The patient in the first case was a man in Lisbon, Portugal, who suffered from Parkinson's disease. As the creeping paralysis rose from his lower limbs, advancing closer and closer to the heart, the patient was plunged into deep melancholy. His wife pleaded with him repeatedly to go to another Marian Shrine like Lourdes which was only ninety miles away. One day, in mockery, because he knew that, like himself, his attending physician did not believe in miracles, he said to his wife in the doctor's presence: "I'll go if he does."

It occurred to the doctor that a trip to the church at Fatima might cheer his patient, or at least it would be a temporary distraction, so he surprised the ill man by saying: "All right, let's go."

The day they arrived at the shrine was the 13th of the month* so there was a large crowd of pilgrims. The non-believing doctor and his non-believing patient were among the first in the rows of invalids. I (the writer of this book) was just about as close to them as possible, carrying the canopy over the Holy Eucharist as It was raised by the priest to bless the patient...

The man suddenly pushed himself up in his wheel chair. Tremblingly he began to move and feel his legs. Then, over and over he pleaded to those around him: "I am not dreaming, am I? I am not dreaming?"

The doctor's mouth fell open in amazement and he slowly sank to his knees. Tears began to roll down his cheeks. "This was not for you," he exclaimed through his sobs. "This was for me."

The World's Greatest Secret
John M. Haffert