On Saturday April 2nd
2005, at 8pm, I was in the Chapel at the Briery Retreat Centre in
Ilkley, Yorkshire, with the Formation Ministers of the
Secular Franciscan Order from all parts of the
U.K. At this time we were in Adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament and kneeling with my eyes closed I was thanking Christ
for giving us the Eucharist and for our Holy Father in proclaiming this as the
Year of the Eucharist.
Suddenly my eyes were filled with
a brilliant light and in that light I saw Angels all flying around a tall Angel
holding the soul of our late Holy Father in his hands. Words are totally
insufficient to
describe the beauty, the joy, I experienced that evening. All I know is that I
did not want the vision to leave, I just wanted to stay with it and I would have
been very happy to have followed the Angels that evening to Heaven.
Sadly the vision did
disappear heavenward and upon opening my eyes I looked at my watch – the time
by then was 8.18pm, U.K. time
(9.18pm
Rome
time) and I whispered to the Franciscan Sister next to me that the Holy Father
had died. She asked my how I knew and I
later shared with her my vision. Approximately 25 minutes after
this, one of the Nuns who runs the Retreat Centre came into Chapel and spoke
with the Franciscan Priest directing our weekend Retreat and he, at an
appropriate moment, announced to us that our Holy Father had died.
As we left the Chapel, another
Franciscan Sister came over to me and asked if I was alright for I appeared
transfixed to her from the other side of the Chapel. I shared my vision with her also.
When eventually I arrived back
home, being very concerned over the time of death that had been announced
differing to my visionary time 20 minutes earlier, I e-mailed the Vatican Press
Office. They sent me
a copy of the Doctors report and the last paragraph stated “The
ascertainment of death was effected by means of an electrocardiogram which
lasted 20 minutes”. My concern was
cleared for I had seen the Angels taking the Holy Father’s soul to Heaven at
the moment he had actually died and not the time a machine was switched off.
The vision for me has given me a
sheer determination that when I am called to Heaven I will be found in a state
of Grace and doing the will of God. I
know that when Christ smiled at me from the Cross he gave me the knowledge that
I was loved and I cannot now wait for the moment when I will again see Him face
to face in all His Glory no longer nailed, in pain, to a piece of wood.
Also by Derrick Tranter, "My
Testimony."