An elderly Mexican gentleman is selling trinkets and silk flowers outside my grocery store as I'm going in. I don't have any cash on hand. On coming out, I've got two bills obtained via cash back option. Gentleman still there. I say hi, and look over the items he's holding. One is a small black purse with a colorful Our Lady of Guadalupe on it. I say "Guadalupe." Hand him money. Is that enough? "Si." I take the item. He pats my shoulder and says "Gracias, mija" (thank you, my daughter). I next go to used bookstore. Browse. Seems I'll find no treasure there today. I'm reshelving a book when I feel a THUMP. Another book is deeply wedged in. It is (which I didn't know existed!): (and by the way, the Our Lady of Guadalupe item is a face mask, not a purse)
Perfect example of a signal grace. https://catholicstand.com/signal-graces-how-blessed-mother-encourages-her-little-ones-along-the-way/ Signal Graces: How the Blessed Mother Encourages Her Little Ones Praying the rosary is a devotional practice by which the faithful meditate on the mysteries of the lives of Jesus and Mary. In purposefully slowing down our pace by means of this prayer, we become open to what our Lady and our Lord have to say to us during the prayer, as well as in each moment of the day. You could say that praying the rosary lowers your spiritual blood pressure and allows you to be present to, and see things in, your life that you might otherwise have missed without it. Among the fifteen promises Mary gave to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche for those who pray the rosary is the gift of “signal graces.” You won’t find a definition of these graces in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, but some people consider any prayer that is notably answered, such as a prayer for healing, to be a signal grace. For others a signal grace is an interior “knowing” of what the right way to proceed is or the revelation of some needed but missing piece of information in order to make a good decision. I believe I have experienced both of these types of signal graces, but also one more. What I commonly call “signal graces” others might call “God-incidents,” a more spiritual way of looking at what some might brush off as mere coincidence. Confidence Means “With Faith” Much of our prayerful discernment revolves around the bigger questions of life such as vocation, family, work, community involvement, etc. But once those questions have been decided we have to walk through the day-to-day results with confidence that those bigger decisions are in accord with God’s plan, that we have discerned well. Signal graces then become little signposts or trail markers that whisper in my ear, “This is the way; walk in it.” When living the life those bigger decisions yield, the little decisions can be overwhelming, our ability to meet our needs woefully inadequate and the strength to do what is required, seems not enough. These “shortages” can cause us to doubt that we made those big decisions correctly. We are not called to walk in doubt or timidity, but in confidence that our well discerned choices are sound. Knowing our littleness, weakness, and lack of confidence, our Blessed Mother asks our Lord for trail markers along our way to encourage us and help us to grow in our trust in God and His Divine Providence. These signal graces build up our faith that, though the going is rougher than we hoped, though we are being stretched further than we thought we would be, we shouldn’t give up, but instead persevere along the path in front of us. When someone gives you a bag of hand-me-downs and it contains just exactly what you needed and prayed for, that is a signal grace that being a stay-at-home mother was a well discerned choice. When a sudden unexpected decrease in a fixed expense occurs after you stood firm in your conviction not to work on Sundays, that is a signal grace of a well discerned choice. When you prayed for a simple way to help an elderly neighbor and realized, as you are thinking about her, that you made way too much dinner, that is a signal grace. On their own these small graces are not enough to make great changes in your life, or the lives of those you love. They are not meant to do that. They are more of a fortification, a heavenly hug, a love note, helping you to step back and remember the big picture: you are a beloved child of the King! It is noteworthy that our Lady, our Queen, gives these graces in exchange for spending time in prayer. She is trying to teach us that by spending time close to her Immaculate Heart and to Jesus’ Sacred Heart, we will grow more and more like them, more attuned to the life of grace that we are living. What joy! What an exchange! The life of grace becomes like a treasure hunt, where we, like gleeful children, run along from clue to clue, growing in excitement and confidence that we are going to wind up exactly where we want to be: Heaven! Read the rest at the link
