Texas Knights of Columbus homepage
Finish Line Texas Knight Read the latest issue Meeting Registration Register for upcoming meetings and events State Per Capita Dues Pay State Per Capita Dues Online Mid-Year Meeting Presentations (English) Donate Now Donate to State Council Charities Faith In Action Resources Pay State Charities Online Pay Council Charities Online
Texas Knights of Columbus
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Our History
    • Message from the State Deputy
    • State Officers
    • Why Join the Knights of Columbus?
  • Star Guide
    • Membership
    • Star Councils Awards
    • Council Growth
    • Programs
    • Education, Training & Communications
    • Charities
    • Football Sweepstakes
    • Texas State Council Office
  • News
  • Blog
  • Events

FR. MCGIVNEY INTERCESSION CREDITED FOR HEALING

Posted Nov 06, 2022
by By Danielle Bean

Share        

Father mcgivney intercession healing

In early January 2022, Joe and Megan Hermosillo, parents of six young children in Frederick, Maryland, faced the kind of health crisis every family fears. It started with a cough. After they both had seemingly recovered from what appeared to be a mild case of COVID-19, Joe began coughing again, feeling increasingly fatigued and found that his blood oxygen level tested low on an oximeter they keep at their home.

He called a doctor, who told him to go to the emergency room to be checked with more accurate equipment. A reading of 95-100% is considered a healthy blood oxygen level; at the hospital, Joe’s blood oxygen level came back at an alarming 65%.

“They threw me in the ER,” Joe said. “They stripped me down, they hooked me up, and I must have had 10 staff members around me. I told them my wife was in the lobby and she could make all the decisions, and then I passed out.”

“It was horrible,” Megan Hermosillo recalled. “It was such a weird thing that we couldn’t explain. His symptoms seemed to have resolved, and then all of a sudden, he got really bad really fast.”

During the days that followed, Joe continued to get “really bad really fast.” A medical report from the day after Joe’s hospital admission described his lungs as “80% compromised,” and a report from two days later described them as fully compromised.

Just days after being admitted to the hospital, Joe’s condition was so critical that staff began making plans for his transfer to another hospital and placement on an ECMO machine, a risky, last-resort treatment used when ventilators fail.

The Hermosillo family prays before a meal at their home in Frederick, Md.
The Hermosillo family prays before a meal at their home in Frederick, Md. (Photo by Spirit Juice Studios)

Joe and Megan Hermosillo have always been devoted to their Catholic faith. They habitually pray for the intercession of saints as they navigate the highs and lows of family life — job changes, pregnancies and minor health concerns. So, when Megan rallied friends and family members to pray for Joe, she wanted to choose a saint to ask for intercession. She made a list and sought the advice of Father Timothy Grassi, pastor of St. James the Greater Catholic Church in Charles Town, West Virginia, and her confessor.

After considering the saints she had suggested, Father Grassi told Megan that the saint he recommended was not on her list: Blessed Michael McGivney. Megan was not previously familiar with the Knights of Columbus founder, but Father Grassi explained that Father McGivney was devoted to families in distress, especially those without a father, and was an appropriate choice as the Hermosillo family was worried for the life and health of their father.

Soon, Joe’s blood oxygen level dropped so low that he was at risk for brain damage. Megan made phone calls, texted friends and family, and posted on social media, asking everyone to pray a novena to Blessed Michael, imploring his intercession for Joe’s complete healing. Thousands responded and passed along the call to prayer, and hours later, in the middle of the night, Megan got a call from the hospital. Inexplicably, Joe’s blood oxygen level had doubled to 112%.

Despite this dramatic recovery, Joe was not out of the woods, and his friends and family were determined not only to complete the novena, but to pray with a relic of Father McGivney as well. A family friend, Father Bill Kuchinsky, and Joe’s sister Teresa, each without knowing what the other was doing, went to the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and prayed before the tomb of Mother Seton, asking for her help in obtaining a Father McGivney relic. Staff members at the shrine also spread the word, asking volunteers and others to pray for the saint’s intercession in obtaining a relic.

Speaking before a votive Mass of Blessed Michael McGivney Aug. 13, 2022, at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Conn.
Speaking before a votive Mass of Blessed Michael McGivney Aug. 13, 2022, at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Conn., Joseph and Megan Hermosillo share the story of Joseph’s remarkable healing though Father McGivney’s intercession. (Photo by Aaron Joseph)

Within two days, the family obtained two relics of the Connecticut parish priest, and Father Bill was able to visit Joe in the hospital, bless him with the relics, and ask Blessed Michael McGivney to pray for his healing. Four days later, Joe was taken off the ventilator, and a short while after, he began preparations to go home. Joe, now a member of St. Teresa of Calcutta Council 12036 in Charles Town, has since fully recovered from his life-threatening illness.

Joe’s healing has been submitted to the Father Michael J. McGivney Guild for investigation as a possible miracle. Personally, though, Joe and Megan have no doubt about what happened.

“It’s just the facts,” Joe said of his recovery. “Just look at my X-rays. They now say ‘no radiological evidence of acute lung disease,’ complete healing and no damage.”

“We know that Blessed Michael McGivney interceded for us,” Megan said, “and without a doubt Mother Seton gets the credit for the relics.”

These days, the Hermosillos share their story with anyone who will listen, and they wonder about the close connection between Blessed Michael and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, two quintessential American saints whose lives have been instrumental to understanding American Catholicism. Though their times on earth did not overlap, their geographical paths did. Father McGivney studied at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, a place with special significance for St. Elizabeth Seton as well. The lower chapel at the seminary is the very place that, almost 70 years earlier, St. Elizabeth Seton took her vows of chastity and obedience.

“I don’t know if they were spiritual friends during his time here on earth,” Megan said, “But we absolutely know that they are spiritual friends in heaven.”

DANIELLE BEAN is editorial director of the Knights of Columbus communications department. A version of this article was originally published on the website of the Seton Shrine. It is reprinted with permission.

 

Back to News

 

Recent Articles

  • 4d380b48 547e 4e82 8da8 5602e0658dfa Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother ... Posted May 29, 2023
  • Asap Supreme ASAP Donation Posted Apr 04, 2023
  • 1 4th Degree Fallout Posted Apr 04, 2023
  • Auxbishop Anthony Celino ordained as first auxiliary b... Posted Apr 04, 2023
  • Mc Givney Relic Pilgrimage 1080x1080 r3 Blessed Michael McGivney Relic Pilgrimage – ... Posted Feb 18, 2023

Monthly Archive

  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • February 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • March 2022
Finish Line Texas Knight Read the latest issue Meeting Registration Register for upcoming meetings and events State Per Capita Dues Pay State Per Capita Dues Online Mid-Year Meeting Presentations (English) Donate Now Donate to State Council Charities Faith In Action Resources Pay State Charities Online Pay Council Charities Online

Subscribe to Email Updates

Want to be notified when news, blogs, events, and prayer requests are posted?

Something went wrong

Thanks for subscribing!

Texas Knights of Columbus Logo

TEXAS STATE COUNCIL OFFICE
6633 Highway 290 East, Suite 204
Austin, Texas 78723-1157
Phone (512) 442-1492
Fax (512) 326-1492

TKofC Facebook TKofC Twitter

Navigation

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Star Guide
  • News
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Downloads

Submissions

  • Submit a News Story
  • Submit an Announcement
  • Submit a Calendar Event
  • Submit a Prayer Request
  • Submit a Download

Flickr Photos

©2017-2023 Texas State Council. All content on this website is copyrighted and the sole property of Texas State Council and only can be used by the express permission of the Texas State Council. (512) 442-1492

  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Our History
    • Message from the State Deputy
    • State Officers
    • Why Join the Knights of Columbus?
  • Star Guide
    • Membership
      • Membership Recruitment
      • All Councils Active
      • Membership Retention
      • Ceremonials
      • Online Membership
      • “Father Wants You” Letter
      • Membership Awards
    • Star Councils Awards
      • Awards
      • Star Tracker and Goals
      • Submission of Forms
    • Council Growth
    • Programs
      • Vocations
      • Culture of Life
      • Veterans Affairs
    • Education, Training & Communications
    • Charities
      • Charity Fundraising Team
      • The Charity Pin
      • Bishop Thomas J. Flanagan Fund - Grants for Retired Priests
      • Cardinal Medeiros Fund
      • Special Olympics
      • Emergency Response
      • Educational Grants
      • Wheelchair Program
    • Football Sweepstakes
    • Texas State Council Office
  • News
  • Blog
  • Events