Amazon recommendation: Catholic Prayers for All Occasions (paid link)

This is the story of a miraculous healing. Miracles happen all the time, all around us, not just in places like Lourdes. Fr. Robert DeGrandis says that healing is a response to prayer. At the urging of Pope John Paul II, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has recently published INstruction on Prayers For Healing. In that document, the Vatican cites many of the healings told in the Bible from the Old Testament, through the time of Jesus told in the Gospels, and on through the New Testament. It goes on to mention the recent increase in the number and popularity of healing services. The point is that prayers for healing are human, natural, approved by the Church and encouraged.

Genny had a problem with menstrual bleeding ever since puberty. In high school it once got so bad that she needed a transfusion. The woman described in Mark, Ch. 5, bled for 12 years. Genny bled three times that long. There were a multitude of doctors, tests and treatments, all to no avail.

That Genny is of Mexican descent has bearing on a parallel part of this story. A dozen years ago, she helped found a Mexican dance group, sort of a Ballet Folklorico for children. The purpose was to pass on a part of the culture to a new generation. It brought families together, not just to attend practices and performances, but to work on costumes and props. Sometimes four generations of a family would be involved.

St. Francis is reputed to have said, "Preach the Gospel always . . . Use words if necessary." This is the way Genny lived life. No one could know her without knowing she was full of faith. Once, Genny was with the children attending a dance conference in San Diego. They had been sightseeing, missed their bus and were stranded. The children became frightened. Genny got them in a circle, they all held hands, and said a prayer. As soon as they said 'Amen' they turned around and there was a bus that took them back to their hotel. The children were immediately convinced that prayer works. They've never forgotten that, as we'll soon see.

Shortly thereafter, the children first, then the parents and families of the children started coming to Genny asking about prayers and Church and faith. She learned that 17 of the children had fallen through the cracks. Some hadn't yet received Confirmation, some hadn't received First Communion. Some hadn't even been baptized. It took awhile, but eventually, on one day, Genny brought 17 young souls into the Church.

In the meantime, the bleeding got slowly worse. By the summer of 1999 she was constantly tired - without energy. Again the doctor did tests. This time, blood counts showed she needed an immediate transfusion. Genny started taking iron while she arranged for donated blood to arrive, and barely avoided receiving the transfusion. Other tests were performed, among them an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed "multiple cysts" and, on the left ovary, "a two inch growth . . . suspicious of neoplasm." A hysterectomy was scheduled.

Family and friends were notified of the upcoming surgery and prayers were requested. Among those told were the children of the dance group. Shortly after 9:00 PM on the eve of the surgery, Genny was resting on the couch. She began to feel heat on her left side, growing in intensity. Putting his hand on her left side, even her husband could feel the heat. After twenty minutes it stopped. Not much was said that night - she knew what had happened.

Several hours later there was a phone call from one of the parents of the children in the dance group. It seems that, when the children heard about Genny and her upcoming surgery, the children asked to go to Church and pray for Genny. At the time Genny felt the heat on her side, 17 of the children were at Church, in front of the Tabernacle, beneath an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, praying the Rosary.

Not knowing if everything was healed, Genny went through the surgery. She was told that it would take two hours - it took only one. Afterwards the surgeon came out to say that everything was fine, the usual stuff. Asked what he'd found he said he'd found nothing. Asked specifically about the two inch growth on the left ovary, he said, "There was one piece of tissue that looked like it had just shriveled up."