**THEY TOLD HER SHE WOULD END UP IN A WHEELCHAIR… BUT ON DECEMBER 9, 1970, SHE CRIED OUT: "JESUS, YOU REALLY ARE HERE!"**
She was only 24 years old. A young Irish religious sister from the Sisters of Saint Clare, she had been suffering for years from severe rheumatoid arthritis that deformed her body and caused her terrible pain.
Sister Briege McKenna had her legs and feet put in casts for long periods in an attempt to stop the deformation. She was taking around 30 pills a day, receiving cortisone and other treatments. But the doctors were clear: her disease was progressing.
The sentence she received was terrible:
"You will end up in a wheelchair."
And instead of asking for a miracle, she accepted what she thought would be her fate:
"This will be my cross."
But God was preparing something that would change her life forever.
**"JESUS, PLEASE, REVEAL YOURSELF TO ME"**
On December 9, 1970, Sister Briege attended a spiritual retreat in Orlando, Florida.
At the moment of prayer, she accounts that she first thought that if the priest prayed for her, she might receive some grace. But then she heard an interior phrase that surprised her:
"No, Briege, look for Me."
She closed her eyes.
She didn't ask for riches.
She didn't ask for an easy life.
She didn't even explicitly ask for healing.
She simply begged:
"Jesus, please, reveal Yourself to me. I want to know You."
Then something happened that she would never forget.
Sister Briege felt a hand on her head. She thought it was the priest. She opened her eyes… but the priest was at the other end of the auditorium!
And then—according to her own testimony—a power surged through her entire body.
She looked at her hands. The stiffness was gone.
She looked at her body. The sores were gone.
She looked at her feet. They were no longer deformed!
And suddenly, that nun who expected to end up in a wheelchair…
**LEAPED TO HER FEET!**
And cried out before everyone:
"JESUS! YOU REALLY ARE HERE!"
That was, according to her own account, the date that divided her life in two. She herself has shared that, in addition to experiencing a physical healing, something even deeper occurred:
"My healing was not only physical, but also spiritual. For the first time, I understood that He was real, He was alive, and He was deeply personal."
**THE DOCTOR BURST INTO TEARS**
When she returned to be examined, the doctor was astonished. Sister Briege shared what had happened. According to her testimony, the doctor ended up crying and said to her:
"I wish I could take credit for this cure, but just like you, I know that Jesus can do the impossible."
The young religious sister, who had previously required dozens of daily medications, stated she was able to stop taking them.
But the story was only just beginning.
**"BRIEGE, I GIVE YOU THE GIFT OF HEALING"**
Months later, while she was praying alone in the chapel, contemplating the tabernacle, she accounts that she heard an interior voice:
"Briege, I give you the gift of healing. Go and use it."
And what did she do? She panicked! She didn't want to become a public figure. She didn't want to leave the peace of the convent. She was terrified of praying for someone's healing… and having nothing happen.
So she decided not to tell anyone. As she later recounted, she thought something along the lines of:
"I don't want them to lock me up in a psychiatric hospital."
But shortly after, an even more surprising event occurred. At a conference, an Anglican priest whom she barely knew approached her and said:
"Sister, I must tell you this: you have the gift of healing, and you know it. When do you plan on using it?"
Sister Briege was completely stunned. She started making excuses. Then the priest replied:
"Jesus never forces anyone, but He makes His will known to us. You are free to say yes or no."
**THE BLIND WOMAN NAMED NORA**
One of the stories that impacted Sister Briege the most was that of a woman named Nora. Nora had suffered a stroke and was left blind. She was desperate and, according to the account, even angry with God.
Sister Briege was afraid to go. She herself confessed that she was very skeptical about the possibility of healings occurring!
Finally, she went and prayed for that woman. During the prayer, she felt a tingling in her hands, but she didn't want to say anything to avoid raising false hopes. She left.
Two days later, she received a call:
"Sister, you have to come back and see Nora."
Fearing something had gone wrong, she asked:
"What's wrong?"
The answer left her speechless:
"She is cured!"
Nora told her that during the night, she felt as if "a thin film" was being removed from her eyes. And she affirmed that she could see again.
**A BURNED CHILD… AND THE HOST ON THE ALTAR**
Another of the most impressive stories Sister Briege has shared took place in Juárez, Mexico. A priest took her to celebrate among people living in miserable conditions, surrounded by garbage.
Before Mass, a woman approached with a bag. Sister Briege thought she was bringing an offering. But when she opened the bag… inside was a small child with severe burns.
The woman asked: "Father, could you do something for him?"
The priest and Sister Briege prayed. The child remained near the altar during Mass, crying in pain.
But, according to Sister Briege's testimony, at the moment of the consecration, something occurred that she never forgot. She looked at the Host and claimed to have beheld a vision of Jesus with His arms outstretched, saying:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened."
The crowd exclaimed:
"LONG LIVE CHRIST THE KING!"
When Mass ended, Sister Briege realized something: she no longer heard the child crying! She looked around. And the woman appeared with him.
According to her testimony, the child was standing and completely healed.
But for Sister Briege, the center of that story was not herself. It was Jesus in the Eucharist. And she says she later understood the purpose of her mission:
"I want you to travel the world teaching my people, reminding them that I am present in the tabernacles of every church in the world."
**HER GREAT MISSION: HEALING THE WOUNDS OF THE PRIESTHOOD**
Since then, Sister Briege has traveled the world for more than five decades, especially accompanying and preaching to priests, bishops, and seminarians.
Her primary message is deeply Catholic and Eucharistic. She insists:
"The living Person who is in that tabernacle hears you, loves you, and wants you to speak to Him."
And she reminds priests that adoration is not a waste of time:
"It's like sitting in the sun. You might not feel anything, but you will come out transformed."
She also often says:
"I live with the Blessed Sacrament… That is the secret: learning to love His presence."
Her life has been marked by retreats for priests in numerous countries and by a ministry dedicated especially to reminding them of the greatness of their vocation.
And her message to them is compelling:
"You were not ordained for social activism, but for the salvation of souls."
**PRAY!**
Perhaps Sister Briege McKenna's life can be summarized in a single phrase:
"Jesus is real. He hears. He loves. And He waits for us to speak to Him just as we are."
Sister Briege McKenna, thank you for reminding us that Jesus is not a memory of the past.
**HE IS ALIVE!**
**HE IS TRULY PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST!**
**AND HE CONTINUES TO SAY: "COME TO ME, ALL YOU WHO ARE WEARY AND BURDENED."**
Conoce y Defiende tu Fe