granada, on the day of the anniversary of her death, we visited her remains in the Royal Chapel there and had the fortune to read a small book that, in a clear an simple way, gives a magnificent description of the life and work of the Queen. I invoke her as a true saint. Since 1920, I have prayed to the Lord that we may see her honored on the altars soon; and I ask God through the intercession of this great woman for spirtual and material favors and our Lord grans them: in three very difficult surgical operations, on the cervical vertebrae, stomach and arm of a daughter of mine who was on the verge of dying; for protection against family problems, etc. Everything has been resolved, which I attribute to the novenas that I practiced. I repeat my congratulations and effusive applause for the noble work you have undertaken. S. Garcia Sanchez, Through Thick and Thin - N°15 May/Jun 1998 The fact that Isabel, the International Magazine of the Servant of God is now in its third year is a great favor granted to us by God through the powerful intercession of Isabel the Catholic. We have encountered since the beginning of this important magazine many obstacles but have also been able to accomplish many important things in its’ brief period of existence. Our magazine, devoted to Isabel the Catholic, is received by the Holy Father, many members of the Holy See, Cardinals, Bishops and nobles throughout the world. Isabel now reaches over 16 countries and we now have several distributors and volunteers internationally. This is a big step forward from when we were first asked to start this magazine in 1995 by Very Rev. Fr. Alphonsus Maria Duran, MJ., Founder and General Director of Miles Jesu and Vice Postulator of the Cause of Canonization of Isabel the Catholic. Since then, we started searching for volunteers to get this apostolate under way since we had very little money to accomplish such a task. We pulled together a small team to plan and produce the magazine. Since then the staff, the number of subscriptions and the magazine itself has grown. The intercession of our Servant of God has given us the strength we needed to keep going forward through thick and thin. Recovery of Voice - N°17 Sep/Oct 1998 "During my stay in Burgos, I learned that the Process for the Canonization of our Queen Isabel the Catholic had been initiated. On my departure, I took with me a prayer card of the Servant of God. In the month of May, I suffered an infection in my vocal chords which caused a significant loss of my voice, which in spite of my 72 years of age, had been strong and tonal. On June 25, I went to Beziers (France) to be seen by the specialist, Dr. Gabriel Bouys. He ordered a month of absolute silence in order to avoid worse consequences. On July 29, after a month of silence, he visited me again. His diagnosis was: “Given you age, there is little hope of ever recovering your voice”. While praying, I felt the impulse to pray a novena asking for Queen Isabel the Catholic to intercede in curing my vocal chords so that I could carry out my community duties. During the Novena, I noticed nothing in particular. On the night of August 14 to 15, I attended Matins, as I do everyday. To everyone’s great surprise and mine, my voice sounded clear, strong and tonal as if nothing had ever happened to it. Three months have passed and thanks to the maternal kindness of the Virgin Mary and the intercession of Queen Isabel, my voice remains the same." A. Maria, Isabel the Catholic and Our Lady of the O - N°25 Jan/Feb 2000 A picture of Our Lady of Sorrows, designated "Our Lady of the O" and "Our Lady of Otenga" is venerated in Otenga, Colombia. It is a painting on cloth and wood, 40 x 30 cm, with the face of Isabel the Catholic. It dates from the latter part of the 16th century and belonged to Doña Maria Juana Davalos Marin, who gave the picture to Fr. Peter de Fuentes (Augustinian), along with a chapel and property, where the Augustinians constructed a convent. Fr. Joseph Perez Gomez, the meritorious historian, narrates that "Our Lady of Sorrows of Otenga", named for the O from the oval shape of the picture in which the Virgin is represented, occupies a distinguished place among the Marian sanctuaries of Colombia. It is an excellent painting, particularly the face. It is a copy of an anonymous painting of Queen Isabel the Catholic from the end of the 15th century, which is found in the Museum of the Lazaro Galdeano Foundation of Madrid.» It also appears among the pictures of Isabel the Catholic in the Espasa Encyclopedia (see picture). There are other paintings of the Blessed Virgin with the face of Isabel the Catholic, two of them in the city of Quito, Ecuador. The majority of these pictures are found in museums and others receive veneration attributed to the Blessed Virgin like Our Lady of Otenga or of the O, with its copies in Morca, Sogomoso and in many other parochial churches of Colombia. At visiting Otenga in 1992, I tried to find out if it was venerated at the same time as Queen Isabel the Catholic. A young lady that attended a store in the square at the side of the church told me that 'they love her much, because she has the face of Isabel the Catholic, to whom they make petitions and she concedes many graces to them'. It would be good to record some of the graces and miracles that have been worked through the mediation of Isabel the Catholic in Otenga. The veneration is certainly given to the Virgin in Otenga; but some also pray to Queen Isabel, worthy of the altars, and they receive special graces. It would be advantageous to have a miracle, for the situation as it developed with Saint Helen would not be possible now. There is no information of any miracle, and yet veneration has been given to her as a saint for the services rendered to Christianity in union with her son Constantine. The evangelizing work of Isabel the Catholic is perhaps greater; but it is needed for her to make a miracle, once her virtues have been recognized, so that she will be declared 'blessed'. |