People need to believe in miracles, says woman cured of infection

The following excerpt is from the Catholic News Service:

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Though she had always believed in miracles, Sharon Smith never dreamed she would be the recipient of one.

Her unexplained recovery from a near fatal infection in 2005 was the second miracle that cleared the way for the Oct. 21 canonization of Blessed Marianne Cope.

Smith will present Pope Benedict XVI a relic of Blessed Marianne -- a bone fragment housed in a wooden tau cross, or T-shaped cross that is the symbol of St. Francis, the inspiration of Mother Marianne's congregation.

A native of Syracuse, N.Y., Smith fainted in her home one day in 2005 and woke up two months later in St. Joseph's Hospital, her body perforated by tubes as doctors fought to keep her hydrated and alive. She had been diagnosed with pancreatitis, but the inflammation soon caused an infection so severe, it ate away part of her gastrointestinal tract.

Her doctor told her that July, "Sharon, you're not going to make it," she told Catholic News Service in Rome Oct.19. She and about 90 others from the Diocese of Syracuse, including Bishop Robert J. Cunningham, came to Rome for the canonization.

Smith recalled that a friend visiting her at the hospital was given a prayer card of Mother Marianne and told to pray for her intercession. Mother Marianne had been beatified by Pope Benedict in May 2005.

"My friends told me they prayed for me the night before they were going to just disconnect me" from the respirator, "and they prayed to Mother Marianne for me," she said.

The next day, "I woke up in the morning and started talking," she said.

Though she could breathe on her own, the infection was still severe.

St. Francis Sister Michaeleen Cabral and other members of the community soon started praying for Blessed Marianne's intercession.

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Religious painting expected to draw thousands to Worcester church

The video and excerpt is from NECN.com:

(NECN: Mike Cronin, Worcester, Mass.) - A religious painting is expected to draw thousands to a special church service in Worcester, Mass. Tuesday evening.

It's a painting of the Virgin Mary, and some say it can perform miracles.

It’s on display and bringing people together to see what some say is a miracle.

“I prayed from the bottom of my heart. I felt that Jesus and St. Mary are listening to me,” says Clara Elnerm.

The Elnemr family is one of many flocking to the St. George Orthodox Cathedral in Worcester Tuesday. It's all to see a religious painting, called the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Virgin Mary. Five years ago, a Hawaiian clergy member discovered his painting suddenly smelt of roses and was gushing myrrh, a type of oil.

“It's a miraculous icon that's performed many miracles,” says Walter Haddad.

The icon is touring the east coast this month, much to the delight of Haddad, the president of the east orthodox churches of central Massachusetts.

“The oil is supposed to be miraculous oil. That's why everybody's coming to be anointed with her tears.”

Clergy members say they don't worship the icon, rather they pray through it.

“Some people don't realize that miracles like this do happen. They do happen around us all the time,” says Milad Selim.

Father Selim is the dean of the cathedral. He's been anointing those who have come by to pay their respects.

Read More: Religious Painting