The story of a Latina who regained her sight thanks to what is believed to be a miracle performed by St. Charbel, has awakened interest in the relics of this Lebanese saint being kept at a church in Phoenix, Arizona.
Dafne Gutierrez is convinced she was able to see again after she visited the relics at St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church a year ago. So many people continue to visit the chapel since that it was decided to create a sanctuary in his honor.
The Lebanese pastor of the church, Fr. Wissam Akiki, told EFE that the construction of the sanctuary has already begun and will be shaped like a half-moon, with a large statue of the saint standing at the center.
Gutierrez, whose blindness was healed on Jan. 18, 2016, insists that what happened to her was truly a miracle.
"The doctors can't explain it. At first they thought I was imagining things because I so longed to see, but when they examined me no damage to the optic nerve was to be found," she said. "They were surprised, because according to their diagnosis, I was never going to see again, not even with a cornea transplant," she said.
Cristofer Pereyra, director of the Hispanic Office of the Phoenix Diocese, said that Bishop Thomas Olmsted himself spoke with the doctors and checked very carefully the womans case.
The bishop went to make sure there was no scientific explanation for the miraculous recovery of Dafne's sight, Pereyra said.
Fr. Akiki said that thousands of people now visit the saint's relics for their miraculous powers.
"Dafne came to confess to me, and I told her to pray and have faith. Then I made the sign of the cross on her forehead and her eyes. And then St. Charbel performed the miracle that would benefit her three children," the priest said.
The relics of St. Charbel, whose real name was Youssef Antoun Makhlouf, visited Phoenix between Jan. 15 and Jan. 17, 2016; they have toured various parishes around the country since October 2015.
In view of the great devotion of the faithful to thissaint, it was decided to leave a fragment of his hand in Phoenix,a city with a large Lebanese community.
Gutierrez, who had lived with the Arnold Chiari malformation since age 13, went blind in both eyes several years ago.
"I remember hearing on the news about a saint who did miracles, but I'd already been to so many churches I wasn't very excited about it. It was my sister-in-law who convinced me," she said.
St. Charbel died at age 70 at a Maronite monastery in Lebanon on Christmas Eve, 1898. His body lies in a tomb and was said to remain undecomposed for the greater part of a century.
The saint, who has a long history of healing the sick and disabled, even after his death, was beatified on Dec. 5, 1965, and canonized on Oct. 9, 1977, by Pope Paul VI, making him the first Lebanese saint.
See original here:
Arizona woman cured of blindness spreads fame of obscure Lebanese saint - Fox News
- AI has perfect detection rate for severe cases of condition that causes blindness in preemies - OHSU News - March 10th, 2024
- PulseSight launches with gene therapy platform targeting age-related blindness - Longevity.Technology - March 10th, 2024
- AIOS and RANZCO Unite to Combat Preventable Blindness - Hindustan Times - March 10th, 2024
- Baby born without eyes defies the odds as she thrives despite blindness - Express - March 10th, 2024
- Penn Medicine Accelerator Program to Boost AI-Powered Projects Targeting Blindness and Cervical Cancer - India Education Diary - March 10th, 2024
- Scientists discover gut bacteria`s role in genetically-linked vision loss - WION - February 27th, 2024
- Prevent Blindness launches new Retinopathy of Prematurity Education and Support Program as part of inaugural ... - Modern Retina - February 27th, 2024
- Revolutionizing Eye Disease Treatment: The Unseen Link Between Gut Bacteria and Blindness - Medriva - February 27th, 2024
- The Virtue of Color-Blindness & The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America Book Review - National Review - February 27th, 2024
- Sight loss could be treated by antibiotics after being linked to gut bacteria - The Independent - February 27th, 2024
- Prevent Blindness Launches New "Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) Education and Support Program" as Part of ... - PR Web - February 27th, 2024
- $35 million to fight blindness with manufactured corneas | Health Portfolio Ministers | Australian Government ... - Department of Health - February 10th, 2024
- Eye care, vision impairment and blindness - World Health Organization (WHO) - October 27th, 2023
- CHOROIDEREMIA RESEARCH FOUNDATION EXPANDS RESEARCH SUPPORT INTO NONSENSE MUTATIONS OF A RARE INHERITED RETINAL - EIN News - May 1st, 2023
- Chennai eye hospital ties up with Iceland firm to adopt mathematical algorithm to predict diabetic retinopathy - The Hindu - April 23rd, 2023
- Drug-Resistant Bacteria Tied to Eyedrops Can Spread Person to Person ... - April 7th, 2023
- Prevention of Blindness Week 2023: Mumbai experts explain why you should be concerned about glaucoma and the need for regular eye checkups -... - April 7th, 2023
- Childhood blindness - Wikipedia - February 24th, 2023
- FDA Approves Syfovre (pegcetacoplan injection) for the Treatment of ... - February 24th, 2023
- Human mini brains illuminate path to curing blindness - February 16th, 2023
- Raymond V. Gilmartin: Man with a global vision - February 16th, 2023
- Why Are People So Mad About MrBeast's Blindness Video? - February 16th, 2023
- This heartwarming video of a colorblind boy seeing color for the first time will make you cry - Indiatimes.com - February 16th, 2023
- Blindness (Vision Impairment): Types, Causes and Treatment - February 8th, 2023
- CDC urges people to stop using brand of artificial tears linked to ... - February 8th, 2023
- Health News Roundup: U.S. FDA says India-made eye drop linked to some infections, blindness and one death; China records 3,278 COVID-related deaths... - February 8th, 2023
- I had two strokes at 29 and gone blind -I've been accused of faking my sight loss - Daily Mail - February 8th, 2023
- Blindness and vision impairment - World Health Organization - January 23rd, 2023
- Recovery from blindness - Wikipedia - January 23rd, 2023
- Colour blindness tests, juggling, avoiding glare: A hockey goalkeepeers quest to train his biggest weapon, eyes - The Indian Express - January 23rd, 2023
- But Did You See the Gorilla? The Problem With Inattentional Blindness ... - October 15th, 2022
- Canadians unaware of diseases that lead to blindness, survey says - CTV News Northern Ontario - October 15th, 2022
- A Review of Corneal Blindness: Causes and Management - Cureus - October 15th, 2022
- A cure for blindness may be first product made in space - Freethink - October 15th, 2022
- Is MrBeast trying to cure 1000 people's blindness? - indy100 - October 15th, 2022
- Early detection and management is the key to prevent glaucoma related blindness: Experts - Express Healthcare - October 15th, 2022
- As World Sight Day Nears, River Blindness is Fading - SaportaReport - October 15th, 2022
- Tears of happiness: How curing blindness in Dolakha saved a girls future - City A.M. - October 15th, 2022
- World Sight Day: Orbis, UC Davis team up to train eye care teams from Latin America to fight avoidable blindness - Ophthalmology Times - October 15th, 2022
- Juan Williams: The GOPs epidemic of intentional blindness - The Hill - October 15th, 2022
- Charles pays tribute to Malawi's elimination of disease causing blindness - Express & Star - October 15th, 2022
- Coping with calamity: Former NYT columnist Frank Bruni on blindness and vision, at Morristown book fest keynote - Morristown Green - October 15th, 2022
- Sighting solutions in a world of vision for weavers - The New Indian Express - October 15th, 2022
- Blindfold run raises $40,000 for the MUHC Foundation to support glaucoma care at the MUHC - StreetInsider.com - October 15th, 2022
- MacKenzie Scott Donates $15M to Address the Eyecare Needs of the Impoverished - InvisionMag - October 15th, 2022
- Astellas and MBC BioLabs Announce Astellas Future Innovator Prize to Help Biotech Start-ups Accelerate Early Drug Discovery and Research Efforts -... - September 20th, 2022
- Treating cataracts before 'critical age' imperative FBC News - FBC News - September 20th, 2022
- GenSight Biologics to Present at Upcoming Industry and Investor Conferences - Business Wire - September 20th, 2022
- Ashton Kutcher battled vasculitis causing blindness, loss of hearing. Know all about the rare condition - India TV News - August 11th, 2022
- Prevent Blindness Is Recognized as a Healthy People 2030 Champion for Supporting the Initiative's Vision - Vision Monday - August 11th, 2022
- Researchers make progress toward a stem cellbased therapy for blindness - Ophthalmology Times - August 11th, 2022
- The strategic blindness of Israel's caretaker government - JNS.org - August 11th, 2022
- UND professor carries the torch for UND studies of visual impairment and blindness - Grand Forks Herald - August 11th, 2022
- Karan Nagrani is using social media to raise awareness about the 'spectrum of blindness' - ABC News - August 11th, 2022
- Vision impairment and blindness related to NCDs: Fong - FBC News - August 11th, 2022
- Strategic blindness of caretaker government - The Jewish Star - August 11th, 2022
- Massachusetts woman blinded by attack working to help others regain sight - WCVB Boston - August 11th, 2022
- Persuasion Film Review: Is Heterogeneous Casting Race-Inclusionary Or Escapist? - Feminism In India - August 11th, 2022
- Is It Time To Start Using Race And Gender To Combat Bias In Lending? - Forbes - August 11th, 2022
- The journey of Kali Yugi started with the mistake of objectives! - Youthistaan - August 11th, 2022
- A 50-State Review of Access to State Medicaid Program Information for People with Limited English Proficiency and/or Disabilities Ahead of the PHE... - August 11th, 2022
- iHealthScreen Completed Prospective Trial of AI-Based Tool for Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Screening and Submitting the Results to FDA for... - August 11th, 2022
- Vitamin B12: Why You Need It & Foods To Increase Your Vitamin B12 Intake - NDTV - August 11th, 2022
- Jack Levine: Remembering a dad who proved that even in blindness, there can be vision - The Florida Times-Union - June 26th, 2022
- Potion of Blindness | Minecraft Ideas Wiki | Fandom - June 26th, 2022
- Tightening a molecular "zipper" could help prevent hereditary blindness - New Atlas - June 26th, 2022
- What's the Link Between Glaucoma and Dry Eyes? - Healthline - June 26th, 2022
- Lisa Durden's upcoming documentary "Blind Divas" follows Krystle Allen and Naquela Wright-Prevoe, two Black women entrepreneurs, determined... - June 26th, 2022
- Trump election lies may fit legal concept of willful blindness - Chicago Tribune - June 26th, 2022
- Sightsavers relaunches its thematic strategy The Sun Nigeria - Daily Sun - June 26th, 2022
- Trachoma elimination: millions more to benefit from donated azithromycin - World Health Organization - June 26th, 2022
- Dangers of super gonorrhoea from infertility to blindness as global warning issued - Daily Star - June 26th, 2022
- Fifty years of Title IX: What is it, what does it cover and do we still need it? - The Athletic - June 26th, 2022
- How The SMH Got That Rebel Wilson Story So Wrong - Junkee - June 26th, 2022
- The Week That Was: All of Lawfare in One Post - Lawfare - Lawfare - June 26th, 2022
- Why Brad Pitt quit smoking and drinking altogether during the pandemic - BusinessGhana - June 26th, 2022
- Watch your eye - The New Indian Express - June 26th, 2022
- Olivia Brouwer's art is for everyone to see and touch - Hamilton Spectator - June 26th, 2022
- Monkeypox may not mutate as fast as coronaviruses, but that doesn't mean it can't adapt to its new hosts - The Conversation - June 26th, 2022
- Former American Express Foundation President Takes Helm of Signature Theatre - The Chronicle of Philanthropy - June 26th, 2022