Articles about Year of Priests

When a Priest Saved My Life

by Lois H. Coyne

The day began as very ordinary, but would end in a way that could never be forgotten: I remember coming home, late as usual from my friend’s house, hungry and ready for dinner. As I ran into the kitchen, banging the door behind me, I found my mother dying before my eyes! The white-lace handkerchief she held to her mouth was quickly turning red. In her other hand she clutched a relic of St. Therese of Lisieux. Little did I know, at the time, that her lungs were giving out. Like St. Therese, she was suffering from Tuberculosis. As she managed to catch her breath, she asked me to pray for her. It was the most terrifying moment of my entire nine years of life. I begged over and over, “Please, dear Jesus, don’t let Mother die!”

Suddenly, my father came home from work, and the doctor and the priest were immediately called. When the priest arrived at our door, his presence was like no other. He carried, close to his heart, the Blessed Sacrament, in a little gold case (which we had learned at St. Francis Xavier school was called a Pyx). An altar boy preceded him, ringing the golden bells. As we knelt down, the young priest walked towards my mother’s room. Suddenly I sensed, even though I was only 9, that there was something very special about this priest. He was very young with dark hair and had a spiritual quality about him that seemed to completely connect with the Person of Christ: the One he was bringing to my dying mother.

Soon after the priest, the doctor and the ambulance left, my older sister Nancy (who had reached the very advanced age of 12) took matters into her own hands. She began to outline a plan of action. From now on, she and I would get up and walk to the 6:30 Mass each morning at St. Francis Xavier Church in the East Bronx. Not only was Mass on our agenda, but Nancy also came up with difficult things for us to offer for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. She called these mortifications. “Whoa, I thought, this is beginning to sound really hard!” But, Nancy was thinking this should cover all our bases, and ‘persuade’ Our Lord to spare our mother’s life. Her logic seemed very much on target. My mother did in fact recover, but spent three long years in a TB hospital until a cure for the dreaded disease was finally found. While Mother was in the hospital, Nancy took good care of our Dad and me!

As the years passed, Nancy and I grew up, married happily, and raised our children. Then one day my mother was again near death, but now not from TB, but from the results of a broken hip. During this time, she told me of a life-changing incident that had occurred many years before. It seems, that after Nancy was born, like so many others, my mother fell into the contraceptive mentality. Then one evening, in her parish, she attended a “mission” as they were then called. These were actually mini-retreats, held each night for about five evenings in a row. On this particular night, an older visiting priest spoke of marriage and children, and stressed the joy that trusting Our Lord would bring into everyone’s life. He said this trust would help prevent our hearts from becoming hardened by fear. While listening to his words, my mother was ‘converted’ in that moment of grace. After that evening, artificial contraception was no longer a part of her life. She implied that if it hadn’t been for that priest’s talk that night, I might never have arrived on this planet earth.

Not long after my mother had described this incident to me, it was clear to us all that she had only a few short days left to live. This time, however, Our Lord had a special “treat” in store for my mother and for me! This time, when she was to receive Extreme Unction, the priest would again be young, dark-haired, newly-ordained, and very close to Our Lord. But this time, the priest who would help my mother into God’s presence would be my very own son, Greg, her much-loved grandchild. Who would have ever imagined such happiness could combine with the sorrow of losing this good and faithful woman. Our son, Greg, was very moved to know that Our Lord had chosen him to administer the Last Sacraments, to his own grandmother, as she passed into Eternal Life. Since then he continues to remember her soul in the celebration of Holy Mass each day.

During the years since my mother’s death, I remember to pray for all priests, but especially for the one, who, by telling the truth during that parish mission so long ago, in a very real sense, saved my life. Little did he know the effect his words would have on the lives of so many. My husband, Don, and I have been blessed with eleven children, some of whom have dedicated their lives to Christ, holding nothing back – all of them practicing their Catholic faith.

We, along with all those who come after us, will remember to thank Our Lord for holy priests, and dedicated lay people, who will continue to speak the truth, thereby granting true joy and freedom to all men and women of good will.

Lois H. Coyne and her husband Don are members of St. Bernadette Parish in Silver Spring, Maryland. Mrs. Coyne is the mother of 11 children (one of whom is a priest) and is expecting the arrival of her 31st grandchild. Mrs. Coyne’s text represents the extraordinary faith and witness which so many Christians live in the ordinariness of daily life.

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