By Corey Wronski
(50 for 50 series) I was born with a rare bone condition that has required many surgeries over the years and has limited my physical mobility.
I had lived in Maryland for a number of years and visited the Seton Shrine occasionally, but I didn’t know much about Mother Seton until June 2022 when I joined one of the Shrine’s virtual book clubs. That first session, we read Nothing Short of a Miracle: God’s Healing Power in Modern Saints by Patricia Treece, which includes chapters on Mother Seton and miracles attributed to her intercession.
Several months later, in fall 2022, I suffered a fracture in my femur, brought on by my condition. A previous, similar fracture in the same area had failed to heal naturally and had required major surgical intervention, hospitalization, and an extremely long period of recovery. I was afraid that the same might be required again. As the single mother of a five-year-old son, without nearby family or spouse support, I was terrified about how I would navigate that situation, especially when my son still needed so much daily care and as doctors meanwhile proposed even more radical surgical intervention for this time around. Moreover, I had recently come through a difficult divorce, and I had just been getting back on my feet. My worries about responsibility for my son were my greatest concern, more than the medical issues themselves.
I poured out many prayers and tears. I remembered that Mother Seton had, in her widowhood, also been a single mother while facing all kinds of sorrows, and I decided to take a trip to the Shrine and seek Mother Seton’s intercessory help in a special way. At the Altar of Relics, I prayed for her intercession, and in my distress I called out a line I remembered from Nothing Short of a Miracle: “Hey, You, You’re a mother!” This is the title of one of the chapters, which recounts the story of another mother who had cried out these words to implore Mother Seton’s help.
It is hard to put into words what came next – no dramatic visionary experience, but an unmistakable sense of reassurance came over me, and I was convinced that Mother Seton had heard me. I just knew that she would add to our prayers and intercede to the Lord on my behalf.
On my way out, I walked through the exhibit downstairs (this was prior to the renovation), and as I came under the canonization banner that used to be displayed there, I also came face-to-face with our book club leader, Anita DiGregory, who was at the same time walking in from the opposite direction. She wasn’t supposed to have been at work that day, but a special circumstance had brought her in, and it was a great comfort to be able to share all that was going on. We both marveled at the chances of our meeting at that exact place and moment. It is the type of moment I can see Mother Seton bringing about among her friends.
The fracture did heal – very slowly, but without need for surgical intervention. I cannot prove scientifically that this healing was otherwise inexplicable, and I cannot prove that Mother Seton’s intercession played a role. But I would affirm in the strongest possible terms that I am convinced that it did. It is ultimately God’s will, power, and grace that allows miracles; our saintly friends, though, lovingly help us in the process and pray for us, and I just know that Mother Seton (and likely many other friends too) helped to shepherd me through that difficult time. I am humbled and so very grateful to think of her as a friend.
50 for 50 is a series of stories from ordinary people to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the canonization of Elizabeth Ann Seton as the first native-born American saint.