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A woman devoted to San Antonio de Santa Ana Galvao, or Friar Galvao, as he is known in Brazil, said she was miraculously cured of a grave illness after praying the prayers she found on a website devoted the new Brazilian saint.
The official Friar Galvao website said the woman is a 41 year-old Brazilian who resides in Tennessee wrote a letter to the St. Friar Galvao museum in Guaratingueta, telling her story.
In her letter she wrote that when she learned of her illness, she spoke with a friend who lives in Brazil, who told her to pray to the saint and to swallow the “paper pills” with which devotees of the saint ask for his intercession. However, since she had difficulty obtaining the “pills,” she visited the website where she found prayers and instructions on lighting a series of online candles in honor of the saint.
“Not having the pills, she lit the candles daily with great faith, and said the prayers. A few days later she went for more medical tests. The results were different, and she no longer had the illness,” the website reported.
The Estado news agency reported that the woman in question is Ana Maria Dykes. It also quoted Thereza Maiz, the vice president of the brotherhood of the saint, who said she was bit shocked by the news, but she said, “We know it’s not the virtual candles but the faith of the person in Friar Galvao.”
Leonardo Cipoli, who operates the website, said that up to now, “We haven’t seen any grace won over through this technology, unless this one was from Friar Galvao. It’s a real grace through a virtual medium. The truth is, it was definitely faith.”
Friar Galvao is the first saint born in Brazil, and he was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on May 11 during his recent trip to the country.
The official website of Friar Galvao is http://www.saofreigalvao.com/
