St. Ephraim of Nea Makri (source)
An astonishing miracle for a newborn from St. Ephraim
of Nea Makri (amateur translation)
I wish, in my own manner, to thank God
and St. Ephraim for the miracle which I was made worthy to
experience.
I was pregnant, and 12/29/01 was my
given due date. When that date came, and I still was not in labor, my
doctor gave me another week. On the morning of January 2nd
2002 I began to experience strong pains, and I went to the Hospital.
I was checked, and told that my Obstetrician would be called, because
I was most likely in labor.
In a short time, the next day (January
3rd), the day of St. Ephraim, I gave birth. The child was
born with a dark color, however, due to the lack of Oxygen, and began
to cry after 30 minutes. This had occurred within me (as my labor was
delayed), and I was in immediate danger also. The child was suffering
from apnea, and they did not remove him from the incubator, so that
they could support him with Oxygen, with the result being suffering continuous seizures. They took him that evening to the Children's
Hospital “Agia Sophia”, and the physicians there diagnosed that
the child was suffering from cerebral edema. The ground fell from
beneath my feet, and the doctors did not give us much hope...They
told us to pray that he leave this life (the child would either die,
or we would receive him as a vegetable, for the seizures had
destroyed his internal organs, and my baby's beating heart was weak).
His situation remained critical, and our only hope was God and St.
Ephraim, both of whom we entreated daily.
In 13 days, there was a second
encephalogram, when the doctors did not want to tell us to results,
so that we not be given hope. After two days, they announced the new
results, that our child was totally well, and they did not understand
how this occurred, as they thought he was doomed. Here I should say
that during these 13 days, St. Ephraim revealed himself to us many
ways.
My one aunt saw a dream: she was within
a Church of St. Ephraim, and there was a little boy who was crying
continuously. She picked him up to calm him down, and she got up and
walked. When my aunt told us this, she went with my mother to the
same Church. On the road, my mother asked St. Ephraim to show her
some sign. As she was lighting her vigil lamp, it went out, and she
thought that this was a sign that my child had died. When she went to
light it again, before she could get the lighter out, it lit itself
again alone. Then she understood that my child was alive, and that
the very powerful St. Ephraim would help him. In my house, we heard
knocking from our icons, and the odor of incense filled all of our
rooms.
My baby stayed 17 days in the NICU.
After all that I related above, he remained another 13 days in a
normal room, where they began to slowly feed him some milk. After
this, we were able to bring him home.
Time passed, and we had to go for
follow-up in two months. A few days before, my other aunt saw a
dream: she was in my house for a visit, and there was a young man
with her with a white shirt and black pants. The young man came for
the first time to my house, and I began to welcome him. Before I
could show him his bedroom, he entered my room by himself, where I
had the baby, and began to unbutton his cufflinks. When I prepared
something to treat him, my aunt called him, and he told her: “Go
ahead, I will stay to watch over the child.”
Then I felt at ease, because I knew
that my child would have a protector throughout his life. At his
first check-up, we saw a very good professor at the Hospital, and
when she read his history, she called her co-workers, saying: “Come
see the miracle of the century.”
The whole episode which my child
endured left him only with damage to his auditory nerve, for which he
wears a hearing aid. I thank the All-powerful God from the depths of
my heart, for He is always with us, and grants His might to the
Saints to work wonders, and to protect us during the difficult times
of our lives.
(source)
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
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