Dear Readers of Letters of Gold,
I am reissuing the story of Thomas Vander Woude
In better typographics. When I sent out the Letters of Gold
last night, I didn't realize how poorly were the typographics of the
story which was included in that News Letter.
—Thomas Fahy
+The Incredible and Marvelous Death of Thomas Vander Woude
on September 8, 2008
This remarkable man from Nokesvile, VA—husband and father of several children, lover of the Church and helper to any and all who needed his help—was a reader of the “Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ” by Luisa Piccarreta. Not long before his incredible death, Tom was so impressed with the suffering of the 1 AM hour of Jesus’s Passion (when Jesus was thrown into the Cedron Stream) that he couldn’t help but talk about what happened to Jesus in that Hour with others:
[Here is a paragraph from that Hour: “O my Jesus, we are now at the Cedron Stream. Now the treacherous Jews push You in, they throw You into the stream, hurling you against a nearby rock so hard that your most Precious Blood pours from your mouth, marking that rock. Then, pulling You down into the depths of that putrid water, they force it in o your ears, your mouth, and your nose. O unspeakable Love! You are immersed and, as it were, cloaked by that foul, nauseating, and frigid water; and, in this state, You vividly portray the pitiful state of crea-tures when they sin. O how this cloak of filthiness covers them inside and out! How it disgusts Heaven and all who see them—drawing down upon them the wrath of Divine Justice.”]
Well, on September 8, 2008, Thomas Vander Woude’s son, Joseph (who was born with Downs Syndrome) slipped on some muddy earth into a rather deep septic tank behind the Vander Woude’s home. The cover had apparently been opened for some construction purpose. Mr. Vander Woude was unable to extricate his son from above, so he jumped in the septic tank and held up his son for a long time while others sought help. The depth of the septic tank was such that Mr.Vander Woude had to struggle desperately to keep his head above the contents. By the time adequate help arrived and retrieved his son alive, Mr. Thomas Vander Woude had drowned in the fluids of the septic tank!!
What an incredible, and yet marvelous death! —identifying so fully with the 1 AM Hour of Jesus’ suffering, which had made such a profound impression on Mr. Vander Woude.