Mary sends a doctor to a dying child

The famous French doctor Louis Granpas, known for his great talent and benevolence towards the poor, lived in a suburb of Paris. A good Christian, he provided free medical care to the poor.

One Sunday night, he was coming home from a medical conference. Carrying a heavy trunk, he hailed a cab and gave the driver his address. The taxi driver, with a grim expression and Herculean strength, grabbed the trunk, placed it on the front passenger seat and said in a terse tone, "Get in!"

Dr. Granpas didn't usually judge anyone by their appearance, but the driver's conduct unsettled him. He grew more alarmed when the driver took the opposite direction at full speed. He ordered the driver to stop, but the man ignored him. Instinctively, the doctor looked for his handgun, but he had left it in the trunk next to the driver. So he took out his rosary and entrusted the Mother of God with the outcome of this trip.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a house. The driver got out, nervously opened the door, and said, "Come in quickly, doctor, my child is dying." Immediately, Dr. Granpas understood why the driver had been acting so strangely. Fear for the life of his child had pushed him to make this mad race!

The doctor went inside and saw a young woman leaning anxiously over the cradle of a baby who was convulsing. He tended to the child and managed to quiet the convulsions.

The father finally spoke: "You see, doctor, I had called three doctors, but they were all absent. With a heavy heart, I had to leave my child to take the night shift. When I saw you, I had only one thought in my despair: to save my child. 

- Yes, but how did you know I was a doctor?

- It is written on your trunk.

- It's true, I didn't think about it."

The mother interrupted the conversation and said, "When you came in, I had just finished praying the Memorare." Smiling, the doctor pulled his rosary from his pocket: "This is the weapon I was holding during our wild ride! "

"You were sent by the Mother of God!" exclaimed the mother, visibly moved.

Testimony of Suzanne Voiteau, in Maria Regina, N° 11, 1952, republished in Recueil Marial by Brother Albert Pfleger