This is a true story of a Japanese sister who had lost her hearing in both ears with little chance of recovery but was miraculously cured by the grace of Virgin Mary.
Do you believe in the miracle of God?
In the former post, I introduced Sister Sasagawa who had completely lost her hearing.
On March 16, 1973, when she took up a telephone, she found herself plunged into total silence.
She was stunned by the sudden hearing loss.
Then she was taken to the hospital of Niigata.
An ENT doctor, Dr. Sawada performed a detailed examination.
As a result, Dr. Sawada found that she lost her hearing in her both ears with little chance of recovery.
However, about a year and seven months later, a miraculous cure of the hearing loss happened.
In this post, I would like to introduce the miraculous cure of the hearing loss of a Japanese sister, which was a harbinger of the following supernatural phenomena, that is, a miraculous wooden statue of the Holy Mother Mary that wept 101 times.
Our Lady of Akita, a miraculous wooden statue that wept 101 times.
The Miracle of Our Lady of Akita
The following story is based on the book “Akita: The Tears and Message of Mary” written by Father Teiji Yasuda (1916 – 2013), chaplain of the convent in Akita, Japan.
Father Teiji Yasuda (1916 – 2013)
In this book, Father Yasuda introduced “Our Lady of Akita,” a miraculous wooden statue of the Holy Mother Mary that wept 101 times and shed blood from its hand.
It may be hard to believe, but on March 14, 1989, the Most Rev. John Shojiro Ito (1909-1993), retired Bishop of Niigata approved this book in the following words:
I recommend this book and testify that its contents are true.
Bishop of Niigata, the Most Rev. John Shojiro Ito (1909-1993).
Actually, the weeping and bleeding statue of the Virgin Mary was so miraculous that it was broadcast on Japanese national television.
Furthermore, it gained notice with the miraculous healing of hearing loss of Sister Sasagawa who received messages from the Blessed Virgin.
Therefore, it was a miracle happened to an obscure convent in Akita.
Source – Own work
A Message from the Guardian Angel
On May 18, 1974, after the morning Eucharistic adoration, Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa (born May 28, 1931) came to Father Yasuda and said,
I need to tell you something important.
A little while after the prayer of silence following the Rosary, my guardian angel appeared.
To her surprise, the angel said as follows:
Your ears will be opened in August or October.
You will hear and your ears will be healed.
But, that will last only for a while.
You will become lose your hearing again, because the Lord still wishes this as an offering.
However, to see that you regain your hearing, some people will change their mind, because their doubts were resolved.
Trust in the Lord and pray with good heart.
And report to the man who leads you what I told you.
But, do not tell anybody else about this matter, until the day comes.
At first, the guardian angel was smiling at her, but her expression became severe.
Sr. Sasagawa felt as if she was dreaming, but when she saw the angel’s severe face, her body became rigid with tension with surprise and she prostrated herself.
Her heart was full of a rapturous delight.
At the same time, she had mixed feelings that she would like to leave all to the will of God.
So, Sr. Sasagawa was deeply grateful for the mercy of the Lord.
Then, it was the morning of Thursday, August 8, 1974.
Sr. Sasagawa suddenly got a stomachache during the Mass and collapsed.
Then she was hospitalized urgently and promptly had an abdominal operation.
She survived but she was forced to stay at the hospital until September 4, 1974.
After that, she was discharged from the hospital and resumed a daily life as before.
Then, on September 21, 1974, Sr. Sasagawa came to Father Yasuda and said,
During the adoration, shortly after the beginning of the silent meditation, the angel appeared.
The angel said to Sr. Sasagawa as follows:
In the conversation across the breakfast table, they were talking about your dream, weren’t they?
It’s nothing to worry about.
From today or tomorrow, begin a novena (a series of prayers recited for nine days) which you like.
If you make novenas three times, your ears will be opened during the adoration before the Lord Truly Present in the Eucharist.
Then you will regain your hearing and your ears will get cured.
The first thing you will hear will be the chant of the Ave Maria, which you are accustomed to singing.
Then you will hear the sound of the bell ringing for the Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
After the Benediction, calmly ask the man who leads you to have a Canticle of Thanksgiving sung.
Then they will know that you have regained your hearing.
At that time, your body will be healed and the Lord will be glorified.
When he learns this, your superior will be filled with courage, hs mind will clear and he will bear witness.
However, the more everybody offers with good intention, the more there will be difficulties and obstacles.
To overcome these exterior obstacles, pray with more confidence in interior unity.
You will surely be protected.
After a while, the angel added,
You will be able to hear only for a little while.
Your ears will not yet be totally cured.
So, you will lose your hearing again, because the Lord still wishes this as an offering …
Report what I have told you to the man who leads you.
The angel stared at Sr. Sasagawa with a thoughtful look.
Then the angel disappeared.
Miraculous Cure of the Hearing Loss
On October 13, 1974, it was a pleasant sunny day.
Father Yasuda entered the chapel for the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament which will start at 5:00 p.m..
He exposed the Blessed Sacrament and then incensed the altar.
At that time, Father Yasuda had a hunch crossed his mind.
I feel something is going to happen today.
After the Act of Contrition, he returned to his place and joined the Rosary.
Then the chant of the Ave Maria began.
Toward the end of the chant, it caught his attention that Sr. Sasagawa prostrated herself on the tatami (Japanese straw mat) covered floor.
She looked like she was weeping.
After the silent meditation and the usual prayers of Lauds, the blessing with the Holy Eucharist began.
Then, one of the sisters raised her hand holding a bell high in the air and shook it to ring the bell.
Father Yasuda raised the monstrance and traced the Sign of the Cross, praying,
Lord!
Give Your grace according to Your Will!
Then he went down on his knees to the monstrance (ostensorium) and began the litany of the divine praises,
Blessed be the Lord …
After the litany of the divine praises, when Father Yasuda was about to indicate the hymn, Sr. Sasagawa spoke to him from behind.
My Father!
May we sing the Te Deum, hymn No.12?
Father Yasuda immediately turned around and asked her,
Did you regain your hearing?
Yes, I have just received this grace!
She answered without reading his lips.
It was on Sunday and thus there were people from outside who attended the ceremony.
So, Father Yasuda told the guests,
Ladies and gentlemen, two times in May and in September, the angel had promised that Sr. Sasagawa would regain her hearing.
This has just happened!
So, to express gratitude for the grace, let us sing the Te Deum (devotional song) now.
The guests looked very surprised at an unexpected development.
Some people seemed to be hard to believe their ears.
But once the Te Deum begun, some sobs mixed with the singing and the hymn became so emotional.
What happened to Sister Sasagawa during the Miraculous Cure
Sr. Sasagawa herself describes what happened to her when her hearing loss was cured, as follows:
During the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, as the angel had told me before, I first heard the voices singing the Ave Maria in the distant in my ears, like I was in a dream.
I heard only the voices and nothing else.
Then, there were some moments of silent meditation followed by the evening prayers.
But, I could not hear any voices at all.
However, the moment Father gave the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, I clearly heard the sound of the bell!
Then, I heard his voice saying,
‘Blessed be the Lord.‘
It was the first time I heard his voice!
When Sr. Sasagawa heard the singing of the Ave Maria at first, she understood that God was going to treat her with compassion.
Oh my god!
It’s too good for nobody like me!
So, her heart was overwhelmed with gratitude and she found herself lying on the floor in tears.
She was struggling to keep a sob out of her voice and she no longer even found words for prayer.
At that time, Sr. Sasagawa had been lost her hearing for a year and seven months.
Her hearing loss caused her parents great distress and she had been experiencing a series of tension every day.
But she pulled herself together to continue to pray with more faith, because she remembered that her recovered hearing will be lost again as an offering to God.
By the way, the angel had told her,
When the time comes, your body will also be healed.
Just as the angel announced, she clearly noticed that the pains and aches of her internal organs and the other parts of the body had disappeared at the same time.
Doctors Confirmed the Complete Cure of the Sister Sasagawa’s Hearing Loss
Then Sr. Sasagawa called Bishop Ito to report him the miraculous cure of her hearing loss.
Following the instructions from the Bishop, Father Yasuda accompanied her to the hospital of the Red Cross and to the Municipal Hospital of Akita city to undergo ear examination.
Akita City Hospital
Source own work
Surprisingly enough, after the diagnosis, both medical institutions issued the certificate that she had normal hearing in both ears.
Thus, it was indeed a miraculous cure!
Angel’s Prophecy Came True
However, Sr. Sasagawa did not forget the angel’s notice.
Remember that the angel had told her,
But, that will last only for a while.
You will become lose your hearing again, because the Lord still wishes this as an offering.
Actually, as the angel had announced, her return of hearing lasted for only five months.
From Ash Wednesday in February, she had a severe headaches and ear ringings.
Then, on March 10, 1975, she completely lost her hearing in both ears again.
However, although it was temporary, this miraculous cure was as predicted by the angel.
Thus, Bishop Ito seemed to have been encouraged by this miraculous cure very much.
Then he decided to request the examination by theologians, which was also as predicted by the angel.
The Curious Coincidence with the Great Miracle of Fatima
Curiously enough, this miraculous cure happened on October 13, which is the same day as the great miracle of Fatima happened.
A close-up of the Christian pilgrims during the Miracle of the Sun on 13 October 1917. An estimated 70,000 pilgrims went to the site for the last prophesied apparition in October. Some of them reported what has been referred to as the Miracle of the Sun, when some observers reported it appeared to be behaving unusually.
The devotion through Our Lady of Fátima attracts millions of Christian pilgrims to Fátima, in Portugal.
Source – Fatima 0751
About this matter, Father Yasuda said,
In order to prove the truth and the supernatural character of the warning of Fatima, a miraculous and tangible sign was necessary.
This sign was given on the same day, October 13, which will remain doubly memorable because it is at once the day of the message and the day of the healing.
Thus, the miraculous cure which happened to Sr. Sasagawa seems more than mere coincidence.
Actually, it was a harbinger of the following supernatural phenomena, that is, a miraculous wooden statue of the Holy Mother Mary that wept 101 times, and of the serious message of Our Lady of Akita.
Visit Akita and Confirm the Miracles of Our Lady of Akita
As described above, Our Lady of Akita worked various miracles, such as the miraculous cures of a deaf woman and a patient with terminal brain cancer as well as the bleeding and weeping statue.
Nevertheless, some people still cannot believe these miracles.
For such skeptical people, I recommend that you go and see if the miracles of Our Lady of Akita are true.
Especially, if you plan to visit Japan for the 2020 Summer Olympics, you should go to Akita!
For the detailed information of Our Lady of Akita, please click on the following link.
HANDMAIDS of the HOLY EUCHARIST
1, Soelgawa Yuzawadai, Akita-shi, Akita-ken 010-0822, Japan
Please go and see the miracles of Our Lady of Akita with your own eyes!
Published on October 20, 2019
Updated on November 23, 2019
Written by OTAKUPAPA
References
- Convent-Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Akita
- Teiji Yasuda (1994) “Akita: The Tears and Message of Mary”
- Our Lady of Akita in Wikipedia.
If you are interested in the other amazing stories of Sr. Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa, please click the link below.
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