Seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit
CHARLOTTE — Dozens of Catholic members of the legal profession gathered at St. Peter Church for 15th annual Red Mass Oct. 25. Many are members of the St. Thomas More Society, which emphasizes living a life faithful to Jesus Christ and His Church, seeking to promote justice in society.
The Red Mass is celebrated throughout the United States traditionally in conjunction with the opening session of the U.S. Supreme Court, giving members of the legal community the opportunity to reflect on the God-given responsibilities of their profession.
The Mass in Charlotte, a votive Mass of the Holy Spirit, was celebrated by Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey.
In his homily, Abbot Placid encouraged members of the St. Thomas More Society and others present to pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance in “the difficult and very important work” they do. He urged them to seek charity, justice, truth and wisdom, and to conform their lives, choices and actions to the will of God.
“This association of Catholic professionals is so important for building up the Church in Charlotte and to giving witness – precisely through their professional competence and expertise – to the truth and (Catholic) faith,” he said.
Four members of the St. Thomas More Society assisted at Mass: one as cantor, two brought up the gifts during the offertory and one as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion.
After Mass, members explained why they attended the celebration.
“We think it’s important for very busy lawyers to take time out of their day and pray and ask for the Holy Spirit to help us seek justice in the justice system, so at the beginning of the Supreme Court term that is what we try to do every year,” said U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad, who has been on the bench for 15 years.
“The Red Mass is very important to me because it allows me to get together with fellow lawyers and those in the legal profession through prayer and to bring that back within our legal community and beyond and to spread the Word of the Gospel to the greater community,” said attorney Matt Orso.
Echoing his sentiments, attorney Michael Hoefling noted, “It’s important as a community of lawyers to ask for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to guide our practice.”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
CHARLOTTE — After suffering with chronic pain and debilitating numbness in her legs for five years, Megan Bean emerged from the baths in Lourdes, France, May 3, 2013, pain-free and able to walk. She received what she calls an “instantaneous physical healing” and thanked God. However, her joy was tempered with concern for the other sick pilgrims and their families.
“You see so much suffering in Lourdes, and it is very, very difficult, especially seeing the children,” Bean said. “I was struggling with the question: Do I put my wheelchair and cane away here in Lourdes, or do I wait until I get back home?”
“It was a struggle for me because, as you walk through the hotel and (word of her healing) is getting around, people are looking your way,” she said. “At least that is how I felt; what do I do?”
Bean said it was the parents of the sick children on pilgrimage with her who encouraged her not to hide her healing.
“These parents asked me to tell them what had been the matter with me and to what degree,” Bean said. “When I started to cry, they said, ‘You can’t just go home and hide in your house because, if we were wavering at all in our faith, we’re not anymore. We saw you being carried off of a plane and then we saw you get out of your cart and walk. Even if we didn’t believe in anything, we know that.’”
“Whenever I’m asked to speak, I think of the children and those parents,” Bean said.
Bean shared her remarkable story, “Journey from Suffering to Miraculous Healing in Lourdes, France,” Sept. 22 with parishioners of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte, where her son, Father Matthew Bean, serves as parochial vicar.
Father Bean introduced his mother and offered prayers to open and close the presentation, which included a photo slideshow of Bean’s trip, questions and answers, and distribution of holy water from Lourdes.
Each year, millions of pilgrims visit the shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared 18 times to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Thousands of physical and spiritual healings have been attributed to the water that springs forth at the site. The Church recognizes 70 of those healings as miracles.
In 2013, Bean was one of 300 Malades (“sick person” in French) who traveled from the eastern United States to Lourdes with the Order of Malta, an international lay religious order dedicated to protecting the Catholic faith and serving the poor and sick. They joined thousands of Malades and volunteers from around the world for a week of prayer and reflection, which included visits to the baths, candlelit processions, recitation of the rosary in many languages, Mass and Stations of the Cross.
Bean said the experience profoundly changed her spiritually, as well as physically.
“I’m not the same person who went to Lourdes, and I’m not talking physically,” she said. “There’s something about Lourdes that changes you.”
Healed in Lourdes - Megan Bean's story from Peter Scudner on Vimeo.
“When you are in Lourdes, you can truly feel the presence of the Blessed Mother – she’s there with you,” Bean said.
A misdiagnosis
Bean’s physical problems began on a Monday in March of 2008, when she felt severe pain in her left leg, she said. Her regular physician was not available but referred her to a colleague who examined her and said her symptoms “were in my head,” Bean said.
By Thursday of that week, however, Bean developed chest pain and shortness of breath. She returned to that same doctor who again told her he found nothing wrong.
Bean said she knew differently and drove herself to the hospital emergency room where she was diagnosed with a massive blood clot in the bend of her left leg and multiple, life-threatening clots in her lungs. She was placed on blood-thinning medication and admitted to the hospital.
Bean spent more than six weeks in the hospital – including two weeks in neurological intensive care – as effects and complications from her treatment led to new, serious health problems, she said.
“I was misdiagnosed, and my case was not handled properly,” Bean said.
She suffered a bleed into her hip flexor, a spinal cord compression, and a head injury from a fall, she said. Severe nerve damage left her in chronic pain and with numbness in her legs, particularly her left leg, and her feet. She had damage to an artery in her heart and lung issues. Her doctors prescribed 13 different medications and intensive physical therapy.
Bean returned home to face a life very different from what she had known.
“I went from being very active to being wheelchair, walker and scooter-bound,” she said.
Because she could not take blood thinners and was at risk for clots, her doctors forbade her to take long car or plane rides. Confined to living on the first floor of her house, she relied on her family to care for her.
Despite her trials, Bean tried to make the best of her situation. “I had a cane for every holiday and season,” she joked.
She remained strong in her Catholic faith and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She attended Mass and a prayer group at her church. A lift installed in her van enabled Bean to drive short distances on occasion.
Over time, Bean’s health worsened. Because of her immobility, her leg muscles atrophied and she gained more than 60 pounds. At one point she needed a machine to help her breathe, and she developed bladder control issues.
“I remember a point in my five-year illness when my neurologist said, ‘Well, you are done with physical therapy.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean? I’m not walking yet,’” Bean described. “He said, ‘We’ve rehabbed you as much as we can, and this is what you’re left with.’”
Hope for Healing
A friend from Bean’s home parish of St. Joseph Church in Richmond, Va., first told Bean about the Order of Malta pilgrimage in 2011 and encouraged her to apply. Bean quickly dismissed the idea, believing she would not be accepted because of the health risks associated with the eight-hour flight.
When the friend mentioned the pilgrimage to Bean again the next year, she applied and was accepted. Although most of her doctors did not approve of Bean traveling, she was determined to go to Lourdes, she said.
“When the doctors with the Order of Malta interviewed me, they asked me if I would be disappointed if I went and was not healed,” Bean said. “For me, just to go to Lourdes and be where the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Bernadette and to be able to pray for peace in my heart for how I was left physically, that would be my miracle.”
Warmth and Light
On May 3, 2013, the first day of the pilgrimage, Bean’s care team transported her by cart to the baths at the shrine. Bean said her team was concerned that the 48-degree water temperature might send her nerves into shock, and they offered her the option of having the water simply dribbled on her. Bean insisted that she wanted to be immersed.
Bean prayed and kissed the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the entrance to the baths, just before the volunteers led her into the frigid water up to her neck.
“Immediately there was a great brightness, and I couldn’t see the statue right in front of me that I had just kissed,” Bean recalled. “I felt such a warmth through my body, like I was being held. And I regained full function right there in the baths!”
“My foot felt funny and I didn’t realize that was the way it was supposed to feel,” she said. “I hadn’t felt it in so long. And my pain was gone.”
Bean said she knew she was healed and wanted to walk immediately, but her care team insisted she remain in her wheelchair. Her husband Pat also initially feared for her safety.
But healing was visibly apparent. She regained strength in her legs. The atrophy corrected, and the swelling dissipated. She eventually stopped all of her medications.
Bean entered the baths twice more during the pilgrimage – the third time to thank God for her healing – and she experienced the same warmth and brightness each time, she said.
Before Bean left Lourdes, officials filed paperwork to begin the investigation into her healing to determine if it will be considered a miracle by the Church. The process could take up to 15 or 20 years, Bean said.
Since her healing in 2013, Bean has returned to Lourdes three times to care for the sick with the Order of Malta and is now a member of the order. She finds it difficult to leave what has become for her a very special place, she said.
“People ask me, ‘Are there miracles on every trip?’ and I tell them I don’t know,” Bean said. “But I encourage everyone to go. Everyone is touched in some way.”
— Dina DeFabo Wilson, Correspondent
More online
Video: Watch Megan Bean's personal journey to Lourdes and her story of healing.
At www.lourdes-france.org: Learn more about the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes
At www.orderofmaltafederal.org: Read more about the Order of Malta Federal Association