Posted on 05/04/2011 9:47:10 PM PDT by johngrace
Long Neck resident Vince Beddia had been under the watchful care of his Delaware cardiologist, Dr. Roberto Rosa, for a dozen years. In January 2011, after Vince complained of having trouble breathing, his physician ordered a catheterization procedure. Prior to the test, Vince had a premonition that he was not going to be leaving the hospital that day. In fact, Rosa and Dr. Fernando Garzia, the medical director of Beebe Medical Center’s cardiac surgery program, determined from the test results that multiple heart bypasses were needed without delay.
While awaiting the intervention, Vince fell asleep in his hospital bed until he was awakened by someone standing near him. He knew immediately who it was. St. Padre Pio, in full Capuchin habit, beamed a great, warm smile as he stood next to Vince’s bed. The saint said nothing verbally, but words were not necessary for Vince to receive the message of peace, hope and confidence that Padre Pio brought to him. The long-deceased Capuchin priest held out his right arm toward Vince, and Vince could see that he was holding a book but was not able to discern its title.
The visit was brief - Padre Pio disappeared just as a nurse was entering the room, but Vince knew that all would be well, and he felt no fear. He asked the nurse if she had seen the saint. Looking at him as if he were hallucinating, she assured him that no else was present in the room.
The doctors and staff at Beebe were quite astonished at how relaxed, carefree, and confident Vince appeared as he was prepped for the anesthesia. Vince spoke to them about the Lord Jesus, and found to his surprise that everyone in the operating room knew the Lord. Garzia later remarked that he had never before operated on someone who was so calm and unafraid.
The extensive surgery that January day lasted about seven hours. The 77-year old patient was subjected to a heart valve replacement and six bypasses. After an afternoon of rest and recovery, Vince was asked if he felt able to get up and walk a short distance across the room. He not only walked across the room, but started down the hall, joking with the staff that he had to get home and back to his job as a restaurateur. He was feeling great until an hour or so later, when he began to complain of a strange sensation. Tests determined that he was suffering from internal bleeding. He would have go under the knife again that very same day. But he continued to remain peaceful and confident, because he knew that Padre Pio was with him and all would be well.
Vince had been a longtime devotee of the saint and often prayed to him, asking him to place his protective arms around his family and friends. Under Padre Pio’s watchful protection, the second operation successfully stanched the bleeding, and after some days of recovery Vince returned home. Vince insists that the most important thing in life is to have faith, and he speaks from experience.
This was not the first time he had been seriously incapacitated or had been through tribulation and adversity. Vince is a survivor of leukemia and has battled multiple sclerosis. The MS did, for a time, paralyze him, and unfortunately it permanently took away the sight from one of his eyes. His trials were not all health-related. Not long ago he and his wife Betty lost much of their retirement nest egg in connection with the fall of the Enron Corporation and the recent stock market collapse.
Many times during his serious illnesses and trials, he would suddenly experience the scent of roses, seemingly coming from nowhere. He thought at first that perhaps the Blessed Virgin was sending him a sign. Later he learned that Padre Pio often signals his spiritual help and presence by means of the aroma of roses and other flowers, as reported in the many books about him. Vince now considers that the heavenly scents were most probably consoling gifts from the saintly Capuchin. For Vince, whatever happens has a reason, and he accepts everything from God’s hands with perfect resignation. With tears in his eyes, he related the story of his leukemia and the coma that he eventually entered. He could hear one of the doctors telling the physician who was extracting marrow from his bone not to bother since the patient was not going to survive. While he was still in the coma, he had a dream that he was traveling in a bus with his young son and some others. Then fumes entered the bus because the exhaust and air conditioning ducts were reversed. He watched helplessly as his nine-month old son died from the fumes, and shortly thereafter awoke from his coma. A priest was in the room, speaking softly that he had some bad news for Vince. Vince said, “Yes, I know, my son has died.”
Vince Beddia has fathered 12 children, and he lives with his wife Betty in Long Neck, just a short distance from his son’s Italian restaurant, La Dolce Vita. Formerly a Catholic, he now attends East Gate Presbyterian Church and has words of praise for his pastor, the Rev. Gary Knapp. When Vince told Knapp of his Padre Pio experience, the pastor, who had heard of the Catholic saint, replied, “You are in good hands!” Though currently not an active Catholic, Vince still keeps in prayerful contact with his favorite saints, including Padre Pio, and often prays the Rosary.
Did you see this one ?
G-d Bless Him...even more.
Amen!
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