In 2012 I went on a retreat at the Benedictine monastery in St. Meinrad, Indiana. There I met a Benedictine monk named Father Sean Hoppe. Five years later, in 2017, I made my second retreat. I saw Fr. Sean again. I bought a rosary at their gift shop and Fr. Sean blessed it. The center piece was Our Lady of Einsiedeln. After I got home, I realized that Our Lady of Einsiedeln looked a lot like my tiny statue.
Five years later, in 2022, I was at the monastery again. I showed Fr. Sean my little statue and the rosary he had blessed. I told him the story of the statue and asked him if he thought my statue was Our Lady of Einsiedeln. He said no, it wasn't. He told me he had spent a few years in Belgium, and that my statue was Our Lady of Consolation. He told me that Our Lady of Consolation was very popular in Belgium. He also told me there was a shrine for Our Lady of Consolation just 15 miles from where we were! The Holy Spirit had led me to the right person. Fr. Sean. After 53 years of mystery, I now knew the title of the statue. And I was only 15 miles from a shrine with a full-size statue!
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