My father, Italo Francia had not been feeling well. When he went to the doctor for tests, it was found that he had a large cancerous tumor. In order to shrink the tumor, he was given radiation and chemotherapy at the Metropolitan Hospital’s Windsor Cancer Center in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. After that, he had surgery. He had to continue with the chemotherapy treatments after the surgery. The treatments made him so ill that he said that he would rather die than endure any more of them. He told his doctor that he had decided to discontinue the treatments. My mother and I resigned ourselves to my father’s decision.

Throughout my father’s illness, my mother had been praying to Padre Pio for a cure. I too prayed for Padre Pio’s intercession. I pulled out an old prayer card that my mother had given me years before. I prayed to Padre Pio that my father would be healed and that he would be able to walk me, his only daughter, down the aisle some day. If however, it was his time to die, I prayed that he would not suffer. During this time, I learned more about Padre Pio and the miracles that he performed, even after his death.

The night before his next doctor’s appointment, my father had a dream. In his dream, he was at the doctor’s office. On the monitor appeared two images of Padre Pio’s face where the tumor had been. After my father woke up, he felt secure that all would be well. A few days later we got the joyous news that my father was cancer-free. My parents are planning to go on a pilgrimage to Padre Pio’s monastery to thank him for this miracle.

– Maria Francia