The cancer had eaten so much of his hip that there was barely a joint left to hold him together.😳
Vittorio Micheli was a young Italian soldier, twenty-three years old, when the pain began in his left hip in the spring of 1962.
The biopsy gave it a name no one wants: a sarcoma. A malignant tumor. It grew with terrible speed. On the X-rays the doctors watched it dissolve the bone itself — the cancer destroyed part of his pelvis and chewed into the head of the femur, the very ball of the hip joint.
They offered him no chemotherapy. No radiation. They did not think it would help. They encased his ruined hip in a plaster cast and, in his own words, the tumor had already destroyed part of his pelvis and was attacking the femoral head. He was told he had very little time.
In May 1963, racked with pain and unable to walk, the dying soldier was carried to Lourdes. He was bathed in the waters of the shrine.
He felt no lightning. No sudden jolt.
But something quiet had begun.
Back at the military hospital, the appetite he had lost returned. The pain that had ruled him eased. A sense of calm settled over him. And then he started getting out of bed — first in his cast, on crutches, then more.
The doctors paid little attention. Until they took the next set of X-rays.
The tumor was gone.
And this is the part medicine could not hold in its hands: the bone had grown back. The hip that the cancer had eaten away rebuilt itself. The joint reformed. A man whose pelvis had been partly destroyed walked on a hip that, by every law the doctors knew, should never have existed again.
Most cancers, in remission, leave the body scarred and the bone gone for good. Bone does not simply return to a socket it has lost. His did.
The Lourdes Medical Bureau took the case and held it for years. The international committee of physicians examined it in 1969 and again in 1971, poring over the films from before and after. Their agreement was unanimous: a cure that medical science could not explain. The Church gave its formal recognition in 1976 — thirteen years after the baths.
With that, Vittorio Micheli became the sixty-third cure officially recognized at Lourdes.
He lived on for decades, returning to the grotto year after year as an old man, walking on the leg they had cast in plaster and given up for lost.
The cancer took the bone. The waters gave it back.
- Messenger of Lourdes Co.
Dios te salve, María, llena eres de gracia,
el Señor es contigo.
Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres,
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros los pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora de la Gracia, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora del Santo Rosario, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro, ruega por nosotros.
Inmaculado Corazón de María, ruega por nosotros.
Night Prayer
Heavenly Father, you have brought your salvation down to us! You have blessed us with your grace, comforted us with your love, and renewed us with your Spirit. Our life overflows with the abundance of your many rich blessings. We worship you with our heart. We worship you with our thoughts. We worship you with our words. We worship you with our hands. We worship you with all that we are. We pray. Amen.
Dios te salve, María, llena eres de gracia,
el Señor es contigo.
Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres,
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros los pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora de la Gracia, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora del Santo Rosario, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro, ruega por nosotros.
Inmaculado Corazón de María, ruega por nosotros.
Dios te salve, María, llena eres de gracia,
el Señor es contigo.
Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres,
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros los pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora de la Gracia, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora del Santo Rosario, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro, ruega por nosotros.
Inmaculado Corazón de María, ruega por nosotros.
Dios te salve, María,
llena eres de gracia;
el Señor es contigo.
Bendita Tú eres
entre todas las mujeres,
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros, pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Amén
Dios te salve, María, llena eres de gracia,
el Señor es contigo.
Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres,
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros los pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora de la Gracia, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora del Santo Rosario, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro, ruega por nosotros.
Inmaculado Corazón de María, ruega por nosotros.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the gift of a new day. As this Saturday begins, I place my life, my family, my work, and my plans into Your hands.
Guide my steps, grant me wisdom in every decision, and fill my heart with peace that surpasses all understanding. Give me strength to overcome every challenge, courage to face every obstacle, and faith to trust Your perfect timing.
Protect my loved ones wherever they are. Open doors of opportunity, bless the work of our hands, and let Your favour surround us. May we be a blessing to others through our words and actions today.
Help us to walk in love, humility, and gratitude. May Your light shine through us, and may everything we do bring glory to Your name.
Thank You for Your mercy, Your grace, and Your unfailing love. We trust You with this day and the days ahead.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Dios te salve, María, llena eres de gracia,
el Señor es contigo.
Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres,
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros los pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora de la Gracia, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora del Santo Rosario, ruega por nosotros.
Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro, ruega por nosotros.
Inmaculado Corazón de María, ruega por nosotros.