Our Lady asked for prayer, sacrifice, and penance for the healing of the Church.
New Iberia native, Fr. Mark (as he is commonly referred to), has been
the Pastor of Holy Rosary and Cabrini Parish since July 2015.
A short back story of Father is one that begins with an exceptional love that
began in his high school days where he met his wife, Renee. It wasn't
until his junior year that they shared a first date, which turned into a
relationship that led to marriage. Their life together spanning a total of
23 years, 11 months 23 days, and 5 ½ hours. With a humble beginning,
Father Mark said that once he first saw Renee, he was smitten from that
day forward. He couldn't believe his luck when she said yes to his
proposal of marriage. No marriage is without struggles, but he said that
her gentle spirit was almost solely the reason their marriage continued to
grow in love. Beginning a family was always at the forefront of their
desire, and through their marriage, their children Catherine and Alex,
were born. To date, he has seven grandchildren.
"Renee saw in me what I had yet to see in myself as I began to surrender
to my calling to live for Christ. My entire faith journey happened
because of who Renee was; she is the reason why I am here. With
regard to their early marriage, he recalls, "Renee is the one that was
faithful to the Church, bringing the children to Church and serving
whenever possible. She never once belittled me for not going with them,
but she loved me where I was, and she continued to pray for me.
Through a steady and loving example, Renee’ led our family to Church
until I stepped into my faith journey."
Through the years and due to Renee's prayers and an invitation from Fr
Steve Leblanc, the Mileys attended a retreat in 2000. It was during this
retreat that Father Mark felt an undeniable call and draw to the Holy
Spirit. He shared, "From that retreat, my entire life changed. I knew I
would never go back to who I was before. I felt so fulfilled, and my
heart and soul were consumed by love. There was also a great desire for
more knowledge; it was like I thirsted for the Lord for the very first
time. From my experiences of the retreat, I began to study the bible, the
teachings of the Church and started learning about the different
devotions of the Church. I was like a sponge." Soon after Miley's return
from the retreat, they became aware of how essential retreats are to those
searching as well as to those whose lives have been touched by the Holy
Spirit. Soon a retreat team was formed to allow others to experience the
power of the retreat that the Miley's experienced.
Father Mark's faith would walk through yet another door when he was
volunteered to pick up a statue of Our Lady, Maria Rosa Mystica, that he
was transporting. It was a traveling statue that belonged to Anna
Lawrence, and she was lending it to a couple, but the destination
changed, and it ended up at a Life Team Retreat where he was staffing.
He still speaks in awe of the time spent at Anna's home, I was still very
much in the inquisitive, can't get enough stage. She had a prayer room
that called to me.
My journey and our journey as a couple continued to deepen in faith
during this time. Renee had been diagnosed with cancer, and during a
pilgrimage with Fr. Manny, the group received a statue of Our Lady,
Maria Rosa Mystica, from Mr. Anglo. He was a close friend of the
visionary of Rosa Mystica. In time this statue became the group's
pilgrimage statue. The statue is presently housed in New Iberia. Many
miracles have happened during the pilgrimage, most often the statue
weeps oil on pilgrimage and here. The personal statue of Fr. Mark and
Renee often has a strong smell of roses when near it; one time Fr. Mark
stated that he placed his rosary on the statue, and it became covered with
oil...there is a list that continues on.
In the coming years, Renee's prognosis became dire. Father Mark's eyes
are filled with such love as he shared that Renee's love for Christ grew
beyond anything his human mind could comprehend. Her physical pain
was intense but matched with an even greater fervor of prayer. Even in
agony, her thoughts, words, and prayer were turned to Our Lady and
Christ. She grew in faith also to her devotion to Our Lady, Maria Rosa
Mystica. After giving her life to serve, Renee passed on December 24,
2006.
While still with an intense longing for his bride, Father Mark continued
to grow in love and faith. During another pilgrimage to Italy, yet another
miracle happened. While he was present at the Spring of Grace (Little
Lourdes is known), it was placed firmly upon his heart that he was a
Priest of Maria Rosa Mystica and a Priest of the Holy Spirit. The rest, as
you can imagine, was not always an easy journey, but he has felt Renee
with him every step of the way. As I said in the beginning, he feels that "His journey is Renee's journey."
Our Lady and the Holy Spirit continue to guide him, and in obedience,
his faith continues to deepen. He described it as an ongoing, unique
relationship. He shared that, "As a new priest, he relied on and continues
to rely on the guidance of Mother Mary and the Holy Spirit. Fr. Mark's
Holy desire is to be a good and holy priest and help others experience
the intense fire of God's love within their hearts. Within each of us is a
desire for God. How or what we do with the desire involves change.
Sometimes a soul desires change but are unwilling to accept the pruning
that is necessary for growth to occur. If we do not allow this cleansing to
happen, we become comfortable in our sin and complacent in our faith.
Once a person determines a change to be made, they must listen for the
Lord's Word. In prayer, we talk to God...in prayer, we also have to
listen. There is a quietness that is necessary for preparation to hear the
Shepherd's voice. Loving the Lord with all of your heart becomes a deep
level of intimacy, a love beyond the physical."