Woman healed by John Paul II visits Mexico's Guadalupe shrine

Mexico City, Mexico, Oct 25, 2013 / 12:12 pm

The Costa Rican woman healed of a brain aneurism by the intercession of John Paul II visited Mexico City to pray before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, giving thanks for a second chance at life with her family.

According to the Archdiocese of Mexico City's news service, Floribeth Mora Diaz was invited to attend a Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of  Guadalupe on Oct. 22, feast day of Blessed John Paul II, and to share the testimony of her miraculous healing, which paved the way for his canonization, scheduled for April 27 of next year.

Accompanied  by her husband Edwin Arce and two of her daughters for the more than 1,300 mile trip, the 50 year-old Mora was visibly moved as she prayed before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and toured the shrine.

"For me it is an honor to be in Mexico," Floribeth said. "I am very thankful to God for the privilege of being near Our Lady of Guadalupe. I bring so many petitions with me from my country, which is very devoted to her."

"During Mass now I spoke to her in silence to ask that she hear the prayers that I bring in my heart from each sick person, from each person who needs her intercession in my country."

The story of her healing began in April, 2011, when she was diagnosed with a serious brain aneurism and given a month to live.

"It was something horrible to see my children and my family suffer, and I was suffering because I was not going to see them. Even though I have always had faith in God, the human side of me was afraid of death."

That faith led her to cling to John Paul II, whom she called "my saint." 

"You are so close to the Lord, tell him not to let me die," she told the late Pope.

Her prayers were heard on May 2, 2011, a day after the Roman Pontiff's beatification; Mora had been able to follow the ceremony on television. 

"The next day was the most wonderful day of my life," she explained, "when I heard that voice in my room that said to me, 'Get up, be not afraid'." 

It was then that her recovery began.

When the doctors confirmed that she had been healed, Mora decided to share what had happened and to write down her testimony. Weeks later she contacted the Vatican and underwent further evaluations in Costa Rica and Rome to verify her miraculous recovery.

Mora says sharing her testimony has become her "number one priority" in life.  In Costa Rica, she visits the sick, speaks at parishes, and goes wherever she is invited to share her story.

"Everything that I do now is for the glory of the Lord," she reflected.

"I am an instrument that he used to do his work, but nothing that happened to me would have occurred if my family did not have faith. We need to have a lot of faith, because a life without God is no life at all."