Hello. Welcome to Sunday Night Prime. I'm Father Andrew Apostoli, a member of the
Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and I'm happy to be with you tonight. We've got a
wonderful program in store for you.
I'd like to mention at the beginning of the program that if you want to contact me, maybe
sending emails, maybe with questions or observations, please send your emails to sundaynightprime
at ewtn dot com.
I repeat that, sundaynightprime at ewtn dot com.
We'd love to hear from you.
Well, as I mentioned, we've got a wonderful program tonight, and you know, we're living
at a time when the Holy Father, Pope Benedict, called the church to the year of faith.
He sees that so many people all over the world are losing a sense of God's presence.
You know, we don't see God, and so we can get caught up in so many material things,
pursue the pleasure, just complete neglect of thinking about the Lord,
and yet He is the one providing our life and taking care of us.
We need signs to help us to remember His presence, and sometimes God gives them.
You know, Jesus said we shouldn't seek signs, we have to believe even when we don't see.
But it is very powerful when God gives us certain signs
Sometimes and things that happen. I would think of the miracle of the Sun at Fatima
That was a sign for fifty four fifty five thousand people right there in the coven another
25,000 people all around many of them became real ardent believers when they saw the Sun
spinning in the sky
Going back and forth and then hurtling down toward the earth boy that made believers of a lot of people
But sometimes the signs are not that great, but there's still a real sense of God's presence.
I think what we're going to share tonight is a sign of God's presence in a wonderful person.
Our program tonight is entitled Little Audrey Santo.
her cross and her joy, and we're very privileged and happy tonight to have Audrey's mother
with us, Linda Santo. Linda, welcome to the program tonight. We're very pleased to have you.
Thank you, Father. It's an honor to be here.
Thank you.
And with Linda right now at this part of the program is Diane McNutt, who was a medical
assistant in the case of little Audrey, and we want to welcome you, Diane, to the program
tonight also.
It's wonderful to be here.
Thank you.
Okay. Well, you know, I'm sure, Linda, everybody who's watching this program tonight is going
to want to know about your daughter. Either they heard a little bit about her, or if they don't
know, they're certainly going to get an earful tonight, don't you think?
Wonderful. Okay. Well, Linda, I'd like you, why don't you share a little bit about your background,
your family, and a little bit about Audrey and her birth and her very early childhood.
Well, my parents were very Catholic.
We were very Catholic.
My father was Maronite Catholic and my mother was Roman-Rite Catholic, so we had the beautiful
flavor of both, you know, the Eastern and the Roman-Rite.
It was just beautiful.
So we, you know, we had a great beginning, my sisters and I, great beginning at home.
And my children are practicing Catholics and my grandchildren.
I have six of them from 15 to 4.
And the older ones, of course, had really that privilege of being with Audrey.
And as we go on and we talk about her cognizance and her being aware and awake,
you'll see more that she had such a relationship with them and with her siblings.
Audrey's accident, as we call it, because that's what it is, it's an accident, happened
on August 9th.
in 1987 and the first medical documented time was 11.03 a.m.
I say this because on August 9th in 1945
at 11.03 a.m. the bomb exploded on Nagasaki, Japan.
So we believe what man destroys God redeems.
And that church in Nagasaki is on Santo Street.
Of course, we know Santo is an Italian name in Japan, which, you know,
God shows us signs like that. When I got pregnant with Audrey,
and every time I was going to have a child, I prayed for a saint.
I never prayed for a healthy child. I never got one.
So, but I guess I did get my saint.
I had cancer and
I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer and I had cancer
I didn't do anything about it, and I still had her.
My doctor, who was a high risk, said to me that she was a tumor,
and I said the tumor would be running around.
She was.
Audrey became the nucleus of the family.
She was like the boss.
the youngest you know the youngest is always the boss and being a girl she was
even bossier so yeah she rolled the roost if the other children were arguing
she would just say to them now mom said stop it simple economics one two three
that's the ballgame kiddos
She was very bright, she could read, and she wrote her numbers and her name.
In fact, I have Mother's Day cards from when she was two and three where she wrote things
in them.
She particularly liked the number eight, which is kind of odd because the accident happened
August 9th, which is an eight-nine.
She was very precocious, very verbal, very bright.
She would tell her brother Stephen, who was 14 months older,
that she knew it all.
He would just stand back.
If they came in the house and he was ready to tell a story,
she'd say, wait, Stephen, I tell it better.
And, of course, he acquiesced to that, he was always been very mellow.
And she would say to us sometimes, you know, I have an idea.
And we would know, of course, and we'd say,
Audrey, what's your idea?
Let's go to Mickey D's, you know?
And we would, of course, you know, the youngest.
You always give in to the youngest for everything.
So when this happened, and Audrey,
we believe, chose not to speak.
She had a tracheotomy, but people can speak
with a tracheotomy, and she was so verbal.
That we believe that she really decided, you know to give that up
You know children love to be loved that's the main thing and I think when this happened to Audrey
And the doctors put her in a drug-induced coma. They had given her
750 milligrams of phenobarb and lots of other meds
She was in a coma for three weeks
And we believe that probably at that time, she met with her Lord, and of course, how
much love can you get from God, right?
So who wants to come back?
I wouldn't, you know, so I think she was so enveloped in all that love.
We actually have a little story of another little girl that was in the unit with Audrey,
and she was in a drug-induced coma also, and several years later, her and her parents
came to visit us, and she told the story that when she was in the coma, she met with Jesus.
But there was a little girl there, Audrey, now she didn't know Audrey, and she was sitting on Jesus's lap.
And Jesus told Mary, the little girl, to go back.
And she went back to her parents, but Jesus said Audrey had a lot of work to do.
Now when the child related this story, she was five years old, so we know she didn't make it up.
Yes, so and we had you know lots of priests and witnesses and taped it
And I leave that to the Lord. You know I don't speculate on anything
We just let that you know be part of what God's plan is which is perfect
Yes. Yes, God's ways are mysterious, aren't they, you know, to take a little child like this.
As you were describing your daughter, she sounded a little bit like Jacinta at the, you know,
there in Fatima, Jacinta Marta, because she was rather stubborn. She had to have her way.
It had to be her way. And she didn't get her way. She was pouting and, you know.
Yes. Oh, yes.
So she was running. She was the youngest, as you know. Of course, there were three children there.
So, I think even St. Therese was a pretty stubborn, she was very
precocious as and very stubborn too, remember her mother put a
Punished her one time by putting her down in the basement, and she wouldn't apologize all day. She stayed down. She would not apologize
Well, maybe that's something that saintly people or holy people
Are gifted with is to have a sense of I'm determined and if you use that the right way
You can accomplish a lot of good
Well, I know, Diane, you're here tonight, part of the program, because you worked with
little Audrey, you know.
Yes, I did.
Now, Linda has told us how she had that accident, as they called it that.
What was your experience?
How did you become involved with working with Audrey?
what was your kind of experience like over the years that you were there?
Well, I came to know Audrey through my mom because she was through a Marian conference.
Linda was trying to get together.
My mom received a phone call from our parish and my mom was then introduced to Audrey and
the ministry started just growing and it was Linda and my mom.
some other people helping and as it became to grow, my mom had made
a comment to me at, you know, one point that
um...
they were really in need of some help and I did say to her my
my son was my third, was a little over a year old and I said I'd love to help
you know whatever I could do. So
I started volunteering just delivering the mail
and that grew
as the ministry grew I was
working with another woman and
We were doing walk-throughs for the terminally ill for children and then I was working one
day and one of the nurses that was pregnant could not lift Audrey and the other person
that was supposed to help her was not available and Linda called down to me and just said
geez do you think you could go over and pick up Audrey and I don't like that.
Oh, I think I want to do that.
So I went over, and I had been obviously out of work.
I used to work as a CNA back when I was 15,
so I've been doing this for 35 years, but very apprehensive.
because of who she was and so I just literally prayed to God and all the holy
angels to help me pick her up and it was like I looked at her and she looked at
me and it was just like oh my gosh
I lifted her into the wheelchair and then to bring her in for her tub.
And then it happened another time and Linda said,
would you be interested in joining the nursing staff?
And it happened to work out because my husband became ill
and had to go on disability.
So, it was an incredible honor, incredibly overwhelming to say yes, I was fearful because
it's an incredible responsibility you have, but such an honor to take care of her.
Could little Audrey do things for herself or did you have to take care and as you said
lifting her, taking her for her bath and so on like that?
Same thing with food, feeding and all, she had to be assisted by you or someone else.
She did. And I think the biggest thing, you know, I just want to say is she was
medically induced in that coma for three weeks, but she woke up. So she was in a state called
akinetic mutism. So she could not speak, as Linda said.
She had a tube feeding and the only substance she received every single day was our Lord
through Holy Communion.
She was able to do that.
Wasn't it the bishop of the diocese at the time? Was he a retired bishop at the time?
What was his name?
He gave her her first toy.
to give her first of the community.
How old? Four years old.
Boy, that is amazing, isn't it?
We had permission from both rights.
to have the blessed sacrament for her.
Yes, but people understand that both rights would be the Maronite right as well as the
Latin right.
As Linda mentioned, she was both, she was a combination of both of them.
Well, that's a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Would there have been any particular way that
Audre laughed a feeling to you, Diane, working with her.
Did you have a sense of feeling that this young child was close to God?
Absolutely. And I feel that she's with me now, even now, and really that's, I think, how my
journey really started with our Lord and she had Jesus and she had a tabernacle in her room.
And so our Lord was with her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which meant when we were there,
we were also in the presence of our Lord.
And the graces that we all received as a result of taking care of her, certainly our faith,
my faith grew.
I imagine you can't be around holy people without some of it just rubbing right off
and making you better for this but we're going to do such a fascinating thing but we've got
to take a break now so there's much more to come so please don't go away we'll be right
back.
Welcome back to Sunday Night Prime. I'm Father Andrew Apostoly, and we're very pleased tonight to be able to present this program to you
entitled Little Audrey Santo, Her Cross and Her Joy. In the first segment
we heard how Little Audrey, when she was about three years old, fell into the family swimming pool.
We thought that we're going to lose her life, that she would
She would not recover from that.
But she did, and her mother lovingly took her home
and provided the love as well as the care
to take care of little Audrey,
and as we heard from Diane,
on the first day.
segment of the program, the medical attention that was given so lovingly to
little Audrey. Well now we're going to move on now and Linda I want to ask you
when you brought her home what was it like having her there and what was
beginning to happen both regarding the family and maybe even people who started
to hear about her.
Well, I think right from the time she was born she started her little miracle, so I had
some sores on the bottom of my feet that had just been biopsy the day before she was born.
And when I gave birth to her, my husband had walked in and the source were gone.
And he said, oh, look, the source of God is what are you doing?
He's lifting the sheet, you know?
And he said, the source of God, and I saw if that's just her first miracle.
So I think she moved on to make her better.
Did you have a termination?
That there was something different about her about?
I think we all did in the beginning, yes.
I really do. She could be very elusive, almost ethereal. My brother-in-law, she would drive
them crazy because they'd call her over to pick her up and they'd go together and she'd
be over there.
a question father. Yeah, no. What was beginning to happen after she was at home now, you were
caring for her with help from people like Diane, you know, assisting. But what was happening to
the family? How was it affecting your immediate family and others, especially people who began
to hear about her maybe came to see her?
Well, it was even strange in the hospital now that you say that because, of course,
always hindsight is 20-20, right?
You know that God's got this plan always, but then you see it unfold and all these people
are coming to the hospital.
There were Mormons that were fasting, there were Jews that were praying.
I mean, it was just remarkable and, you know, it was on television, it was on the news.
We didn't even know it was.
We were, you know, in the hospital.
Well, they were hearing about it.
We had friends that had been on the beach in Maine and they turned it on the radio and
came down immediately.
But when we brought her home, the same things were happening.
People were coming.
Baptists were coming.
I mean, she was very ecumenical, I guess.
But all these people started coming and then things started to happen.
purchased a beautiful statue of our Lady Fatima in Spain, and she was white with just gold.
She started to turn colors. The nurses used to joke around and say, well, she couldn't color
in the coloring book, so she's coloring statues, you know. And then things just started. People would
pray with their prayer card. It would, you know, turn gold or whatever. Rosary beads turned gold.
All these different things started to happen.
And we don't know where these people came from.
They just kept coming and visiting
and asking her for favors.
So we opened our home because that's what you do.
You know, you open your home.
to the world and then you live in a fishbowl.
So, I mean, you know, we just opened our home.
I picked a lot of bread father.
I did, so we served a lot of people,
but God is good and he provided,
and you know, we, because my husband had left five weeks
after the accident, so, yes, but I had,
a wonderful support system. I had one, a wonderful family and friends. And my other children were,
they weren't ever jealous or anything like that.
that. There was no animosity. They loved her. They waited on her. I mean, they just, they
all learned care. Even Stephen, when he received only four at the time, he even learned how
to suction. I mean, they all learned to care, even though we had a nursing staff, which we
work for at the beginning, the first couple of years. It wasn't easy. I'm trying to get
people scheduled and so on and so forth. But we had the same group. We had one nurse that
was with us 19 years. And she was loose red.
So, we had nurses that converted, one was Jewish, one was an agnostic, she was tough,
and one was a Baptist.
They converted to Catholicism, and so, and I think like Diane mentioned, people increased
their faith, their journey changed in faith with taking care of Audrey, because they were
actually watching.
this kind of phenomenon happened. I remember one day going to pick up Stephen from school
and I came back and the nurse that was on, Tracy said to us, we brought the picture with us,
actually. She said, look at that picture, it's weeping oil. She said, I don't know what to do.
I said, well, what have you been doing since I've been gone? You know,
She said, I've been watching it.
I said, well, I hope you've been taking care of Audrey.
But it just, things just started to unfold and happen.
We have seven hosts that have bled.
Tony, of course, can you think of it?
Yeah, we'll do all that stuff, because that's just mom.
Okay, your mom.
Well, that's the job number one, right?
Being a good mom.
You know, I didn't even get Deacon Anthony.
Deacon Tony.
He likes Deacon Tony.
I didn't even get to introduce you in the second part of this program tonight.
But welcome Deacon Tony.
Deacon Tony Sorozinski.
Excellent pronunciation. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
That's a great accomplishment.
It's a privilege.
to be here, thank you.
I am Director for the Office of the Deaconate for the Diocese of Worcester, but I am not representing the Diocese as such in any way.
But I am Vice President for the little Audrey Santo Foundation and also Vice Postulated for the cause.
So it's the foundation that's really pretty.
Promoting everything great. I think of people to just to explain that see the diocese would not be stepping in at this point
It's got to be a foundation. I know when I was the same thing happened with
Archbishop Fulton Sheen for his canonization process
I was part of the foundation for that and then we went to Bishop janky
Bishop up here to ask if he would be the official
sponsor the foundation is the
promoter of the cause. And that's what's happening at this point. It's still the work
of the foundation to get things moving. Then they will seek a sponsor, the bishop ordinarily
is the sponsor for that cause. So that's where you are now in the process.
That's exactly.
where we are right now. We have Sibelis that has been given by the postulator, Dr. Ambrosi,
and the bishop had given it to the head person in charge of the tribunal office,
and he's looking into what steps need to be taken at this point in time.
I got involved in 2010 and it was actually Padre P who pushed me into this because, and
I say that because a friend of mine had been given me a book, Pray Hope, and don't worry.
And I don't know if it was because I worry a lot, but anyway.
He said, pray, hope, and don't worry.
And I looked at the book, and I knew Padre Pio's story.
And he was one who had been working.
He was a deacon, Dennis Cormier, who
was working at Audrey's helping out
with the people who were in the lids and so forth,
bringing them around.
And he was always after me to go.
And I said, gee, I just really don't have the time.
But after I had read this book, I had let him read it.
And he says, I'm finished with it.
Can I bring it back?
And he says, yes, I said, and by the way, I said,
you always wanted me to go to Audrey's house.
I said, so how about if we go to Mass today, go to lunch,
and go to Audrey's house?
I walked in, met Linda.
Next thing you know, I'm looking around the room.
and I see these statues and pictures and so forth, all oiling up.
There's a big picture of Padre Pio on the left side of this chapel
and he had oil and I went over and said,
can I stand on this stool?
Just go ahead.
I stood on this little stool bench, whatever, and I touched this.
I said, gee, it's a little sticky, which is, wow, must be your fault because it hasn't
done that in a while.
And I had a little sign that clicked with me that said, well, maybe this is something
that you need to get involved with.
One thing led to another, and as part of their story too, was there was a nurse in the hospital
who was taking care of our gene on their way.
to take her home, she said you had a visitor, a long story shot. There's a
picture of him over there. He's got gloves on. So we were trying to find this nurse
who said that Padre Pio had visited Little Audrey while she was in the
hospital. That's amazing, isn't it? It's fantastic.
I know of other instances where Project Bio has appeared
to people after his death. He has appeared to different people to strengthen their faith.
I know a man who said he was cured by Padre P.O. He lives on Long Island.
I don't know if anything has ever been studied in an official capacity, but he certainly
indicated that. But isn't that a marvelous thing that this saint who suffered himself so much
would come and be with little Audrey and herself.
And he's the patron of our cause in the Roman Rite in St. Charbelle is the patron in the
Maronite Rite.
Well, you've got two really prominent saint's there.
That's great.
And it was interesting, as I went through, the next thing you know I found that
Somebody said, I think it was Linda, that said we could use a vice president.
And I said, well, let me think about that.
So I went to the bishop, I said I've been offered to take the position of vice presidents.
He says, good.
It'll be the clergy representative for the cause.
I said, okay, wonderful.
And then just this past year, the postulator emailed me and said, by the way, you're the
vice postulator now.
At this point in time, we're just gathering all the information that we can.
I have seen hundreds and hundreds of documents saying that they have had some types of alleged
healings, mental, physical, emotional, spiritual.
uh... conversions of different types
and so we're organizing all those now for when the commission is
to be started and we could present it to them
that's right
see i remember it because i was doing the same kind of work and was i'm vice
part of pasta
for the cause of Archbishop Fulton Sheen and there are two things that are
required before you can even officially open a cause and the first one is that
the person who's being considered for possible sainthood has to have a
reputation of holiness and I no doubt
from everything you've shared about Audrey and her condition and the effects she had on
people, her suffering, she was held in great esteem as a holy person and the second thing
you have to be able to show the Vatican before you can really open the cause is that people
who have prayed,
to that particular individual have been receiving favors and favorable answers so it's so good
to hear that you know and I think more people will be encouraged to pray and I know even
with Bishop Sheen working with the cases that people have told us about who prayed and some
but rather extraordinary and great helps but you know that's a great assistance isn't it
to the faith of people. Miracles can really strengthen people's faith.
Oh it is. Even myself as a Deacon, it has strengthened my faith so much. Right now I pray every day
to be able to do something for the people to bring them closer to the Eucharist and help them
to reel it. This is the real presence. And it's just a wonderful thing.
Well, we hope and pray, and we can ask all our viewers, too, to pray that the official
opening for the cause of little orgery may, if it's God's will, come very soon.
We can ask for that.
Usually, you have that five-year wait.
from after the person dies before they would open the cause.
Of course, there have been a couple of exceptions.
Mother Teresa was an exception to that.
The Pope John Paul made that exception,
and Pope Benedict made that exception for Pope John Paul,
you know, to open it after a couple of years after his death.
But this is a great thing, you know,
one of the beautiful things for the Catholic Church
is our belief in the communion of saints.
And it's so, you know,
It's so uplifting to know that we have members around us, you know, those you know and live
with.
Imagine being a mother, if your daughter becomes a saint, then what a great thing.
You know, I often think of the mother of little Maria Garedi, you know, because she was at
her daughter's canonization, you know, not something that happens every day, that's for
sure.
But, I know there's so much.
much more to talk about in terms of the witness of her life, and we're going to be talking
about that in our final segment of the program, but we want to thank you when Dick and Tony,
we ask that the Lord will bless you, continue with your work, and help to bring this cause,
if it's God's will, to a glorious conclusion, which is maybe the honor of the Lord.
of a saint, being honored at the altar.
And if anybody would like to contact us,
it's littleaudry-santo.org.
Littleaudry-santo.org.
OK, that's the way to contact the foundation.
Yes.
OK, great.
You're very good.
Well, we're going to take a break now,
but we'll be right back, so it won't go anywhere.
Back Sunday Night Prime, I'm Father Andrew Apostole, member of the Franciscan Friars of
the Renewal.
We've been having a really fabulous program, so interesting and so moving about little
Audrey Santo.
her cross and her joy and we're privileged to have her mother Linda Santo on the program
and now joining her is Father Jeffrey of Niski, Father Jeff, okay. We're very happy to have you
Father as also being a part of this program. You know Linda I just want to direct a question to you now
What has your daughter's presence as a sense of God's presence done to your own personal life?
Well, it certainly has increased it.
I mean, you know, the faith, it's always increased.
We're pilgrim people.
So we're on a journey all the time to learn our faith.
And if we take up our journey and our class,
we can learn and increase.
And it certainly helps our families and our friends
and people around us.
I always like to quote the modern philosopher Yogi Berra, who used to say it ain't over
till it's over.
So we're all increasing, right?
And we don't stop growing until God calls us from this life.
Then it's over.
That's right.
Then we get the crown that God has prepared for us.
But I'm sure you've seen many lives touched very deeply.
And of course, Father Jeff would be one of those lives that's been very touched.
Father Jeff.
Can you share your involvement with the cause or the work for little Audrey's possible
canonization in the future, but at least the work with the foundation, your association
with the family?
Sure.
I'm glad to.
Well, I met the foundation. I met Linda about a little over a year and a half ago. I was
working in New Bedford, Massachusetts. I had just been ordained over just over four years.
Remember of the institute of the incarnate word.
Also known as the IVE.
Wonderful community of religious.
I met some of your priests in Russia,
and I'm the priest in Kazan, where the holy icon is.
He was one of the priests of your order.
I'm sorry to interrupt you.
That's okay.
It's a good word for my institute.
Thank you.
Well, I got to know the community of the foundation just about, actually just under
four years as a priest.
And I was one of my spiritual high as a priest, having just been ordained at 38 years old.
And I entered the institute at 33.
So after my word of nation, I worked in a...
In the parish community of a shrine, a little shrine, and the work that I did, there was
so much work.
I was exhausted usually every day, at the end of every day, Our Lady of Peace in California.
And when I finally landed in New Bedford after three good years and inspirational years,
Everything was kind of quieting down, and I was like, what now?
And I was told that the group of catechism kids
like to visit little Audrey Santos
from Worcester Mass. And I thought, wow, I remember before I was a priest, I always wanted to visit
this little girl. I felt I had needs and I wanted to go and ask for her intercession because,
you know, to solve our family problems and whatnot, I was hearing this little girl
was performing so many wonderful.
acts of love in her life, and I wanted to witness about that.
I was saying, what is it about this, the mystery of this little girl in Worcester?
So when I tried to come down to meet her, before I was ordained, before I was a seminary,
there was no chance.
There was a waiting list over a year long, and I think I don't know who I spoke with
one of the representatives at the house.
So finally I'm ordained a priest and I'm working in New Bedford and I am asked to go
along as a chaplain as a chaplain for the group and when I get to know that I walk
into the home and meet Linda, I say.
charming woman, Linda, the mom of this little girl, and I thought I'm looking
also at the pictures, the images, the oil. I hear the story about the little
artery and I'm just impressed.
And I ask if I can go into her room and see where she lived, where she slept, where she
had her wake in hours, and I find out, wow, she's even in the presence of the Blessed
Sacrament, what a privileged girl this is.
And I hear the stories.
I'm just taken up by this little girl, even though I never got to meet her while she was alive.
When I left that night, I felt like I had gotten to know her and I woke up the next morning.
I was feeling like I was on a new high, spiritual high,
not only about her, but also about what I have to do
as a priest, my work as a priest to minister,
but felt like I had developed a relationship with someone.
having just knelt at her bedside, prayed about her life.
I heard the touching stories about things like glitter,
when priests would sprinkle holy water on her body
when she would be laying there looking at them, gazing at the priests.
how the holy water would turn into glitter.
That's amazing, that's strange.
And so I just was taken up by the mystery of this little girl
and also by the healings that people would experience
when they would...
stand next to her and
How she would communicate with them by just gaze and looking at into their eyes
They would kind of be captured by her spirit, which I guess we could call it a spirit of charity
and peace, and I left with that, and I had wanted to be part of the community, and a little
secret I had was that I could be part of the foundation, and I was asked, because after
some months, if I would like, and I thought, wow, what
What a privilege.
That's right.
It's grace, isn't it?
Yeah.
To work with the Lord in promoting someone who has given God great honor and glory.
I know I feel the same way in being a part of the foundation for a Bishop Pauline Sheen.
You know, you're promoting a saint, a living saint.
saying someone that lived in our own time and you know I see her life as a rich example
for this year of faith especially first of all you know her very holiness exuded
sense of God's presence and you know one of the things that Pope Benedict has
been so concerned about is that the faith of our people is diminishing it's
we're losing a sense of an awe about God
People are so busy with the things they can see, they're forgetting about the things they don't see.
And here, as I see it, Audrey's life is like a sign.
God is putting, no, I'm reading. Look at this young woman here who suffered.
And I was present in her life, you know.
I remember, you mentioned earlier in the program that Padrufio is your patron, I'm so happy
to hear that.
He's a great, great saint and one of the great saints of our time, maybe of all time.
And I remember I was...
someone talking about his faith, and they said, you know, God was as real to him as the
pain in his hands and feet and side. That's how real God was. And there was no doubt there
was pain in his hands, feet. He's mentioned for 50 years of his life with these open wounds,
you know. Someone asked him one day, he put your field to your wounds, hurt.
He said, what do you think God gave to me for good looks?
He said, certainly they hurt.
And so for him, God was very, very real.
And you know, looking at Audrey and herself,
And yet, in a sanctity that had exuded such a tremendous piece for people, there were
conversions as well as healings, were they not?
I remember the story of the broken legs, her therapist broke her legs at a young age.
This girl had feelings I heard that she would cry in her bed sometimes.
She wouldn't utter a word, but she would have tears running down her face.
From the pain, from pain, from pain, whatever she was suffering and
So I you're taken up by the story and by your compassion you come into a relationship with with someone there
Even if they passed
If you still want to be a part of a cause of someone's same, same hood,
you are taken up, if you have compassion, you're taken up into their life.
And so in that, the stories of the priests would walk in and she would immediately
follow them around the room. Only the priest I was told, and so something about
her spirituality, very priestly spirituality, every baptized Catholic,
shares that priestly spirituality, but here we have a
ministerial priest, priest of the ministry walk in, and she would fix her eyes on them
from the moment they would walk in, until they would walk next to her bed, and they would
hold her hand, and she would squeeze their hands, and affirmation of their.
I guess of their priesthood, yeah, so something special about this little girl. Yeah, and of course today
I think to the the whole
Role of the priest
You know we need to to pray for peace. I remember when I was ordained the bishop she not the
what a nation in the homily, he said, if there is any key to the reform of the church
and the salvation of the world today, it lies in the renewal of the priesthood. You know, I remember
when Pope Benedict gave us the year of the priest, it was such a blessing. You know, we can
encourage the people who are watching. Pray for your priests. You know, their vocation is so very
important. And that's why
Little Audrey seemed to have a quality that you find in
people who are very close to God, there's a real sense of a concern for God's priests.
You know, as a, you know, Bishop Shane used to say in the Old Testament, they said the
way the shepherds were, that's the way the sheep were, and the New Testament, the way
the priest is, that's the way the people are going to be, right?
And Orgy must have understood that.
I wonder, did she ever indicate in any way that she may have offered her life for priests?
Well, I remember one particular priest that used to come and visit more often than he does
now.
He's from Rome, one senior Donato Conti, and he's on one of Audrey's films, and he goes
in to see her, and he's talking to her, and he's speaking, of course, in Italian.
She cries, and he said to her, you cry, you cry for me, for my sin.
And she was just crying, you know.
And she was very cognizant of things.
In fact, the whole week before 9-11 happened,
she cried the entire week.
It was inconsolable.
So, I mean, there was, we didn't know it was gonna happen,
but we knew something was gonna happen.
But she loved the priest.
My mother would tell you that.
God bless her if she was here.
She'd say, boy, she loves her priest.
And that's, to me, that's a great, great sign.
You know, I mean, we don't, we don't, what do you call it?
We don't make priests divine.
They're not divine, but they share in a certain special way
in the role of Christ who is divine.
You know, and so priests have been called to great things.
You know, St. Francis used to say, he said, if I met,
he said, if I met a priest and an angel at the same time.
He said, I would.
first greet the priest, just the hand of the priest, then I would greet the angel.
I mean, that's how much he was taken up, and he was a man of the church, and I think we need to
promote that, not to glorify priests, not to say, well, they never do anything wrong.
That would not be a right thing to say, but we need to pray for them. Yes, you know,
And sometimes people are very hard on their priests.
And that's not good.
St. Francis used to say, if you offend a priest,
that's the worst person you could ever offend
in the whole world, is the worst offense.
So it's so important to know, to pray for priests.
And I think that's part of the witness
that Audrey gives so powerfully, you know, to do that.
used to preach even before the accident.
I know, I know, Linda, you'd also talked about Audrey's life in terms of pro-life.
Would you just comment on that?
Well, Dr. Ambrose, he had said to us what he'd like to do is, you know, use her life
as the pro-life saint, you know, in our society.
society, of course, people would say, or away, or whatever, I don't know what.
In fact, even when we were going to take our home, the doctors came in and they said to
me, so where are you going to place her?
And I said, excuse me, and they said, where are you going to place her?
They meant, of course, and you know, we had to never seem home in the institution.
I said, I'm going to place her in my arms.
Beautiful.
And they said, well, you can't take her home.
I said, why not?
She's my baby.
They told me she'd be dead in two weeks and I said, boy, I hope you're on duty in about
20 years.
So, because I am fresh.
So, I took her home and we loved her and took care of her and the family, her nursing
staff, she had absolutely pristine care between, you know, God was obviously taking care of
She didn't have a bed sore.
She didn't have a cavity, she had the most beautiful teeth.
In fact, the first time the dentist came to the house, he was blown away.
He had come in and it was his time he could visit and see her.
And I said to him, I just want you to know that it's about 15 priests here.
He thought it was crazy.
So we came to the house and about 15 priests prayed over and before he went in the room.
And he went in and he could not believe it.
He said, sure, her teeth are perfect.
I said, what else?
You know.
She was probably about 10.
Isn't that beautiful?
That's usually when kids are getting lots of cavities.
Yeah, of course she didn't chew, you know, the only thing she swallowed, she had no reflex
following.
The only thing she swallowed was the Eucharist.
Isn't that amazing?
The priest was massed in her room.
every day. No, no, no, but it was that they're many times
anything. They brought communion to her every day. We're
standing in the tabernacle. We were like, Oh, that's right.
Yeah. Isn't that beautiful? Yes. Yeah.
Yes, and you know St. Patrick Peele.
who has been a friend of ours in my own children for many, many years.
She has, Audrey has five first-class relics of St. Patrick P.O., and they bleed on her
birthday.
Do they?
Yes.
On December 19th, every year.
Those little relics bleed on her birthday.
So I know he's very close to it, he always was.
Yeah, well, he appeared to her like that.
My kids used to sleep at his statue when they'd have a test the next day.
You know, he was very much a part of our lives.
Do you know that he scored the highest marks ever recorded in his seminary?
He had to study at home because of ill health, but he's a good patron saint to pray for them.
Well, today must have known that because they all got good marks.
Well, you know, she becomes such an example too of suffering a victimhood, which today
so many of our Catholic people are forgetting, you know, the need to offer our sufferings
to God.
You know, suffering a vision she needs to say can make you better or bitter.
And we know that there is a lot of suffering that has made people turn away from God.
We need to learn how to see the cross.
as a sharing in Christ's cross. Suffering of itself is a negative thing. It's not worth anything.
In fact, it is something you want to avoid in itself. But the cross suffering with Jesus, it becomes sanctified.
It becomes redemptive to the person who suffers, but it becomes co-redemptive for others.
That's the whole basis of the message of our Lady Fatima, asking for prayers and sufferings.
What was Audrey's love for Mary?
How did that, did it express itself in the...
Well, she did, but I have to say, when she was a little baby, she had this very tiny
picture of the baby Jesus.
And if the other children took it from her to teaser, you know, she would be hysterical.
That's my baby Jesus.
She loved the little baby Jesus, all the baby Jesus that she had.
She collected them.
maybe since they would be your baby Jesus, you know.
The Blessed Mother to us, to my family and to certainly to Audrey, I was just saying on
the way up here, I can't call her Mary because I wouldn't call my mother Priscilla.
So I have to call the Blessed Mother because she's the Blessed Mother, you know.
So we always thought that when this happened and we were saying one rosary after another,
the children, my husband and I, my mother and dad.
one rosary after the other.
We're walking down the hallway and I said, back to the room and I said,
all right, that's it. We're going to go to the big guys now. I said, no more rosary.
We're just going to go directly to God, right?
My son Matthew says to me, you know, mom, now he's 13. He says, you know, mom,
if you ask me to do something, I do it. But if somebody else asked me, I might not.
I said, all right, we're back to the rosary.
Mother, Mother's, Mother's influence, Mother's place, it's so beautiful, yes, yes.
Well we've seen so many healing graces and conversions that have come through her.
So her suffering is truly co-redentive and you know, for all of us we can learn a powerful
example from Audrey, you know, carry our cross every day.
Jesus said that.
If you want to be my disciple, deny yourself.
We're not here to just enjoy all the pleasures of the world.
We've got to make sure we get to heaven.
That's the most important thing.
That's the one thing God made us for.
So we've got to make sure we're
On our way to heaven, don't get caught up in the false pleasures and false promises of the world.
You know, these things will all pass, but Jesus' love will not.
And so if you take up your cross each day and follow the Lord, you know, you will come to eternal life.
Now I know you told me, Linda, before the program, when we were talking a bit there, you don't give homilies.
Would you tell everybody what you do give?
say to my my own children my grandchildren now I don't give homilies
because I'm not a priest I give mama leaves mama leaves
I'm all of you out there all you mothers and grandmothers and even
fathers to uh... poppoles I guess
We're coming to the end of our program and I'd like to close today with a prayer that
was approved by Bishop McManus of Worcester for the beatification of little Audrey to
end with this prayer today.
Eternal Father, I thank you for the gift of Audrey Santo and for her extraordinary witness
to the world that all life, no matter how small, broken or wounded, remains precious
in your eyes.
Grant that she may be venerated someday as a saint for the glory of God, if this be your will.
Here we request for all those who seek her intercession, especially the graces they stand
most in need of, and we ask you to bless all who are seeing this program today.
I ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.
Well, we come to that part of the program now, where we have to make a pitch, an appeal
to all of you.
You know, you've seen a wonderful program here tonight, and I'm very inspired.
I want to learn more about a little Audrey, my dad.
yourself, maybe go up to Worcester and you see where Audrey was and pray to her and learn
from her inspiring example. But how would you have known about this program unless EWTI
presented it to you?
So, you know, you got to pay for getting on the airwaves.
Okay, so remember the message that Mother Angelica always gave us at the end of the program.
She said, make sure you put an envelope for EWTN between your telephone bill and your electric bill,
and make sure you put a stamp on it and get it to the post office.
It'll keep EWTN on the air.
We don't want to lose touch with all the wonderful things that God is doing in the world today.
Well, God love you.