Some Recent Favors of Don Alvaro

A hard-to-sell cow. Tensions in a polygamous family. A premature baby. These stories from Kenya represent a few of the many recent favors attributed to the intercession of Alvaro del Portillo.

Don Alvaro and my cow

My name is Christine, and I live in Mombasa. I hope to attend the beatification of Don Alvaro in Madrid, Spain on 27th September 2014. I had only paid one installment, and the second installment was already due. I looked for ways and means of raising the money but all was in vain. Then I remembered a cow which for the past three months I had advertised for sale but there was no ready buyer. One morning in June, I woke up and during my morning prayers I asked Don Alvaro to intercede for me. I told him that I was going to my farm in Mtwapa and therefore he should ensure I get somebody to buy the cow at Ksh.40,000.

During the morning Mass I repeated my prayer request through Don Alvaro. On my way to the farm I felt an urge to talk to a nearby butcher about my intention of selling my cow. He did not show any interest in buying it. I was very disappointed and I proceeded to the farm. In the evening, when I started preparing to leave the farm, at about 5 pm, I heard someone calling to me at the gate. He told me that he had been informed about my intention of selling the cow and that he wanted to buy it. We negotiated the price and he paid Ksh.40,000. The cow was loaded on his pick-up and off he drove. I could not believe it.
I found myself thanking Don Alvaro for the "miracle." I posted the Ksh 40,000 to Nairobi for the beatification trip. We should ask Don Alvaro for assistance not only in spiritual but also in material needs.

Christine O., Mombasa (Kenya)

My polygamous family

About two years ago, my family went through serious feuds that threatened to tear it completely apart. I come from a polygamous family where competition for attention and resources between my step mothers has existed since I was born. However, I had never witnessed a conflict of this magnitude, drawing in almost everyone, parents, children and the family of my father's younger brother. The conflicts, in my opinion, were motivated largely due to a lack of income sources as well as hopelessness because of a lack of college training among my adult siblings. There was so much hatred among family members that at some point they quarrelled publicly and in some instances even resorted to physical fights. This state of affairs caused my father great suffering and subsequently physical and psychological pain, as head of the family, for he realised that he had lost control over his family.

While chatting with my father during one of my visits home, my father took me aside for a walk and opened his heart and shared with me the problems he was facing. He looked helpless and dejected. He was looking for a friend to help carry the burden and help him find a solution. He implored me as a first born son to offer help. It was then that I invoked Don Alvaro for intercession for the family for a lasting solution and family unity. I quickly organized a family meeting, after which family members reconciled and agreed to forgive and forget the past and rise-up to face future challenges in unity.

The fruits of this reconciliation did not take long to materialize. Within the same week, two of my siblings from opposing sides got admission for professional training simultaneously and without any effort, after years of waiting. One joined the Army and the other entered the Medical Training College (MTC). Shortly after, one of the family members who had threatened to file litigation against the other for assault agreed to have the matter resolved within the family instead. Another sibling of mine who had just completed college after several years finally got employed. Within a few months of this reconciliation, I have witnessed a tremendous outpouring of favours in my family that cannot be attributed to human effort alone. I have no doubt that God's all-powerful hand was at work all along, working in silence away from human “eyes.”

Today the family enjoys greater peace, joy and unity than ever in the past. I attribute all these developments to the generous hand of Don Alvaro, to whose intercession I went during this trying moment in the family. I have invoked him on many other occasions for help and my prayer request was always answered.

Peter S, Kakamega (Kenya)

A pre-term birth

My cousin had a pre-term birth with her first born child. He had to be placed in an incubator and at one moment appeared to be in danger of dying. I entrusted him to the intercession of Don Alvaro. After about four months he was able to leave the incubator, healthy and with a good weight. He has no complications whatsoever. I give thanks to God and to the intercession of Don Alvaro for the life of my nephew.

Peter M., Ngong (Kenya)

Don Alvaro short video: "You Kenyans have a deep sense of God's presence"