| Show I MADE BY FIR VER TO WALK AGAIN Mrs Josephine H sam of New Orleans Prayed for a Year and Had the Assistance of I Many Catholic Friends in Her Devotions Then She Rose from Her Bed and Walked f c I One of the most remarkable Instances i In-stances of the elllcicncy of prayer ever verified Is the case of Mrs Josephine liasam of New Orleans who after a year of constant devotion both on her own part and on that of others in her behalf had the power to walk restored to her after being for many years a cripple The extraordinary story of her cure has been written byMrs Hasam herself for this paper It forms a remarkable illustration of what all truly religious people believe to be an Integral prln cjplc of he Christian faith tv The sudden Impulse to pray to walk seized me on the morning of r Ascension Thursday ISOOl Before commencing the mass for that intention inten-tion I sent to my dying old confessor Father De Ham asking Will you join me and pray for certain intentions that I will write to you about when I get home The return message was Y sAter the service was over two strangers came to me thinking the sexton Joseph had forgotten me I 11 j and offered to wheel my chair home I consented delaying a moment on the sidewalk when a young priest Father I Robinsoncame across from the presbytery pres-bytery saying What are you doing with this lady They told him and I added More than that father I stayed at the altar of Our Lady of Perpetual Help to make my very first prayer to walk and I wish it for the glory of God and oC St Alphonsus church to whom I owe so much do you think it selfish and wrong He answered an-swered By no mean and when I J asked them to join me they willingly i did so thus the devotion commenced with two priests two Catholic gentlemen gentle-men and myself A day or two afterward I spoke of it to a lovely Catholic lady who explained ex-plained to me the devotion In our Ile domplorlst churches to our Lady oC Perpetual Help tho many miracles ascribed to her Intercession with our Lord and advised burning a lamp bn her altar during the year which a kind 1 brother has faithfully done The Sisters of the Convent of Mercy r near t Alphonsus chujch joined me a later in the prayers Last summer a kind father and the Sisters of Mercy I at Pass Christian Joined me as well as the Catholic ladles whom I met in the hptel Thus throughout the year as our Catholic friends learned of it our band grew larger and continued pray ing for the intention that I should recover re-cover the power to walk The loat month of the year I asked the fathers for a dally prayer in church for our devotion The last ten days we made a movement In unison The rector Father Weber the young priest Father Robinson the Sisters of Mercy and friends made special visits to me and we pleasantly talked tho matter over On Wednesday morning Father Robinson Rob-inson brought mo holy communion atm at-m bedside The day following Ascension As-cension Thursday the last day of our year of prayer I was wheeled to church and Father Robinson came down the chancel steps and gave me communion some of our band communing at the rail I was suffering locally then and during the last two weeks even more than usual occasloned by overexertion in my extra devotions I joked about my way of getting well and although suffering I did an unusual thing for mewent with my son and family to u musIcale near by on tho evening of As censlon Thursday They wheeled me home after 11 p m and before my very door we met Father Robinson returning re-turning from a hick call The occurrence occur-rence impressed me deeply o and I said Bless me father as you pass He answered You always have my blessing bless-ing I ingBeing Being rolled within I said That is a strange coincidence My children asked Why I could not resist telling tell-ing them of our years prayers and that the young priest had commenced then with me the first hour and ended them with his blessing the closing hour of tho year and I said I think it means something They laughed incredulously in-credulously Three days after on Sunday before going to church to be present at confirmation con-firmation service I wrote a letter of thanks to the priests and all who had joined me in praying during the year saying hr am not disappointed in not walking I feel about it as I felt about our Easter poem which the editor asked me for and then did not publish pub-lish that the spiritual favors that came to me through the composition of it were worth more to me than Its publication pub-lication So likewise the blessings of such united sympathy were worth more p f 11 f iI 1 I ii I r O 12 1 rLI1 7 if I t k I d c I i I I cZJ > 6E Mrs H the brave wi dow who for Josephine Hasnm fortyseven years endured en-dured with amTrnryinsr swootnoss thin martyrdom of paralysis to me than walking This was at S a m and I was content The confirmation services were very Impressive The congregation passed I out leaving only myself at the chancel end of the aisle to receive the arch hlsfiops blessing I felt It gave me an Impulse toward himand think probably proba-bly I could have walked then But God chose best the time and place Arrived home the sexton wheeled me xip my platform and Into my room I paid him removed my hat and placed my prayerbook etc on my bed putting put-ting my feet over the footplccc of my chair preparatory to getting on my bed when suddenly walked off rapidly hands crossed on my breast saying Oh Joseph praise be to God What does this mean 7 Walking rapidly from one room to the other back and forth touching nothing I sent for my nearest son who came speedily with his wife I crossed the two rooms and met him at the door before be-fore ho could enter and J continued walking thus at frequent Intervals form for-m children and grandchildren until 0 I P m Monday on the morning of the 2Sth I 1k 4 jikk 4M c 4 II iilIiiJITtP 1w ii j II It 5t 12Jfw 1 kC Ti i I i In this room Mrs Josephine Hasam lived for fortyseven years unable to walkOne day on her return from church she suddenly felt her strength returningThe next moment she was standing unaided beside the cnair in which she had besn wheeled like an infant for nearly half a century and a minute later she was walking unaidedRead the strong story over her signature of her wonderful recovery which she at II trjbutes to prayer and heavenly intermission I f l of May I awoke early dressed on my bed as usual wakened my family and prepared to watch the total eclipse when It occurred to me that I should go to church and make a thanksgiving for Sundays walking before taking another step I sent for Joseph we went alone as usual I with smoked glass In hand presenting It to those we met One gentleman gen-tleman and a lady said to me Are you not the lady mentioned In the mornIngs morn-Ings paper Did you walk yesterday I answered Yes I am now going to church lo make a thanksgiving before I I try If I can walk today I proceeded on my way presenting It to Boveril passing us for the eclipse had already commenced and I certainly meant to watch It myself but was rolled within tho Church of St Alphonsus and the marvel of walking unaided mounting and descending the four marble chancel steps and walking three times In the aisle of Our Lady of Perpetual Help the length of that long church and after af-ter my return home a portion of every hour until night are past all Imagination Imagina-tion a thing real and so far permanicnt T have attended mass each of the two Sundays since walking up the aisle with my wheel chair rolled behind me and the crowded church people glad for me I am widely known and my friends numerous and my door has been open to all without regard to s xor color My physician and confessor have tried I to prohibit overexertion but I have withstood the strain on muscle and nerve In a manner that is beyond comprehension com-prehension description Two priests from two different Slates congratulated me thus the first day Undoubtedly your power to walk was a gift from your deceased father con lessor which he gained for you In heaven I en And I most happily accept that as a fact not as honor unto myself but as the climax to our year of prayer I pray-er a beautiful and perfect answer sent by him to whom 1 first appealed when I commenced the devotion To me the gift comes through intercession with our Lady of Perpetual Help at the I throne of God And besides bringing us In communion with holy Father de Ham It gives us a confirmation of heaven and hereafter and the efficacy of prayer JOSEPHINE HASAM |
