Marian Helper • Spring 2025 • Marian.org 5 various tests. The results came back normal and Kelly was discharged, the cause of the seizure still unknown. Terminal diagnosis The day after Kelly came home, the Masons received a phone call from the hospital. Further testing on Kelly’s blood had led to a diagnosis of a terminal blood disease. Doctors estimated that the little girl had about six months to live. She would have to be admitted immediately to the infectious disease unit. It was unlikely that her parents would ever be permitted to take her home; Kelly would have to end her brief life in a hospital room. Floored by shock and grief, Heather and Michael could not bring themselves to tell the awful truth to Kelly’s 5-year-old big sister, Rose. Heather did tell her mother — a woman “beautifully devoted to Mary,” who prayed the Rosary daily — knowing she could count on her prayers. Then, instinctively following the “North Star” toward which her mother had always taught her to turn, Heather made her way to church and knelt before the statue of Our Lady (pictured at left). A mother’s plea Heather begged the Blessed Mother for the life of her precious daughter. If Kelly were spared, Heather promised to do faithfully what her own mother had done: Pray the Rosary every day; lay a firm foundation of the Catholic Faith in the lives of her children; take them to Mass and religious education without fail; ensure that they received the Sacraments; and teach them to pray the Rosary often. Leaving her promises and petitions at Mary’s feet, Heather returned home to take care of her family and wait for God’s answer. Hospital protocol mandated that diagnoses for children always be confirmed with follow-up testing, so new blood samples were drawn from Kelly and the tests run again. A few days later, the results came back, and the hospital contacted the Masons with astonishing news: Kelly did not have the fatal illness with which she had originally been diagnosed! She had a mild neurological disorder that would result in more seizures in the future, but which could be controlled with medication and was not life-threatening. Doctors speculated about what might have caused the initial test to yield a false positive result. The pediatrician called it a miracle. Heather agrees, insisting that “Mary’s the one who saved Kelly’s life.” Keeping her word Heather kept her word. Since the day she and Michael received their daughter’s life anew from God, Heather has not let a day go by without praying the Rosary. And while the Masons had always intended to raise their children Catholic, since the day her fervent prayer was answered, Heather has spared no effort in teaching the girls to be especially devoted to Mary and to trust in God for everything. In fact, the reversal of that devastating diagnosis proved to be just the beginning of an abundance of blessings for the Mason family. While Heather and her husband and daughters have no further stories to tell of instantaneous healings or dramatic divine interventions, the family has consistently enjoyed God’s quiet, priceless gift of a life of true faith lived together. Over the years, both daughters have questioned the Faith at times, but neither has done so with any disrespect toward the Church or any thought of leaving it. When Rose and Kelly experience uncertainty, Heather tells them, “You can always talk to God. You can always talk to Mary. And they do.” When they suffer, Heather encourages them in “keeping the faith, and just having hope that they will get through the struggles, that they will get answers.” Openness to Truth And Rose and Kelly listen. They do not shut their ears to Truth as so many young adults do, relying for answers on a confused and wandering world. They follow their mother’s example and instruction — as she followed her own mother’s — in heeding the voice of the Magisterium and in turning to Mary, “the one who goes to Jesus” for us. As so many sorrowful parents whose grown children have abandoned the Faith can testify, such reverence for the Church and openness to Truth constitute a miracle for which God should be thanked. If parents who grieve at seeing their children in danger of losing their souls as Heather once grieved at hearing her daughter was in danger of losing her life, could reach out to Heather parent-to-parent, as she herself reached out to her mother on earth and her mother in Heaven, she would certainly offer them the words of consolation she offers her own beloved daughters. “It’s really not hopeless, and nothing’s impossible with God,” she says. “Miracles happen — just ask and pray.” For a host of resources on the Rosary, visit ShopMercy.org. ‘It’s really not hopeless, and nothing’s impossible with God. Miracles happen — just ask and pray.’
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