CONVERSION OF THE FATHER OF A FAMILY (BELGIUM).
"There are still in existence here some families who, persistently recognizing in the present clergy only a purely civil power, hold themselves utterly aloof, live in a state of schism, and comply with none of the duties of religion.
"One of these miserable creatures was afflicted with a virulent cancer on the side of his face, which for a long time had been eating away the flesh. The malady increasing, I believed it my duty to visit him and offer the consolations of my ministry. I saw him several times, he was suffering greatly; the oesophagus was exposed, the right side of his emaciated face presented only a deep sore, the eye, starting from its socket, hung suspended over a terrible disfigured mouth; his tongue caused him acute pain; his condition was pitiable indeed, especially as he seemed determined to die impenitent. He was a rough, blunt man, who wanted to hear nothing about priests or Sacraments. In vain was he reminded of our Lord's bountiful kindness and the rigors of His justice, nothing touched him; to all expostulations his invariable reply was: 'God's mercy is great, I will confess to God, the Blessed Virgin, to St. Barbara and the good Saints.' He was the counterpart of those men to whom Jesus Christ said: 'In peccato vestro moriemini—you shall die in your sin.'
"His relations and numerous friends endeavored both by prayers and entreaties to snatch him from perdition, but on the other side visited daily and sustained by his old associates in impiety, he persisted in dying as he had lived, in schism.
"In the meantime, I was obliged to be absent several days. This period was for him one of Divine mercy. A lady of the parish made a last attempt to recall him to God, by bringing him one of those medals of the Immaculate Conception called miraculous. She sent it to him with the request to wear it and put all his confidence in the Blessed Virgin. The sick man took the medal, kissed it respectfully, and put it under his pillow. In giving it to him, his daughter had taken care to acquaint him with its origin and advantages, at the same time urging him, as usual, to make his confession. 'Leave me in peace,' was the wretched father's reply, and she could say no more. Next day, a neighboring curé was sent for to administer Extreme Unction to another person in the parish. He came, and forgetting, as it were, the one for whom he had been sent, he thought only of the cancerous patient. 'I felt,' he afterwards told me, 'an inexplicable and irresistible desire to visit him, I could not have returned without seeing him.' He asks some one to announce his arrival to the sick man; this person speaks to the latter, and urges him to confess. 'The curé of P. is here,' she adds, 'and would like to see you, if you have no objection.' 'Well, yes, let him come.' The curé went to him immediately; at first there was a slight air of resistance about the patient, but it vanished, the hour of grace had come, he confessed with every indication of true repentance, and received Extreme Unction with an indescribable peace and joy, that never faltered during the four remaining days of his life. The Holy Viaticum could not be administered because he was not able to swallow.
"At noon, on the 18th of last May, the month consecrated to Mary, he died, aged seventy-eight.
"Except his former companions in irreligion, this conversion was a subject of rejoicing to the parish, and doubtless it will rejoice all the servants of Mary who hear of it. May this example, among thousands, inspire sinners with great confidence in the Blessed Virgin, propagate devotion to her, and multiply the medal styled miraculous!
"I have thought it a duty to give these few details, for the purpose of making known the truly visible effects of the protection of the Mother of God, and the ever impenetrable springs of grace in regard to man.
"I have the honor to be, Monsieur, with great esteem, &c."
CURE OF MLLE. ANTOINETTE VAN ERTRYCK
(BOIS-LE-DUC).
"The protection of the Blessed Virgin, which for the last few months has shown itself so powerful in a neighboring kingdom, has also wrought wonders in Bois-le-Duc. Mary has here likewise given equal proofs of her maternal bounty when we have implored her intercession.
"Mlle. Antoinette Van Ertryck, aged twenty-five years, was for more than twenty months deprived of the use of her limbs; they were stiff and paralyzed, almost without feeling, and stretched motionless on a sort of bench made for the express purpose. Medicine afforded no relief. In this sad condition, wearing a blessed medal of the Immaculate Conception, she thought of making a novena in honor of the Feast, to recover her health. On the last day of the novena, she made a fervent communion. Even after the departure of the priest, who came to administer the Blessed Sacrament, there seemed no change for the better, but she felt a shiver through all her body, like the impression often experienced from sudden cold. Just whilst finishing the last prayers, however, she seemed to hear an interior voice saying to her: 'You are cured.' On attempting to move, she found that her limbs had become flexible, and she was able to walk. The miracle was wrought on Saturday, May 16th. The next day, Sunday, she went to church to return thanks for this blessing to the common Mother of all the faithful. The people of our city, always distinguished for their veneration for the Blessed Virgin, and their confidence in her intercession are not wanting in gratitude, and this new favor will but increase their devotion to Mary Immaculate.
"The duration of the malady, the inutility of medical skill, and her astonishing sudden cure are attested by the doctor.
"A. BOLSIUS, M.D."
CURE OF A YOUNG GIRL AT CRACOW, POLAND.
Extract from a letter of the Countess Lubinska:
"March 12th, 1837.
"I took into my service, the 20th of last December, a young girl whose excellent qualities elicited my deepest interest.
"After being with me some months, she began to suffer most acute pains in the head; the remedies we employed affording no relief, the attending physician advised her to keep her bed, and did not conceal from her his opinion that these pains proceeded from the humor flowing constantly from her ears, and which seeming to be upon the brain, threatened her life, or at all events, her reason.
"What confirmed this opinion was the fact that whenever she walked rapidly or stooped, she was forced by the pain to throw her head back, as she assured me various times during her sickness. The continued suffering induced her, at last, to follow the physician's advice, and consent, if necessary, to the operation of trepanning. I shuddered at the very idea, and made her promise to ascertain if a delay of ten days would be attended with any serious consequences. Upon a negative answer from the physician, I stopped all medicines and determined to try the efficacy of the Miraculous Medal. This was on a Saturday, and the very day observed by her as a strict fast, in thanksgiving to the Blessed Virgin for having miraculously cured her of a mortal typhus, after her mother had dedicated her to Mary. Her confidence in Mary was great; and as I did not give her the medal for some hours after promising it, she told one of her friends, as I have since learned, that her impatience to receive it was almost beyond bounds, and assured her that she would not have hesitated between it and two thousand francs had she been allowed a choice, and we must remember that this girl was very poor. To display more clearly the miraculous nature of the cure, God permitted her sufferings to increase to such a degree that very day, that notwithstanding her patience and resignation, it seemed as if she really could not endure them much longer. Knowing her lively faith and confidence, I deemed it unnecessary to enter into a detailed account of the salutary effects of the medal; I gave it to her; she immediately made with it the sign of the cross upon her poor head, repeated the invocation and fell asleep amidst excessive sufferings. On awaking she was perfectly cured, and has never since experienced the slightest symptom of the disease.
"Filled with sentiments of the deepest humility and the most lively gratitude, the miraculously cured now wishes to consecrate herself to God in the religious life.
"Blessed a thousand times be God and the Immaculate Mary, and may we ever appreciate such boundless mercy!"