Saint Antonio de Sant'Anna Galvao

 

Pope Benedict XVI is in Brazil (even though Fred isn't). While there, he canonized Friar Galvao, a Franciscan, who bacame the first Brazilian saint. According to Time magazine, Friar Galvao is credited by the Church with FIVE THOUSAND MIRACLE CURES. Busy guy, the Friar ... but wait! Doesn't it only take two miracles to become eligible for sainthood? The answer is yes.

So where does Time get such a number? It has to do with a tradition that began after Saint Galvao's death in 1822. Nuns at the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception of Light began handing out little rice paper pills - "Frei Galvao's Pills" - inscribed (in Latin) with a prayer. People took the pills to help them overcome illness, particularly women who were having trouble becoming pregnant. Thousands of people credit the pills with curing them, keeping them healthy, or becoming pregnant - I guess that's what Time meant.

The second recognized miracle was a woman who survived a difficult pregnancy and had a healthy baby in 1999 (she had several previous miscarrages and doctors had told her it was impossible for her to become pregnant again).