Teach them to how recite the Rosary

Brother John Aranguren, S.J., a catechist teaching in the thick jungles south of Bogota, Colombia, was diagnosed with a cancer of the tongue and brought to the city for surgery. Hoping to save his tongue so that he could continue his work, the doctors only partially removed it, but the cancer spread and necessitated a total removal.

The night before the operation, Our Lady appeared to him, touched him and healed him: "Continue teaching Catechism and teach them to recite the Rosary. Do not tell anyone until you tell the doctor."

The next morning, the brother, who refused to be anesthetized, was taken to the doctor, who told him of the importance of prolonging his life, even at the cost of speech. But the brother explained to him that the cancer was gone. The doctor found that the excised part of the tongue had completely and perfectly reconstituted itself!

A plaque from the Jesuit college in Bogota commemorates this event. Brother Aranguren lived for many more years after that, singing the praises of Our Lady, the power and importance of his Rosary, and teaching Catechism to children.

John Haffert,

In Fatima: apostolate mondial