Fr. Hewko's "Mary, the Cause of Our Joy!" August 2019

In July, 2019, a contingent of pilgrims came to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, to pray at the tomb and visit the humble shrine of the stigmatist and victim soul, "Little Rose" Ferron. Born in a stable on May 24, 1902 in Quebec, tenth of fifteen children of hard working parents. At 4 yrs. old she saw the Child Jesus holding a cross, "I saw Him with a cross, and He looked at me with grief in His eyes." He invited her to a life of suffering. At age 12 she was very sickly. The family moved to the USA and finally settled in Woonsocket, RI. Guided by wise priests she offered her sufferings in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and would soon share in His mystical sufferings by the stigmata. She would undergo the wounds on her hands, feet, side, shoulder and crown of thorns. Some of her sayings were: "Jesus was dragged through the streets and mud, I shouldn't expect to be treated better than my Master."

"The caresses of Heaven are not like those of earth!"

"...That I may become a martyr of Thy Love!"

"To save souls one would do anything. So, together, let us help Him, the One we love, to give Him many souls!"

"I will pray hard and my sufferings will always be for souls! I give myself to our dear Jesus to do with me as He pleases. I must ask you to pray for a very important intention---it is for souls and at any price I must have these! They are so dear to God! Pray! Pray hard!"

When a woman went to Germany to see Therese Neumann, a stigmatist, she asked her visitor why she came all the way from America when there is one in the USA already. Later, this woman visited Little Rose, and upon walking upstairs to visit her, she heard Little Rose say, as if expecting her, "What took you so long to come?"

A priest who knew St. Therese of the Child Jesus later visited Little Rose and said how strikingly similar she looked to St Therese.

Fr. Salinas Casey, O.F.M. in Detroit, who did so much good for souls in his humble way often spoke of, and highly praised Little Rose.

Br. Andre of St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, Quebec, would sometimes visit Little Rose when he would visit his family from Canada. In one of his visits, he stared for a long time at her statue of Christ Scourged at the Pillar. Little Rose asked him if he would like to have it. He agreed, and she gave it to him, which was a supreme sacrifice for her! That statue still stands on his desk!

Even the bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, Bishop Hickey, confided in her prayers! Having had to excommunicate a large number of parishioners for serious rebellion, he asked her to pray for them. "My child, will you suffer for the diocese of Providence, for its priests, and for those I was obliged to punish?" Rose at once accepted and with tears she said to Our Lord, "Take everything I have and cherish. I am willing to suffer until the last one returns, even a hundred years, if You so wish it!"

While Our Lord's little victim bled profusely, suffering through the wounds of Christ, after a short time, all those who had been excommunicated resubmitted themselves to the authority of the Church. Her prayers were answered.

Our Lord, the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph often came to her in her frequent ecstasies.

She never let a visiting priest leave without receiving his blessing, she could even feel the power of long distance blessings. Once, while in ecstasy she was too weak to speak, the moment a priest gave her a blessing, she instantly became stronger and her words were clearly pronounced, without effort.

Her face would resemble the Holy Face in her last years, oozing blood in her eyes and from the crown of thorns, on Fridays, especially during Lent.

Closely resembling Christ's Holy Life, she died at age 33, on May 11, 1936, with all the sacraments. She died in the odor of sanctity. In 1945 her body was exhumed and found incorrupt. Her tomb is in a Catholic cemetery where Mass was offered by Fr. Hewko.