J.M.J.
In the October 1948 issue of Guideposts appeared an article by Babe Ruth. It arrived some weeks earlier--August 16th to be exact, the day on which the extraordinary athlete died.
What follows is an excerpt that details the importance of the Sacraments, Our Lady's intercession through Her Miraculous Medal and the good, honest guidance offered by a friend.
In December, 1946, I was
in French Hospital, New York, facing a serious operation. Paul Carey, one of my
oldest and closest friends, was by my bed one night.
“They’re going to
operate in the morning, Babe,” Paul said. “Don't you think you ought to put
your house in order?”
I didn’t dodge the long,
challenging look in his eyes. I knew what he meant. For the first time I
realized that death might strike me out. I nodded, and Paul got up, called in a
Chaplain, and I made a full Confession.
“I’ll return in the
morning and give you Holy Communion,” the Chaplain said, “But you don’t have to
fast.”
“I’ll fast,” I said. I
didn’t have even a drop of water.
As I lay in bed that
evening I thought to myself what a comforting feeling to be free from fear and
worries. I now could simply turn them over to God. Later on, my wife brought in
a letter from a little kid in Jersey City.
“Dear Babe," he
wrote, “Everybody in the seventh grade class is pulling and praying for you. I
am enclosing a Medal which if you wear will make you better. Your pal–Mike
Quinlan.
"P.S. I know this will be
your 61st homer. You’ll hit it.”
I asked them to pin the
Miraculous Medal to my pajama coat. I’ve worn the Medal constantly ever since.
I’ll wear it to my grave.
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