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What would you do if one day the Lord showed you the movie of your life – successes, sins and sorrows -- and rewinds it three times for you to review? One would think that it would take more than a lifetime to watch it once, much less thrice. But for one person, it only took three days. For Bro. Stanley Villavicencio, it was an experience that further changed his life, devotion and faith in the Lord.
An ordinary man of extraordinary faith
Born in Bais, Negros Oriental, Bro. Stanley was raised a Roman Catholic and had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, a devotion he started when he was still in grade school.
He married Melissa Gantuangco Villar, a nurse, and moved to Cebu to start a family. Still, his devotion continued, as close to his house was a chapel dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Having the chapel near his house had a great bearing on his decision, but after moving, he discovered that the chapel was portable. "Portable lang siya, pero meron nag-donate ng lote, kaya we were able to build a permanent chapel," he explained. In 1983, he became Chapel President.
Bro. Stanley was basically and ordinary man. In 1993, he was an employee of AVSECOM (The Aviation Security Command). He also became a member of the Perpetual Dawn Rosary Association in Cebu.
A miracle and a calling
In 1993, as head of the family, Bro. Stanley was suppose to receive the statue of the Virgin Mary into their home. However, that morning when the statue arrived, he was not up and so his mother-in-law received it. Concerned, she went inside the bedroom, there she found him convulsing, with blood spurting from his mouth.
Bro. Stanley was taken to Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu and was rushed to the Emergency Room. There, still bleeding profusely from his mouth, and convulsing, he was injected with the maximum dose of Valium to try to stop the convulsions and slow down the huge quantity of blood pouring from his mouth. The doctors ran all sorts of tests, but could not locate the source of the bleeding, nor any kind of illness. "Wala akong sakit noon," he said and added, "but I was pronounced clinically dead by the doctors."
Doctors took a blood test with view of giving him a blood transfusion, but his blood count was normal which medically was impossible, it meant that his body was not short of blood, despite the fact he had lost so much blood. He slipped into a coma, is heartbeat became slower, his skin color turned gray and then he stopped breathing.
He was declared "brain dead." His family at first did not believe because Bro. Stanley had shown no previous signs of being ill and the doctors were unable to determine what was wrong. But on the second day, his family prepared for his funeral -- his coffin, a burial plot, and a burial gown were all arranged. By the third day Stanley’s blood had congealed in the bottom of his legs and feet and rigor mortis begun to set in.
But after the third day, Bro. Stanley came back from the dead, perfectly healthy, as if nothing had happened. While his heart was flat line, his brain dead, he had in spirit, met for the first time "Jesus Christ of the Divine Mercy."
Every sequence and procedure of his medical condition was documented. Medical records showed that he was first in a coma and then dead. On investigation these records were examined and all medical staff involved, questioned. The Church started to investigate on this phenomenon and their discovery led to the endorsement of the Archbishop of Cebu, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
