Emilia Emily Zecchino - Let Me Tell You What Happened to Me!: My Personal Testimony

Chapter 1

Do Miracles Really Happen?

Miracles! Do they really happen? The definition in Websters dictionary reads: An extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.

Wow! It is so simple and so easy to understand! But do they really happen? As I was brought up in the Catholic faith, I always believed that they do happen. However, it seemed to me that this fabulous phenomenon was reserved for those very holy people able to communicate with God or with the saints and that they would experience miracles only because they were worthy of them.

But what about me? Could I have the boldness to believe that a miracle could happen to me? After all, how could I expect such favor when I considered myself an ordinary, unworthy sinner? How could I dare to think about miracles?

No, I was not expecting a miracle on that memo
rable afternoon of June 6, 1977, the day I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and was born again. I was only hoping that Gods mercy and grace would ease the many difficulties and horrible circumstances I was experiencing at the time. Never did it cross my mind that God did know better.

Therefore, with a resounding yes , I am declaring that on that day, indeed, God blessed me with a miracle! It was the miracle that He thought was best for me. And the fact that I am writing about it today, at the young age of eighty-nine years old, is evidence that God really knows best.

As I pour my heart out, I thank the Holy Spirit for helping me to look back and describe on these pages when, how, and why this miracle happened to me. My only purpose is to give glory to God.

Lord, I thank you for reaching down and blessing me with your grace.

Chapter 2

A Special Calling

The year was 1977, and it began as one of the darkest times of my life. I had been a widow since 1972, living in Hollywood Florida with my teenage daughter Linda and my son Vincent, while Ricky, my eldest son, had moved away and severed all ties with the family. I was partner with my brother Andy in Pops Pizza and Italian Restaurant in what had begun as a friendly union between brother and sister, with mutual respect for each others well-being. However, we had not anticipated the hurdles we were going to face.

Unfortunately, a few years after beginning our partnership, we found ourselves on two opposite sides of the aisle. Our daily work schedule, from 10:00 a.m. till midnight, six days a week, left us exhausted physically and emotionally. Gradually, our relationship deteriorated as we discovered we had very different points of view on how to run the business. Making the tension worse, at home, unexpected health problems began to creep up, as my son Vincent was waging battle with an illness that kept me running from the doctors office to the hospitals admissions during my free time.

As one of the most foreboding periods was unfolding in my life, in utter desperation, I was questioning Gods existence. How can you do this to me, God? Why do all these problems have to happen to me? On and on I questioned the Almighty, and yes, I was angry. I knew I was an ordinary Catholic woman attending Mass on most Sundays, and I considered myself a fairly good Christian.

Why then was my faith being tried to the limit? I was oscillating between periods of prayers and periods of resentment toward a God who appeared to have abandoned me. My anger toward God was leaving me even more frustrated, as guilt inevitably followed.

I was losing all hope when circumstances began to align in a most extraordinary way and set me on a completely different turn of events. It was a day in early April during one of my visits to Tony and Louises beauty parlor (as it was called at the time) that I heard Tony describe something that was happening at St. Bernard Church in Sunrise. Little did I know that these mysterious happenings were harbingers of a marvelous event that was going to change me forever.

As Tony was applying the final touches to the hair of a lovely lady sitting in the chair next to mine, I could plainly hear their conversation:

I have never seen anything like this in a Catholic Church! Tony was explaining. But something extraordinary is happening there. Tony continued with exuberance. They call this The Charismatic Renewal , and they hold prayer meetings on Monday nights. I have been to a couple of them, and I have seen some fabulous things happen. One of them happens when people are asked, toward the end of the meeting, if they want to be prayed over. If they say yes, they are asked to kneel at the rail by the altar. Then a group of three or four people approaches them and asks them something that I cannot understand from where Im sitting.

How interesting! the lady interjected. What happens then?

Tony shook slightly his head, and his voice began welling with emotion: What happens? Let me tell you, he continued, as he cut the ladys hair and slightly brushed away a tear from his face. I see some of the persons prayed for suddenly fall backwards to the floor and stay there, some for five, others for fifteen, minutes, some even longer, and when they get up, their faces reflect a heavenly glow I cant quite describe. Tonys voice was now subdued. In a soft voice, he continued: I heard people say that they were experiencing a supernatural phenomenon called resting or slain in the Spirit.

As Tonys story progressed, so did my curiosity to know more. Resting in the Spirit? What could that mean? It sounded mysterious and at the same time inspiring. I just had to acquire more knowledge about what was happening in that church.

Well, Tony, your account of what happens at St. Bernards Church sounds very impressive, I said, tapping my cigarette in one of the glass ashtrays placed on the countertop facing me. I was then an avid smoker. Every morning, I enjoyed my first cigarette as I sipped a cup of freshly brewed coffee even before breakfast and the last one at night just before going to bed. I was consuming at least one pack a day and sometimes even more. My addiction to nicotine had begun in the 40s when I was sixteen years old. It was very fashionable to smoke and imitate the glamorous movie stars who continually puffed away in their roles on the movie screens.

Tony nodded several times and asked me if I had heard about the same thing happening at my church in Hollywood.

No, Tony, this is all new to me. I belong to Nativity Church, but I have not heard anything special happening there. I will definitely inquire about it when I go to Mass on Sunday. However, I quickly added, I want to see what is going on at St. Bernard, and I will definitely be there this coming Monday night.

Tony continued with much fervor to describe his enjoyment attending these prayer meetings and how much he was learning about the Christian faith from the teachings of a lady named Faith. The more he talked about his experience, the more I felt drawn to these events. Whatever was stirring inside of me generated a deep yearning to go to St. Bernard Church at all cost that coming Monday night so I could investigate personally this enigmatic phenomenon.

Lord, I thank you for the grace you gave me so I could hear the call that changed my life.

Chapter 3

My First Encounter with the Power of God

Monday was a convenient day to attend to my own affairs, as we usually closed the restaurant on that day. Lucky for me, no unexpected incident interfered with my plans, and at 6:45 p.m. on that memorable Monday evening, I was eagerly parking my car in St. Bernards almost-filled parking lot. Other cars following me had to park on side roads.

It was the middle of April, and here in South Florida, the evenings are pleasantly cool. None of the surroundings impressed me though, and I dont recall any particulars of the landscape. I remember being focused only on what I imagined the events of that night were going to be, and as I approached the entrance of the church, I felt my heartbeat accelerate rapidly in expectation of what was going to happen.