Veronica & Arthur Lueken
Veronica & Arthur Lueken
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.
Copyright © 1999
TLD Ministries. All rights reserved.
Revised:
July 11, 2006
