Courage, perseverance and trust do pay off.  Certainly a great example of this is found in one of Our Lady of Emmitsburg’s most faithful “little” children, author Dom Forker, whom we are privileged to have here with us today.

 

Dom is a 71-year old husband and father of 3 grown sons.  He spent 39 years as a high school teacher in New Jersey, where he still resides, instructing his students primarily in American Literature and Journalism.  During this time period, he also authored some 28 books in the field of sports.  His first venture in spiritual writing came in the year 2000 with his 29^th book entitled, Our Lady of Emmitsburg.  For several years now, he has been working on his most recent book, Roses in December.  His current spiritual director is Fr. Fred Otiendo, an Apostle of Jesus, who is the rector of the National Shrine of the Blue Army of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Washington, New Jersey.  Dom has a 50-year relationship with both Our Lady and Emmitsburg, some of which he may share with us today. 

 

In Roses in December Dom traces the role of the Sorrow and Immaculate Heart of Mary from Guadalupe through the many approved and yet-to-be authenticated Marian apparitions, ending here at the Center of her Immaculate Heart, in  Emmitsburg, Md;  as well as through the lives and experiences of many of the holiest of souls in the Church, including most recently, Sts. Dom Bosco, Maximilian Kolbe & Padre Pio, as well as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Pope John Paul II, “the Great.”

 

He integrates into Our Lady’s Plan much of what Our Lady of Emmitsburg has foretold here, including the unveiling of her Son’s Divine Mercy, the Eucharistic Reign of the Child Jesus, the Era of Peace & the coming to fruition here at the Center of her Immaculate Heart what had commenced in Fatima.  And much to even his own surprise, on May 15, 2008, this new book, Roses in December, received from the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, from both its Vicar General as well as its Censor of Books, the official stamp of the ecclesiastical permission of the Church in accord with Canon 827 of the New Code of Canon Law, declaring that “nothing  contrary to faith and morals has been found therein.”

 

As a tribute to his faithfulness to Our Lady’s call, it is the Foundation's honor and privilege to introduce to you Mr. Dominic Forker (“Dom” for short).