By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

Right before mass started at Sacred Hearts church this Sunday, the organist, Rosemary Cuccia, stood up and told the congregation, "I have to tell you about a miracle that just happened!"

Everyone in church applauded.

Cuccia moved to Hawai'i from New Jersey two years ago. She sold just about everything she owned and came here with no job and no place to live. "I even left my cat and my dog back East," she said. So when she found a place in the back of Kalihi Valley, she was delighted that two feral cats instantly adopted her. "They came with the place," she said.

She took them to the Humane Society to be fixed and implanted with ID microchips.

Then, late last fall, both cats disappeared. "They both were suddenly gone at the same time, so I knew somebody took them. For what reason, I don't know. I can't imagine," she said.

Cuccia did what she could. She reported them missing to the Humane Society. Then she let it go.

"I decided if they're meant to be back, they'll be back."

A month ago, Casper, the male tabby with a curly tail, was found.

"A woman in Manoa who feeds feral cats was feeding this one cat, brought him into the clinic for a check-up, they scanned him and found the microchip and called me."

Casper came home, a bit worse for wear from fighting, but OK. But there was no sign of Bella, the female calico.

Until Sunday.

Cuccia went to play the organ at Sacred Heart Church on Wilder Avenue. There was Bella waiting for her at the church.

"It was really bizarre. I'm looking at her and I'm going, 'That's my cat.' I know my cat. I called her, she came over to me. It was like, 'How did this happen?!' "

A friend's daughter offered to kitty-sit outside the church during the service.

"The cat was following me inside. I was worried that in the middle of priest's homily the cat would come walking up the aisle!"

Cuccia isn't sure how the cat found her, but she is sure it was deliberate.

"I teach piano at Maryknoll a couple of days a week, so I'm frequently in that area. The only thing I can come up with is animal instinct. She must have smelled me or had some sort of ability to locate me. They talk about cats who travel miles back to where they lived, but she didn't travel back to the house. She found me."

Today, it's business as usual. Bella's had a bath and is back to her routine. "She was at the front door ready for food first thing this morning, just as if nothing happened."

Cuccia has a hearty laugh that she sets loose when she tells the story of Bella's return.

"I'm thinking, how did she find me? I just don't know, and she's not telling."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.