When I was serving in Aplao in 1978, one of the regular activities that I was involved in was to celebrate a weekly Mass in the local prison which was a one-room affair, very close to the parish church.

Aplao, being the Capital of the Province of Castilla, was the centre of various activities for the Province, and one of them was precisely to receive condemned prisoners until they were assigned to a prison in Arequipa.

One day, the officer in charge of the prison came to the parish office and asked the parish priest for an extra Mass because a prisoner who had recently arrived, a condemned murderer, was asking incessantly for a Mass for his particular needs.

Padre Coco, as Fr. George Scerri was known throughout the Majes, told me that we should go and celebrate this Mass because obviously, the Grace of repentance and sorrow was at work in this prisoner.  So, without much ado, I went to celebrate this extra Mass in the hope of being of spiritual help to this condemned man.  I celebrated this Mass for him and the other inmates at around 5.00 pm and this prisoner was very calm and devout. Nothing remarkable happened.

However, the next morning we learned that this prisoner had escaped! Was this special Mass he asked for a simple ploy to help him escape?  I do not know, but certainly, the ways of the Lord are infinite!