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FRAN DISTEFANO AND THE CHRISTMAS ANGELS ALL AROUND US

     I have always been comforted by the scripture in Hebrews 13:2…”Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.”  I DO believe there are angels and spirits all around us.  We do not always see them, but they are here and I believe they are  placed by the grace of God to look after us.  I know this to be true because I have encountered them and have felt their presence in my life.

     Throughout my life I have prayed for intersession and have received help.  My first marriage was very difficult and my wife insisted on a divorce.  We had two young children and I was desperate about the impact this would have on them.  With Christmas approaching, I was alone in my apartment bed, despondent, teary and praying, when I literally felt a strong, reassuring hand press down on my chest, and rub…like you would reassure a small child.  I felt a presence say to me, “Relax…I am with you.  You are going to be OK.”  This lifted a huge burden.  I was able to rest…a short time later I met Nancy (my human form, flesh and blood angel) and she changed my life.  She had a little girl and we ultimately melded the two families together when we married.  It was 25 years last April.

     A friend from Texas told me about his mother's guardian angel when he was a little boy.  His father had left them, his mother had no money, and she was buying his supper at a 7-11 gas station.  She scraped together the money for his hot dog and was looking for additional change in her purse for gas.  She poured less than a dollar in coins into the clerks hand.  As she pumped the gas into the car, a man in scuffed work boots and dirty clothes appeared from the shadows and approached the car.  He walked up to my friend’s mother and gave her three $100 bills.  He said he wished it could be more, told her to stay strong and faithful, turned and walked back into the darkness.  My friend saw no car, nothing.  The man was gone. 

     The most powerful Christmas angel story I have heard was from my administrative assistant at ANN TAYLOR in New York, Fran DiStefano.  Fran is a fiesty, tiny lady, born and bred in New York and sounds like the Marisa Tomei character from the movie, “My Cousin Vinny”.  She was the “Radar O’Riley” of our Manhattan office, knew where all the bodies were buried and how this machine functioned.  I was blessed to have her navigate me through the company culture, as well as life in New York.

     Fran, her mother and sister all live in the same apartment building, in different apartments and are very close.  All are devout Catholics, led by her 90 years plus mother.  If any catastrophe hits anyone, Fran turns it over to her mom, who appears to have a direct line to God.  Her mother has demonstrably prayed her way through and out of many disasters I have witnessed and I have come to believe in her special access to the Almighty.

     It has become a tradition for Fran to get a hotel suite on Christmas Eve in Manhattan, where she, her mother and sister enjoyed dinner in the city and exchange gifts in their room.     

     One year, her mother asked if they could go over to the center of New York Catholicism, St Patrick’s Cathedral to light a candle and pray during Christmas Eve afternoon.  They went to the church and her mother asked if they could come to Christmas Eve services there that evening.  Fran said there was no way…it would be packed with people already carrying tickets, secured months before…every Catholic in New York wanted to be in Saint Patrick’s on Christmas Eve at midnight.  Her mother said she would pray about it.

     At that moment, a tall black man stepped up and said he heard them talking about the futility of obtaining tickets and asked how many they needed.   Fran said two, but she said there was no way and she was just attempting to make her mother understand... the fellow walked away.  He returned shortly and handed Fran an envelope.  She opened it and there were two tickets for the midnight service inside.  She showed them to her mom and they turned to thank the tall stranger.  He was gone…nowhere in sight in that huge cathedral.  Fran’s mom said it was her guardian  angel and didn’t seem the least bit surprised or affected.  

     That evening the two were in the long, non-moving line waiting outside St Patrick’s.  Fran said she was freezing and asked her mother if they couldn’t leave…the sanctuary was full, hundreds of ticket holders were waiting ahead of them for standing room.  It was not going to work…sorry ma…Merry Christmas!

     A policeman appeared from the crowd, approached them them and asked to see their tickets.  He looked at the tickets and asked Fran and her mother to follow him.  He led them past the lines of people, walked down the aisle of the packed cathedral to the middle of the front row, in front of the alter.  He showed them to two seats, on the same pew as Mayor Koch and Mayor Giuliani.  Fran was flabbergasted and broke into tears…her mother smiled at Fran.   She looked adoringly up at the cross, wept and thanked God for this miracle given to them on Christmas Eve. 


   The power of prayer and maintaining a dialogue with God!  His agents are all around us and He wants to be one with us.  It is available to us all, if we reach out.

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