The beginning of this amazing series of events seems to stem from a proclamation of Pope John Paul II who, on June 7, 1987, proclaimed a special 14-month Marian Year. Bishop Michael J. Sheehan of the Diocese of Lubbock, writing in the South Plains Catholic, expressed the wish that every family and every parish would show greater devotion to the Blessed Mother. Monsignor Joseph James, pastor of the St. John Neumann Church, and members of the parish staff, invited the bishop to dedicate the Saint John Neumann Chapel as a Marian Year shrine.
The bishop did as they asked, and apparently the Blessed Mother took the dedication seriously, for in the spring of 1988, she began giving messages to three people from that parish.
Mary Constancio was the first to write down one of the messages. It came to her at 2:30 a.m. on March 1, 1988, and according to her husband, Henry Constancio, she was so excited that she wanted to go tell the bishop right at that moment. Her husband, somewhat disturbed by being so suddenly awakened, told her to go back to sleep and let him, as well as the bishop, sleep until morning.
Shortly thereafter, during the Monday night devotions, Mary Constancio started writing down messages that she believed she received from the Blessed Mother, who identified herself as the "Queen of Mercy". Since the majority of the 1998 messages were received while the rosary was being said on Monday night, the messages back known as the "Rosary Messages."
When Mary Constancio had to miss one of the Monday night devotions in April, 1988, the Blessed Mother told her that Theresa Werner would receive the message in her absence. To Mike Slate?s surprise, he, too, received the message as did Theresa. After that the three - Mary, Mike and Theresa - all received messages each Monday night during the weekly prayer time in the St. John Neumann Chapel.
The messages carried recurring themes such as: Love one another, forgiveness, repentance, get closer to Jesus, use the rosary to blind Satan, live by the Ten Commandments.
As word spread of the unusual happenings at St. John Neumann, attendance increased at the Monday night devotions. Healings were claimed by many, not just physical, but emotional, spiritual and mental healings as well. The chapel was no longer big enough to hold all the people who came. The church had to be used, and soon that was filled to capacity and overflowing.
As the end of the Marian Year approached, the messages started hinting of something extraordinary that would happen at Saint John Neumann on the last day, August 15, 1988, the Feast of the Assumption. And it happened as promised. Some reports state that as many as 20,000 pilgrims showed up, coming from all parts of the country.
Eyewitnesses claim to have seen many supernatural phenomena, including the dancing of the sun at sunset, and the moon turning rose colored at dark. Healings took place that day, and still continue to the present time.
During 1988 Theresa Werner received some messages from the Blessed Mother, but most of her messages came from Jesus and God the Father.
Mike Slate continued to receive some messages after 1988 up to the time the Lord called home to be his mother, the Queen of Mercy.
Mary Constancio still receives messages from the Blessed Mother on the Feast of the Assumption and during the year. Those messages have been published in our newsletters, in several books available through the community of the Ambassadors of the Flame of Mercy, and and this web site.
