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She was born Veronica McDonald on July 12,
1923, and lived her entire life in the New York area. Her birthday
coincides with the date shown in the old missals as the Feast of St.
Veronica, the pious woman of Jerusalem, who made the kind offer of her
veil to wipe the face of Christ on His way to His crucifixion.
A truly beautiful young woman, Veronica married Arthur Lueken over 40
years ago in the local Catholic church in Flushing, N.Y. Little did they
know then, as do most young couples, what God would have in store for
their future life together. Later on in their married life, He would ask
something extraordinary of Veronica, but in the beginning He simply
allowed her to live the ordinary life of a wife and mother. Those early
years must have been busy times, as God blessed this young couple with
five healthy children, one daughter, Linda, and four sons, Arthur Jr.,
Thomas, Larry and Raymond.
Her husband Arthur, a construction engineer, was employed at a local
construction company in Flushing, N.Y., at the time the first apparitions
began in 1968. One could only imagine what this poor man thought (as would
any husband), when Veronica first began to tell him of what was happening.
"Like he told me one day," Veronica recalled, "'If this was happening to
someone else, I could understand it. But someone in my own family, well
that's TERRIBLE!'"
A HEAVY CROSS
Veronica was obviously no longer ordinary. God had in fact chosen her, at
this particular time in her life, to do an extraordinary task for Him, a
task which brought with it the heavy cross of suffering. And so it was,
from the very beginning, that she felt this bitter suffering. As Veronica
watched her husband worry and as she watched her children (who were then
attending school) being ridiculed because of her, she truly felt the
meaning of the 'cross'. It was only God's special grace that carried her
through and helped her persevere in those early years, and it is that
special grace which helped her to continue on in her special mission from
heaven, despite all the persecution she received.
As is the case of many mystics throughout history, Veronica herself
suffered much physical pain. She not only had a serious and painful back
problem (a disintegration of the vertebrae of the spine) but had suffered
several heart attacks and other major physical maladies. It was not
unusual for pilgrims to see her arrive at the vigils in a wheel chair or
with an oxygen tank for her use. As verified in Our Lady's message on
August 21, 1985, Veronica truly was a "victim soul":
"My child, I want to tell you at this time that we are not unaware of your physical suffering. It has been given to you, My child, because those who have received great graces, much is expected of them. And We accept you, My child, as a victim soul with other victim souls to save your Vicar and My Son's Church upon earth."
Veronica Lueken went to her eternal reward on August 3, 1995.
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Revised: July 12, 2011
