It was after dark in a small hospital room in Denver. Stephanie Villanueva-Montoya sat at the bedside of her 6-year-old son, Santiago, who was suffering severe headaches from a condition called arteriovenous malformation.
Her husband, Elias Montoya, was there, too, and he had just fallen asleep. She was tired, not having slept for several days because of her son’s agony and because doctors had yet to figure out what was causing the pain he had been feeling on and off for days. In the darkness of this dire medical situation, she felt led to plead to God for help.
“I couldn’t sleep; I was just beside myself,” said Stephanie, 45, a parishioner and employee of St. Rita in Cottage Grove, of that night in April 2007. “I just said, ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Can you hear me?’”
Within seconds of uttering those words, she said she heard an audible male voice begin to pray the Our Father. She joined in, and right after finishing, her son began a dramatic turnaround that started with doctors finally figuring out what was wrong with him. He made a full recovery and has suffered no ill effects of the condition since.
Santiago is now 22, and, for the first time, his mother’s story is going public, thanks to encouragement from the pastor of St. Rita, Father Mark Joppa. It is one of 142 stories that make up a book Father Joppa first dreamed of publishing in 2022. He wanted to give people in the pews a chance to talk about how God has moved in their lives. An invitation in the parish bulletin June 26, 2022, drew an enthusiastic response.
The book is called “Cairn: God Moment Stories” and it was distributed to parishioners the weekend of Dec. 16 and 17, beginning after the 5 p.m. Saturday Mass. The word “cairn” is a Scottish Gaelic word used to describe a human-made pile of stones often used by hikers along wilderness trails to point others to the right path. Father Joppa is hoping the stories in this book will help point the way to God.
“I love listening to people’s stories,” Father Joppa said. “When I go to people’s homes, I’m amazed at the things that they share.”
When he first pitched the idea, he told parishioners he wanted to get 100 stories. “People laughed at me,” he recalled. Then, 15 people responded and sent stories to him within the first two weeks.
Father Joppa continued soliciting essays. His next move was to have some of the first 15 who responded tell their stories during weekend Masses. Along with that, he urged parishioners to “take a risk, go on an adventure with God. Don’t be afraid to be intimate and vulnerable.”
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been pushing people to share a little of themselves,” he said. “And I thought this (writing their God-moment stories) was the perfect vehicle for that. But sometimes people need a little encouragement.”
In August 2022, Stephanie decided to write and submit her story. By that time, Father Joppa had surpassed his goal of 100. He and another staff member liked hers so much that he later asked her to help with editing, which she started doing in February. She joined three other parishioners who served as editors: Chris Reckinger, Becky Fox and Alice Gilbert.
“I love books, I love reading, so it was perfect for me,” she said of becoming one of four story editors.
In March, she was hired by the parish as a faith formation assistant. She then recruited her oldest daughter, Arianna, 24, and Santiago to help with the book project. They worked on layout and design, and Arianna found the photo that they used for the front cover.
“It was absolutely pivotal, their work and what they’ve done,” Father Joppa said of Arianna and Santiago, who graduated together from Metro State University in St. Paul Dec. 9. “God sent us these two angels … that really got us to the finish line.”
Stephanie said “it was really awesome” to work with two of her children on the book and watch their ideas shape the project. Arianna spent lots of time searching for just the right image for the cover, which ended up being a photo of a stack of rocks along the shore of Lake Superior.
“They’re native rocks to us,” she said. “They’re different colors, they’re different shapes and sizes. And I think that’s what represents our Church.”
Father Joppa had 1,000 copies printed and hopes to get them all into the hands of parishioners. The launch party after the 5 p.m. Mass Dec. 16 was a good start toward that goal. Dozens of people lined up to get copies they had preordered, or buy them at a display table. Parishioners Laurie and Gary Rhealt took full advantage of the opportunity.
“We preordered seven of them and decided we needed one more,” Laurie said after buying one over the counter to add to the seven preordered copies Gary picked up. The books are “Christmas gifts for family members we hope will be inspired to reconnect with the Catholic Church.”
Father Joppa hopes other pastors in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will start their own book project so that more God-moment stories can be told. He plans to give books to all the priests of his deanery (five), members of the presbyteral council and his ordination classmates of 2007, plus other priests he knows. That part is icing on the cake and the extent for now of reaching people beyond the parish.
“First and foremost, this a gift to the people of St. Rita’s,” said Father Joppa, who has read all 142 stories and is giving a book to each writer. “That was what I wanted. As COVID was pulling people apart, I was hoping this could bring us together to share a little bit and do what the cairns do, which is to encourage, guide, keep us on the right path.”
Out of the project came a valuable truth that Stephanie has learned.
“Everyone has a story,” she said. “Everyone has God in their life in unexpected moments. And it’s a beautiful thing.”
