Requiescat in pace - Sarah Therese

At around 12:30 AM PT MoreCoffee's roommate and friend, and my friend, Sarah died when her heart stopped after a seizure. She had been battling this issue for like a month as people who saw my other threads (and that I bothered in PM for prayers) know. Helping Sarah with this is one of the several personal issues that have been keeping me from the forum.

I was texting with her, checking up on her when the seizure hit. Her last words were "Ave" because she wanted me to pray with her. The last thing she saw were the words of the Ave Maria in Latin from me, then the seizure hit.

Sarah had been in the chat room a few times for group Rosary. She received all the Sacraments except baptism in dire emergencies. Extreme Unction (more times than I care to count), Confirmation - Therese after St. Therese of Lisieux, enrollment in the Brown Scapular, and finally Last Rites including Viaticum.

There are a few miracles associated with Sarah. I'm not stupid enough to share anything of personal worth in public again. One I will tell you about, though, because it shows all things are possible with Christ if you trust in Him.

On Thursday night Sarah died. Literally. I was on the phone with her, keeping her calm as her heart was failing. Ty was in the room with her holding the phone for her. She stopped breathing, she flat lined. Ty was next to her and prayed, I was at home and prayed.

They marked the time of death. Five minutes later, her heart started beating. There was a blip on the monitor. They ran back into the room and hooked her up to everything they could. They checked, and there was no brain or physical response. Her heart was beating but she wasn't breathing on her own. They said she wouldn't make it, her organs would shut down, etc.

Ty took the phone in to her, and I called her. We didn't know if she could hear, but we thought she might. I told her it was OK to go, she didn't have to stay, but if she wanted to stay, to ask Christ for a miracle - that all things were possible with Christ.

Within 30 minutes she started drawing breaths with the ventilator. Then her organs stopped shutting down. Then her eyes opened, and she woke up, and she talked to me and Ty again and was fine for a while - even laughing at jokes - until today when her heart shut down again, they revived her and she had more surgery, and then tonight her heart shut down one last time....

True story. Ty was there, and he and I will swear before the Blessed Sacrament it happened. So will the doctors. And the nurse who gave Sarah the Brown Scapular when she was first admitted. Never forget that all things are possible with Christ, even dying for 5 minutes and coming back fine. Prayers, love, and God can conquer anything. Death is just an annoyance to Christ, not even that much.

This wasn't the only miraculous thing, but the rest I'm going to keep private. I learned my lesson there. Except for one other thing...

I haven't worn my Scapular for years, no reason, just haven't. When she got invested, I found mine sitting right there in my valet, put it on, and promised her I would never take it off again except to replace it. That's my personal miracle, inspired by her belief and trust in the Blessed Virgin. In moments of extreme suffering and pain Sarah would cry out, "Mother Mary, pray for me." The day she was Confirmed and enrolled in the Scapular was one of the happiest days in Sarah's life. She had a great fear of dying before she was received into the Church. God bless the priest who saw fit to give her Confirmation in an emergency.

Sarah and I adore each other; we were really close as she went through her conversion and her own personal hell on earth with these health problems. There's no other way to put it except that we adore each other. She and Ty love each other as well and were really close - Ty literally saved her life a bunch of times. Her best friend Mike is going to be devastated, and her family is hurting as well. Please keep all of them in your prayers.

It's hard for both me and Ty, we miss her a lot already. Please pray for the repose of her soul. Also please pray she receives a Catholic funeral. There are family issues involved there, though they might be resolved thanks to Ty who also swore she was going to have a funeral Mass if it killed him. Thanks, bro.

Sarah's favorite prayers are the Ave Maria and Hail Holy Queen. Please offer those for her.

Mother Mary, please bring Sarah to your Son and pray He receives her into His arms.
St. Therese of Lisieux, Sarah's patron saint, please pray for her.

Always and forever. To eternity. Love you, Sarah. -Joe

Réquiem ætérnam dona ei, Dómine,
et lux perpétua lúceat ei.
Requiéscat in pace. Amen.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her.
May she rest in peace. Amen.

QUAESUMUS, Domine, pro tua pietate miserere animae famulae tuae Sarah Therese, et a contagiis mortalitatis exutam, in aeternae salvationis partem restitue. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

WE beseech Thee, O Lord, according to Thy loving-kindness, have mercy upon the soul of Thy handmaiden Sarah Therese, and now that she is set free from the defilements of this mortal flesh, restore her to her heritage of everlasting salvation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O GENTLEST Heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament,
ever consumed with burning love for the Poor captive Souls in Purgatory,
have mercy on the Soul of Thy departed servant.

Be not severe in Thy judgment, but some drops of Thy Precious Blood fall
upon her, and send, O merciful Savior, Thy Angels to conduct
her to a place of refreshment, light and peace. Amen.