http://www.sisterraquel.com/2015/09/rainbow-of-hope-911 eastwind journals By Bernie Lopez, eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com A day before the 14th anniversary of 9/11, a rainbow shone brilliantly across Manhattan. It is maybe a reminder from the Lord for us to stay with Him during trying times. (Photo by Ben Sturner – 9/11-rainbow-of-hope).

It was the same rainbow that Noah saw after the flood, symbol of hope, symbol of the God of wrath turned into the God of mercy by Man’s prayers and atonement.

It was the same rainbow a day after Yolanda, as told by Archbishop John Du. On the night before Yolanda came, he was praying the rosary with some priests amid a deadly calm. He thanked Mama Mary for sparing them. On the fifth mystery, Yolanda , the strongest typhoon of human history, came like an angel of death. Next day, he emerged from the cathedral and saw thousands of corpses in the cathedral yard, which were dumped there by people who believed it was sacred ground. He walked a kilometer to the ruins of his residence atop a hill, which looked like ground zero of a nuclear blast, 6-inch thick walls torn like paper. He was in tears, thinking Mama Mary abandoned him, until a rainbow suddenly appeared., the same rainbow of hope of Noah and 9/11. Then, he knew Mama Mary did not abandon him. He knelt in prayer, asking forgiveness for his lack of faith. It was total hope after total despair, blinding light after deep darkness. Seeing that rainbow, he decided to tell the people of Tacloban the message of hope. He commissioned Willy Layug, the noted Filipino Michaelangelo, to build the image of Our Lady of Hope, now displayed in the cathedral. During his visit to Tacloban, amid a mini-storm that came and left suddenly, Pope Francis embraced that statue, as he uttered, “Ah, la Madonna, la Madonna.” (See photos.)


