Venerable Fulton John Sheen was an American Bishop born May 8th 1895 and died December 9th 1979. Renowned for his preaching especially on television and radio, a prolific orator and theologian, he also had a great sense of humour. In his television series titled ‘The woman I love’, he relates a funny story of his total reliance on Our Lady to get him out of a pickle. He was a priest student in a university in Belgium and said he will never forget his first visit to Lourdes in France, where our Lady appeared to Saint Bernadette 18 times in the year 1858. 

The Bishop had just enough money for the travel. Not enough to cover his living expenses in Lourdes, not enough to pay for a hotel stay. He asked his brother, a medical student in a university if he could help him but his brother was a typical university student barely managing his own expenses. He thought to himself that if he had faith enough to go to Lourdes to celebrate the 5th anniversary of his ordination it’s up to the blessed Mother to pay his bills. 

So he arrived in Lourdes broke. He decided that if our Lady was going to pay his hotel bills she could just as well pay a big bill as a little one. When you ask for miracles you must never be a piker! He checked into a nice hotel and decided to stay 9 days making a nine day novena. The 9th morning nothing happened, the 9th noon nothing happened, the 9th evening still nothing happened. Then it was serious. He thought he would give our Lady another chance. So he went down to the grotto about 10:30 at night and while he was kneeling in prayer, a man tapped him on his shoulder asking if he was an American priest and if he spoke French, yes the bishop replied. Do you know Paris, ‘yes’ he replied. The man said, ‘will you come with my family to Paris tomorrow and talk French and show us the city’. He then walked the bishop back to his hotel and asked him , what he considered, the most important question in his life ‘ have you paid your hotel bill yet’ and without further ado the bill was settled. The Bishop had more money than when he started out.

 The moral of the story is not to go into a hotel and run up bills but it worked for him he said. He thanked our Lady profusely. The Bishop doesn’t recommend that any one try this stunt.