It’s too early to say we can talk about a “miracle in WYD,” medical reports and church assessments would be needed. The truth is Jimena, 16, pilgrim from Madrid on World Day in Lisbon With 300 Girls, on Saturday she regained her sight at the end of a very intense novena to Madonna to seek healing from a serious eye disease – “accommodation spasm” – that occurred two years ago and which had reduced her vision by as much as 5%. “The disease that usually takes 2-4 diopters from them has taken 8 from them,” she says GustavusFather, over the phone to come -. The treatments became unbearable, she was in pain, and she was frustrated that there were no results. And in order for him to be able to focus on his studies, he and our parents decided to put it on hold until Christmas. We were communicating with blind associations while our daughter was learning Braille.”

Meanwhile, Jimena prayed and asked for prayers, a request that extended in concentric circles around the world, yet no doctor could verify the girl’s current conditions. But the high school Spanish girl saw almost nothing before Saturday and now she sees everything clearly. “We were overwhelmed by what happened,” Gustavo says. My daughter is now in a quiet place with her mother, sheltered from the noise around her. The media would like to talk to her and bring her on TV, but we are only interested in the religious dimension of what happened.”

Gustavo, who has three other children younger than Jimena, simply speaks of a completely unexpected fact. “My daughter changed: when I saw her she seemed more beautiful to me, her smile, her face … what happened to her changed her.”

News of the unexplained recovery has been circulating on some Spanish websites since Tuesday, but it has been Cobb Radio, the accredited Catholic broadcaster headed by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, who interviewed the girl. (audio here)

“We have been praying for this for a long time – Jimena told Radio Cop journalists, including Vatican correspondent Eva Fernandez, with enthusiasm -. We asked all the young people to pray for my recovery,” a detail confirmed by the father, who tells of “hundreds of people all over the world.” , including Italia, who were praying for Jimena” for the simple reason that she asked for it thus.

“I can’t tell you how it is possible,” says Father Gustavo, “but my daughter was sure that she would be cured. She was asking for a light to show her what to do. What happened to her I consider a miracle of faith. And now we are receiving letters from Africa from people who were praying for her.” .

But what happened? On Saturday, the Jimena group attended mass in the Portuguese village an hour from Lisbon where they had stayed during WYD week, at the end of which they were to leave for a vigil with the Pope at Campo della Grazia (which they then attended): «After the sacrament – says Jimena On the radio – I see perfectly. I don’t know how to explain it to you.”

Pope Francis celebrated Mass after praying the Rosary in Fatima. Jimena’s story is simple and touching: «I was very nervous in communion class, and when I sat down in the booth I started crying, I didn’t want to open my eyes. got excited, And when I opened them I could see everything very clearly. I saw the altar, the tabernacle, I had a friend next to me, I saw her perfectly. And we started crying.

The emotional turmoil of the phone call home is unimaginable: “I see, I see!” The girl is crying. The father—who defines “his family as many” and whose faith is “certainly not that strong”—runs to see the day, which is Saturday, August 5. And he discovers that it is the feast of the Madonna della Neve associated with the Roman Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. And when we point out from Avvenire that Salus Populi Romani, a WYD icon, is kept there, he says: «Really? It’s all incredible! A visit to Rome was planned, as soon as the tumult had subsided, for the Jimena family.

Mimmo Muolo collaboration