Friday, May 14, 2010

My Pope Story...

Yesterday was the anniversary of one of the strangest experiences I have ever had. I posted about it several months ago, but I thought I would share it with you again. I am not a writer, so I probably am not able to do justice to this little story. But it is a true story, so just imagine you are sitting with me in my living room, we are having some refreshments and chatting, and I am reciting the story to you just as it happened. I must say, also, that although I was baptized in the Catholic Church, I am not a Catholic so I have no special affinity to the Pope. I am spiritual but non-religious, secular. This is my Pope story.

It was Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 10, 1981 and my daughter and I went for a two-hour walk to Jericho Beach and Spanish Banks, near where I live. When we got home my daughter settled down to do her homework, and I enjoyed the rare luxury of a Sunday afternoon nap. Just as I was waking up, I looked out the French doors in my bedroom that lead to the garden. The cherry trees were in bloom and I thought how wonderful they looked. I was wide awake.

As I was looking at the trees, I had a vision of a radio tower, similar to the RKO radio tower, and I could hear voices coming from it. The voices were speaking in various languages that I could not understand, but then I could understand the voices as they spoke in French and English. They were announcing that the Pope had been shot and was being rushed to Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic in Rome. The voices went on to say who did it and how he did it. His name was Mehmet Ali Ağca and he was a Turkish gunman for hire. He had smuggled the gun into Rome and hid it in a locker at the train station. I was visualizing the "boot" of Italy, and I could see his journey. He later retrieved the gun, went to St. Peter’s Square and shot the Pope.

I sat up in bed and thought, “How evil. Why would anyone shoot the Pope?” It left me feeling very unsettled and I tried not to think about it. An hour or so later, a thunderstorm passed over Vancouver and lightning struck very close to our house. One of the basement windows was shattered and I felt very disoriented, as if I were part of the electrical energy.

The next day, Monday, I checked the television and newspapers to see if there had been any news about the Pope being shot, but there was nothing. By Tuesday, I had put it out of my thoughts. On Wednesday morning, May 13th, as I was getting ready for work and my daughter was getting ready for school, she came into my bedroom and said, “Mother, someone has just shot the Pope.” I said, “I know” and I told her about my premonition. I said, “Wait, there’s more,” Two days later, the rest of the story was announced on the six o’clock news. It was just as I had predicted.

A few years later I learned the assassination attempt on the Pope took place on the anniversary of the day and the hour when the Virgin Mary first appeared to the three peasant children in Fátima, Portugal, May 13, 1917. The Virgin Mary divulged three secrets to the children, the third of which was of “a bishop clothed in white who falls to the ground, apparently dead under a burst of gunfire.” The third secret had been kept sealed for many years and had been interpreted as the assassination of a Pope. One of the three children, Lucia, became a Carmelite nun and Pope John Paul II met with her on May 13, 1982, one year after the attempt on his life. He always felt that the Virgin Mary had protected him.

Three years after the assassination attempt, the Pope came to Vancouver. Everyone went to see him, and I was standing by the side of the road near the Burrard Bridge as he passed by in his Popemobile with the bulletproof dome. Just as he pulled beside me and he was a few feet away, he turned and looked at me and our eyes locked for a brief moment, and on his face was a look of recognition. A strange and powerful force of the universe had connected us on May 13, 1981, and had also connected us both to another extraordinary event that had taken place on May 13, 1917. However, I will never fully understand what it was.

The Pope believed the bullet that hit him was diverted by the Virgin Mary and one year later he visited the shrine at Fátima in Portugal, where he placed the bullet in Mary's crown. In 1983 The Pope forgave Mehmet Ali Ağca.

36 comments:

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Wow! What an amazing story, Jo! Thanks for re-posting it! I wouldn't have missed this one for the world! Have a wonderful weekend! Love, Janine XO

roxanne s. sukhan said...

Wow. That's quite the story. How cool and a little eerie that you had that vision.

Anonymous said...

That's an amazing story. Creepy and very intriguing. I love your stories like this that you share.

Indian Pundit said...

Wow Jo..very interesting..you know as they say....Truth is often stranger than fiction......

These incidents actually solidifies my beliefs in a higher power.....

Take care

Unknown said...

Very interesting and amazing story. What do you make of it?

By the way, please expound sometime on "I am spiritual but non-religious, secular". I would love to hear more on how you define it - just curious.

Have a lovely weekend.

Jo said...

Janine, thank you. It's a true story. And you have a wonderful weekend too! :-)

Roxanne, it was a lot eerie, believe me. I still feel weird about it. :-)

Cat, Hi! Thank you. Yes, it was creepy and intriguing, and a whole lot more.

IP, yes, there is definitely some sort of force at work here. Thee is no question about that.

J, "secular" means removed from the state of relgion. To me, spirituality and religion are two different things. I don't believe in organized religion, but I believe very strongly in spirituality. I have experienced it.

Lisa said...

I don't mean to be short but I really do not know what to say but wow.

Belizegial said...

Jo, to forgive is divine. What you shared here about the Pope and you is also quite special.

Happy Weekend

heartinsanfrancisco said...

Wow. What an amazing story! Maybe someday you will understand the connection and what it means. In fact, I'm sure you will. And I hope it's soon because I need to know, too. You.are.special.

SparkleFarkel said...

I feel all warm and glow-y after reading your story. Simply incredible. God bless.

@eloh said...

I would think such an experience would make you a devout Catholic.

I have some understanding of the strange experience. I was "on" the space shuttle when it exploded back in 86. Very wierd. I didn't have near the information, I only knew one was out of place and that they were alive much longer than was told for several years.

Laurie said...

An impressive story - thanks for sharing.

joanne said...

that is the most incredible thing I have ever heard..*shivers*...

Carol said...

Jo..that's incredible! My hair literally "stood on end" when I read that....an amzing event to experience. Do tell more if something like that happens again...very interesting.

June said...

I believe it.
I don't understand it, but somehow, it all makes sense to me.

PinkPanthress said...

An astounding story, did something like that ever happen to you again?

Also... we have more hidden powers & higher senses than most know. Unfortunately in the past milennia our abilities begun to cripple.

P.S.: The turkish never were able to do a job right most of the time... though I am glad he did not die, since he was my fave Pope if I had to choose one.... just saying. ;)

DJan said...

That is a truly amazing story, Jo, and filled with wonder. I am glad you put it here again, because I hadn't seen it before. Thanks so much for making me think about things seen and unseen...

Laurie said...

Amazing story, thanks for reposting it! It reminds me that I woke up at 5am on 9/11/01 literally screaming hysterically after dreaming that my dog and I were attacked and killed by a bizarre, raving man wearing long white robes - who I later saw on television was Osama Bin Laden. I am still haunted by that dream.

Jennifer D said...

Wow... I have goose bumps!

thanks for sharing.

Sam Liu said...

What an amazing story, I was utterly gripped throughout...this really is very intriguing, it's certainly got me thinking. And not a writer? Well, you could've fooled me, that was a beautifully written piece :)

Avril Fleur said...

You got a rare glimpse into the the world that exists or vibrates just beyond ours. It's there, and I believe that it is a space where no time exists. How extraordinary that you got to experience it in your consciousness. I have read that this sometimes happens in that place just between sleeping and waking.

TomCat said...

When cannonized, will you change your name to St. Blonde I? ;-)

Seriously, some things are too remarkable to explain.

Paula Slade said...

An astounding story Jo. There are some things in life that cannot be explained in conventional terms; some things that connect each of us sometimes altering time, space and human bonds. You were given a great gift, and with it came tremendous grace.

Susan said...

I love hearing that. It just reaffirms what I believe - there is so much more to reality than we know.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful story! thanks for sharing!

CHummelKornell said...

My Mother had the "sight" to know of things before they happened. I grew up thinking this was normal. I believe women are more prone to visions than men. You have a gift that may or may not return. Embrace it. Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad you are still blogging.

kenju said...

Well THAT gave me cold chills! Obviously you were given advance knowledge of that event for a reason. Perhaps you have known that Pope in a former life.

A human kind of human said...

I remember the story from the prevous time you posted on it and as before, I am amazed by the absolute clarity and detail of your vision. The fact that you had the vision is not so surprising as I believe that we are not just a body of skin, flesh and bone, but that the real us, exists in our spirit.

Pauline said...

even more eerie than the vision was the eye contact with the Pope!

Brenda's Arizona said...

Jo, you are a writer. I love it when you share these stories - they stick with me for days at a time. Thank you!

Marlene said...

I believe too that we are all connected and sometimes the space/time thing gets distorted. It is lovely that it came to you through a radio tower (modern day Tower of Babel). Also it is amazing that it happened on Mother's Day (Virgin Mary at Fatima) and that you came from Jericho Beach. It's good to mix the old and new testament as well as a modern day miracle. Lots of symbolism is going on here.

Jo said...

Hello, everyone, thank you for your comments. It's an interesting story, isn't it? I can't explain how it happened. But it's a true story, and very strange!

Have a great day.

Cheers,

Jo

@ly said...

Great story, very inspirational. I love reading and hearing about these kinds of things.

Nancy said...

What a fascinating story! Wow! Somehow you got hooked into the electricity - or something...

Tess Kincaid said...

You are definitely tuned in, Jo. This and your childhood tapestry thing...amazing.

A.M. said...

Hi Johanna,

You have the gift of PROPHESY. That's a wonderful gift. I only know a few people who have this gift and usually the person doesn't know what to do with it. Anyways, when I was a little girl in Catholic school my Saint was Fatima of Portugal. I didn't just choose her b/c my family is Portuguese but because of the stories she told by Cova da Iris. I'm glad you shared your story with us, but it must have been very surreal for you at the time. Have you had anything like this happen to you since?