The miracle of the shoes

How does one deal with the incredible pain of losing a daughter? For Joe and I, there is only one way to cope–through the power of prayer.

Joe, whose grief is as abysmal as mine, observes every so often that we’re still hurtling through a tunnel as dark as midnight. We cannot as yet discern any glimmer of light. But prayers – ours and those of meaningful friends and complete strangers – have started to bring in a glow of inner peace. And prayers have turned our faith – shaken by personal tragedy – into a deeply personal and moving experience with the Lord.

Perhaps no story of how faith can create little miracles is as compelling as the one I wish to share with those who remain believers in the power of prayer.

For comfort and solace, I have turned to the Pink Sisters since the day we forever lost KC, our bubbly and feisty 16-year-old daughter. The Pink Sisters live in seclusion in New Manila, ready to offer the sanctum of their convent’s prayer rooms into citadels for those seeking inner peace and a communion with the holies.

The Pink Sisters are already famed as the "prayer warriors" of the faithful. Whenever Cardinal Sin and former President Corazon Aquino have a cause to promote, they inevitably turn to the Pink Sisters for prayers. Two of our friends, President Cory and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and I have found over the years the Pink Sisters’ Mother Prioress, Mary Hermenegildes, an amiable and strong soul. I sought to quell my grief, my fears and my pain and banish my great confusion in the prayers that she offered every day without fail, leading to the 40th day of the passing of my daughter.

Unknown to me, the Mother Prioress asked one of the nuns in her congregation, the young Sister Maria Incarnita, to offer special prayers every day for KC. She did so, but unknown to me and to the Mother Prioress, Sister Maria Incarnita, bless her heart, already had started offering prayers for KC even before the request was made to her. And in her prayers, Sister Incarnita infused a personal but significant prayer: she asked for an almost impossible sign from the Lord that would show KC is already in the bosom of the Almighty, her spirit among the angels and the holies in the eternal sunshine of the place we call heaven – or at least that KC is in good hands. The young nun asked the Lord for a pair of shoes. Her only pair was ragged and badly worn out and needed to be replaced.

The 40th day arrived last January 25, when we heard a special Mass with the Pink Sisters. For the faithful the 40th day marks the ascension of the soul of the dead to heaven.

It was the final day of prayers for KC. The morning came and the sign that Sister Incarnita had prayed for was nowhere to be seen. No pair of shoes waited for her.

But the day progressed as though it was a day planned all along for her. The Mother Prioress called for Sister Incarnita. As they stood in her room, in the pale glow of the convent light the moment of revelation came to Sister Incarnita as a complete shock of recognition. In front of her was a gleaming new pair of shoes.

Unknown to the Mother Prioress, unknown to her, and unknown to us, the sign came on the eve of the 40th day. It was a gift meant for Sister Mary Hermenegildes, but the pair of shoes, 6-1/2, did not fit her. Without knowing that the young nun needed shoes, the Mother Prioress gave the pair to Singer Incarnita, perfect for her size 6 feet.

"Mother, Mother Prioress," Sister Incarnita cried, "You don’t know it, but this is the sign I have been praying for from the Lord that KC is all right and is in good hands."

Was this pair of shoes perhaps intended all along for Sister Incarnita in the roundabout wisdom of the Almighty that only the ascetics could fathom?

I believe so. And this miracle of the shoes, as Speaker Jose has lovingly called this story, now tells me that KC, though gone from us, has found her way to God, in the midst of the angels and the saints.

This is a story of hope amid a deeply personal tragedy to renew and reinforce our faith. The miracle of the shoes reminds us all that God’s eternal love is the ultimate and ever-present comfort.