Note, February 1, 2021:
The following prayer request was posted on
the Guild website in the spring of 2001, nearly 20 years ago. The man we were
praying for was healed, is still well and thriving, and attributes his healing
to Aodh’s prayers.
Prayers Requested in Hugh Roe O’Donnell Novena
Contact: Shirley Starke
<sstarke@valkyriepub.com>
All supporters of the beatification
of Hugh Roe O’Donnell are asked to participate in a Novena to ask Aodh Ruadh to intercede for the
healing of a young man who has cancer. The Novena is scheduled for June 16-24
(St. John’s Day).
The Novena is being requested by
members of the Aodh Ruadh Ó
Domhnaill Guild, which was founded in 1977 to work
for the recognition of Hugh Roe (Aodh Ruadh) as a saint of the Catholic Church. Red Hugh, though
he is usually regarded as a national rather than a religious hero, is well
suited for sainthood. His fight against English oppression was motivated by the
persecution of Catholics which had nearly destroyed the Church in most of
Ireland, and his personal ambition was to become a friar of the Franciscan
Order – an ambition which he realized on his deathbed. In all his actions he
was motivated by his love for our Lord and our blessed Mother, to whom he was
totally devoted, and his mercy towards even his most bitter enemies was unheard
of in his day and age.
There have been a number of
remarkable healings through his intercession since work began for his
beatification. Three of these healings involved Edith Starke, the mother of Shirley
Starke, the original coordinator of the Guild. Edith’s arm was burned very
badly when a pressure cooker exploded; it became severely infected and the
infection did not respond to treatment. Aodh was
asked to intercede, after which she infection cleared up rapidly and the arm
healed. She was left with scar tissue so thick that she could not straighten
the arm. After she had had this scar tissue for over a year, Aodh was asked to intercede, and the scar tissue totally
disappeared overnight.
At another time, Edith had anemia,
so severe that her blood count was down to four. After many months the cause
was found in a bleeding lesion in her colon, and she was scheduled for surgery.
Aodh was asked to intercede. Two weeks after the
diagnosis Edith was admitted to the hospital for surgery, but it was never done
because when she was X-rayed in preparation for the surgery, the lesion was
found to be gone. She never had surgery or any other treatment, and her blood
count returned to normal.
Sister Mary Peter, a Sister of Mercy
from Ireland, was concerned because one of her relatives in Ireland was in the
hospital, too sick to survive without a miracle. She prayed to all the saints
who had helped her in the past, but he did not improve. Finally she said, “Red Hugh
– I don’t believe in you, but if you can heal him, please do!” He began to
improve at once, and recovered his health.
Most recently, John Hennessy, of El
Paso, Texas, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He did not expect to see the
year 2000. But on Maundy Thursday, 2001, when we were praying for him, he went
to bed after cleaning the 6 open lesions on his abdomen (the results of his
many surgeries) as he done for the previous year. He woke up 4 to 6 hours later
and found the lesions completely healed – two of them, he said, had the ends of
sutures still protruding from the new, healthy tissue. A few months later he
was checked for cancer, and this was also found to be gone. Sadly, John later
died of a heart attack, but with his faith in God wonderfully strengthened: he
did not merely “believe” there was a God who could heal us if He chose, he
KNEW!
These are only a few examples of
many, many wonderful things that have happened through the power of God and the
intercession of Hugh Roe O’Donnell.