July 18, 2024
When Marie watched her grandson Johnathan several days a week, she would take him to Eucharistic adoration at the chapel of St. Joseph Church in Shelton, where she conducts the Holy Hour for the Dying on Fridays at 1 p.m. (Also at Our Lady of Fatima in Bridgeport on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at noon.)
Johnathan, who was almost 3, developed a special personal relationship with Jesus. They talked to each other, they prayed together, and sometimes they just stared at each other lovingly.
“I’ve been taking him to the chapel from day one,” Marie said. “I just loved watching Johnathan looking at Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament so intensely. I’ve learned so much from watching this little boy’s face.”
When they got there, they talked to Jesus in soft voices, prayed and sang songs.
“He loved to be close to Jesus on the altar and look up at him,” she said. “Last time he got rosary beads from the table and went to kneel where Jesus was on the altar. He looked up and showed him the rosary and said, ‘Jesus, I’m praying the rosary! I’m praying. I’m praying, Jesus.’”
He started visiting the Blessed Sacrament with his “Vovo,” when he was one year old. Whenever he walked into the chapel, the first thing he did was spread his arms wide and say, “I love you this much, Jesus!”
“Jesus wants us to do this,” Marie said. “I want Johnathan to know how important God is in our lives and to know how important the True Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist is. Just seeing his face in prayer and hearing him talk to Jesus taught me so much.”
When Johnathan looked at Jesus and talked to him, he tuned out his grandmother. During those moments, if she said something, he didn’t respond, perhaps because he was in a conversation with Jesus.
“You could tell he was in the presence of the Lord because he was so focused on Jesus, and it was amazing to watch,” she said. “I learn so much from this little boy who has so much love for Jesus, just watching him praying and blowing kisses to Jesus. I said, ‘Thank you, Lord, for giving me this opportunity to bring Johnathan here to know about you and for us to pray together and love you.”
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