Miriam is a tall, healthy Italian Catholic who lived in the early twentieth century. Her behavior really resilient. Her Catholic faith was also firm. In particular, she had a great affection for the Blessed Virgin Mary. The strange thing is that at the age of 46 she was still pregnant and gave birth to her twelfth child, mother round and square!
Shortly after giving birth, one day she was alone at home with her newborn baby. Suddenly, a madman with a knife aggressively entered the room threatening to kill both mother and child. Shocked, she quickly picked up her child and ran away. Fortunately, the mother and daughter escaped danger. But the event was so terrifying that it caused severe trauma to a woman who had just given birth. She fell seriously ill. And the fatal illness turned into an infectious disease. Soon a terrible boil appeared on Miriam's forehead. She looked for a physician, but the ulcer did not go away. On the contrary, it gradually spreads from the forehead to the eyes, down the nose and then quickly spreads to the mouth. Cancer seems to challenge all treatment methods as well as all cures.
The famous doctor in the area was invited along with two other talented doctors. The three shook their heads in defeat at the evil boil. They declared the disease incurable. She bowed her head to accept her tragic fate.
Miriam was sick for two years. In addition to the physical pain, she had to go through a greater pain: that is the heart of a mother who cannot take care of her large cubs by herself. In addition, she tore her stomach with the thought: the children are terrified every time they see the gentle mother's face!
How to put an end to Miriam's agony! She almost fell into the abyss of despair. But the Most Holy Virgin Mary did not abandon her son who always loved her with all his heart.
That year, approaching the feast of Our Lady of Grace - Madonna delle Grazie, the parish parish priest decided to visit Miriam. Seeing her, Father planted in her heart a ray of hope. Her father solemnly said to her:
– If the doctors were not successful in treating her, wouldn't Mary, the Mediator of Grace, give up on her?
What a magical saying with healing powers!
Miriam decided to get up, get dressed, and go to church. The way to the church is a painful one. The boil where the face met the wind swelled up, burst, and filled with blood. The face became a horrible ulcer, anyone who looked at it felt horror. Many relatives, averting their faces, did not even look and greet her. Miriam suffered terribly.
Entering the church, Miriam went straight to the altar with the statue of Our Lady of Mary. She prostrated herself before the statue of Our Lady and fervently cried out:
- Good Mother, miracle-working Virgin, if because of my sins I do not deserve Your healing and if indeed I must suffer, then, dear Mother, at least avoid Let me be a cause of suffering for my loved ones. Please increase tenfold, 100fold the pain, as you please, but please heal my face with compassion from the ravaging monstrous ulcer. Please allow the boil to wreak havoc anywhere else on my body, except on my face. That way, I won't make anyone panic every time I see my face. Oh Good Mother, if You will, You can heal me!
It was at this moment that a miracle happened, but Miriam did not know it. When she saw many people entering the church, she hurried out of the church and went to a nearby fountain to drink. But the bandage that covered the boil fell off. She asked her eldest daughter to follow her, give it back to her. The daughter suddenly stared at her mother's face and cried with emotion:
- Mom, Mom, I'm fine! Mom is healed!
The monstrous cancer that had long ravaged Miriam's face suddenly disappeared. Her face returned to its normal state.
How can I express Miriam's gratitude and gratitude to Mother Maria Thien Quoc for answering her earnest pleas.
… It was incurable, suffering overwhelms me, weakening my heart. Behold, the cry for help of the girl of my people came from a faraway land. "Is God no longer in Zion, and its King is no longer here?" The harvest is over, the summer is over, and we're still not saved! Because of the wound of the girl of my people, my heart is broken, causing me grief and sorrow, and terror clings to me. Is there no perfume in Gilead, or a physician? And why is the treatment of the girl of my people, not progressing at all? Who made my head a fountain of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might mourn day and night, the slain of the girl of my people (Jeremiah 8:18-23).
("Il Settimanale di Padre Pio", n.8, February 22, 2004, p. 13)
Sr. Jean Berchmans Minh Nguyet