To hear Mary Giordano, a Midwest woman, tell it, the weekend of March 18 began normally enough at the Sisters of St. Francis Retreat Center in Missouri, where Mary participates in Cursillo weekends.

“I was excited because every Cursillo Weekend, for me, is an encounter with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.”

Might want also to add the Virgin Mary in the mix, for that Friday night, as she was praying the Rosary in the Adoration chapel, “I looked at the statue of Mary that was beside the monstrance; it was a representation of Our Lady of Fátima. My eyes were drawn to her eyes because the expression on her face was so sad, and her eyes looked bloodshot,” writes Mary in a new book we’ll be making available. “I noticed that Our Lady of Fátima’s face was transformed into Our Lady of Akita’s face, and I thought I saw her crying.

“I kept this to myself because I thought it was a special grace that only I could see.”

For Mary has mystical experiences. More on that next week.

“On the next Saturday, March 19, 2011, Saint Joseph’s Day, my friend and co-table leader for that weekend and I led our table members to the Palanca Chapel for spontaneous prayers in front of Jesus’ Exposed Presence.

“As we were praying, my friend got up and stood in front of the statue and asked, “Do you see this? She is crying. Tears!”

And so it was. A little crowd gathered. There was the odor of roses—”aroma of sanctity, they call it.

For Mary, it was “as if someone had a large bouquet of roses and stuck them under my nose. I then heard Our Lord ask me to get my notebook because he had a message.”

It was one of dozens of message the Midwest housewife and mom has received.

In this case, it included the words:

“Dearest children, the evil in the world has reached a point where evil is prevailing in the lives of many.

“The manifestations of evil are present because there is so much sin in the world.

“There are many opening themselves to evil through New Age, through occult, through pornography, through all that they are opening themselves to.

“You will not be able to combat evil unless you arms yourselves with My sacramental power of Adoration, Eucharist at Mass, Confession, Rosary. Everything you need I give you, but you must not presume that you can combat evil at this time without Mr Power here, for without Me, you shall be devoured.”