Blessed by a Saint: An Encounter of Divine Providence

By Richard Joseph Bosada

A mysterious coincidence? A Miracle? Part of a Greater Plan.

When experiencing the extraordinary, we are sometimes compelled to invoke the term miracle.

But what is a miracle anyways?

In this refreshingly honest, captivating, true story, the author leaves the question up to the reader to decide. As a veteran lawyer, trained to discern truth from falsity, Richard Bosada did not tend towards bold assumptions or blind leaps of faith. All the more poignant then is his experience which brings him in contact with divine providence. Do his experiences carry within them the message the world needs?

One thing is for certain. The events contained in this one man's experience have indelibly shaped his life and have reaffirmed his faith in God, himself and others.

The author's adventure begins, and ends, and begins anew with the firm knowledge that greater forces are at play in his life, and the reader will be shocked and delighted to follow along in this vivid, beautiful, humorous, and sometimes shocking tale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Apr 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9780228823216

Richard Joseph Bosada

About the Author:Richard Bosada is a respected and prominent Ottawa, Canada trial lawyer. He has been practising law for 52 years and continues to do so. He has appeared in every level of Court in Ontario and several Canadian provinces. He has also appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada.He was born in Canada, is of Lebanese origin, is an active member in the Lebanese community, and is a lifelong Christian. His passions include travelling, sponsoring charitable events, a good argument, painting landscapes, portraits and abstracts, boating on the Ottawa river and Great Lakes, and family gatherings and holidays.

Book preview

ebook.jpg

Blessed by a Saint

Copyright © 2020 by Richard Joseph Bosada

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-2320-9 (Hardcover)

978-0-2288-2319-3 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-2321-6 (eBook)

This book is dedicated to His Holiness Pope Paul VI, Cardinal Sergio Pignedoli, and Dr. Toufic Bahmad

With much gratitude and appreciation to:

Wanda

Jaymie and Amanda

Kimberly

Teresa

Leila

Maan

Tracie

Fiona

for their proofreading, and suggestions

with a special thanks to Dawn-Marie for her technical support,

and

Jamie for his many hours of typing the text and providing invaluable assistance.

Foreword

This is a true story that I should have shared long before now. Of course, I have shared it with family, friends, and associates when the opportunity presented itself at dinner parties and the like. However, only in recent years did I feel as compelled to share it with the world. I do that now for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that we live in troubled times and to confine my story to a small group would be selfish. Conscious untruths, flagrantly uttered by our leaders become the norm, and are blindly accepted by the masses. The result is a dangerous unpredictability of events and the shocking disappearance of human dignity, decency, and respect. Our values were cultivated carefully over many, many years and are facing an unprecedented disregard, rendering them temporarily diminished by those that utter untruths and those that accept the lies wholeheartedly.

The world changes at an alarming pace and we’re on an ugly adventure that continues to unfold, tempering our North American way of life, resulting in a view of life I no longer recognize. Mine is a story of renewal of faith and the belief that there is a constant unfolding of a spiritual knowledge that will impact our future. There must be a spiritual renewal of faith and, from time to time, events occur that give us hope that our lives will return to normal; what we knew to be respect for one another, trust in each other, positivity overcoming negativity, and faith in oneself that guaranteed civility will be restored. My story began in late 1973, remained private, and travelled through time to the months of August and September of 2017 when everything became perfectly focused for me. To complete the circle, it was necessary to fully understand why these events were not mere coincidences and were indeed the interventions of divine providence.

My story is one of these events.

Chapter 1

And so it begins.

It was the autumn of 1967 that my wife, Wanda, and I were invited to attend the wedding of one of my law school classmates. After responding yes to the invitation, that we would be honoured to attend, our five-year-old daughter, Stephanie, about a week later, answered a phone call at our home, as Wanda was otherwise occupied. Stephanie was always eager to answer our incoming calls. She always had a conversation with the caller no matter the subject. That is not to say, for a moment, that she was always on topic.

The call she answered was from the Secretary, a Monsignor of the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Sergio Pignedoli, the diplomatic representative to Canada of the Vatican State and Pope Paul VI. He was inviting us to a luncheon with the Apostolic Delegate at his residence, Manor House, located in Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa. This special luncheon happened to be on the same day as our sojourn to Montreal for the wedding. The Secretary instructed Stephanie to have her mother call him back at the telephone number he gave her. Wanda indeed returned the Secretary’s call and accepted the invitation with great pleasure, and appreciatively.

We had to make a choice. In discussing it, Wanda and I even entertained the thought of not attending the luncheon and attending the wedding as planned. Ultimately, respect for the Apostolic Delegate and his office prevailed. At the risk of offending my friend who was to be married, I had to advise him we would regrettably not be attending the wedding. He understood. The Apostolic Delegate is the equivalent of an ambassador who represents his country—in this case the Vatican State—in the capital of each nation to which he is appointed. I have contemplated why we chose to attend the luncheon as opposed to the wedding of my friend. Knowing all that I experienced, there had to be a greater force at play.

Looking back at that fateful invitation so many years ago, I