By Darlene J.M. Dela Cruz | Hawaii Catholic Herald

“I didn’t know a thing about Mother Marianne before somebody told me who she was and what she did and why we were praying.”

Sharon Smith, the woman whose unexpected recovery from a deadly illness paved the way for the canonization of Blessed Marianne of Molokai, spoke to the Hawaii Catholic Herald by phone from Chittenango, N.Y. on Jan. 12. Smith was in good spirits, recounting the story of intercession and healing that now connects her to Hawaii’s newest saint.

On Dec. 19, Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree recognizing Smith’s cure as the second miracle needed for the canonization of Blessed Marianne. The pope’s action approves earlier decisions by physicians, theologians and bishops of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints who studied the case and determined it to be a medically unexplainable recovery attributed to Mother Marianne’s intercession.

“I don’t remember too much about it … because I was in and out of comas and surgery and pain,” Smith said. “I do remember all the lovely sisters coming to see me and pray for me.”

Smith’s “miracle” story stems back to her bout with pancreatitis in 2005. At that time, the infection had spread through her body and became so severe, doctors had said her organs were literally being destroyed. Smith was in the hospital for almost a year, with doctors doing all they could to save her.

As Smith battled the infection, many of her friends supported her through prayers and visits at her bedside. However, Smith’s health eventually deteriorated to the point where a doctor told her loved ones to prepare for the worse.

“A lot of my friends were up there in the hospital,” Smith said. “One of my friends was in the waiting room, and the doctor was telling my roommate that they were going to take me off the respirator in the morning and that he didn’t think that I was going to make it.”

By chance, a woman in the hospital waiting room told Smith’s friend to pray to Mother Marianne Cope for Smith’s healing.

During Smith’s hospital stay, the presence of Mother Marianne Cope would remain with her. Smith recalled how she had met Hawaii-born Sister of St. Francis Michaeleen Cabral one night after a eucharistic minister had suggested that the nun pay Smith a visit. Smith said Sister Michaeleen pinned a small container of dirt from Mother Marianne’s grave in Kalaupapa onto her hospital gown and prayed for her.

“Of course, everybody kept praying,” Smith said. “And I ended up coming out.”

Smith was discharged from the hospital in January 2006 and spent a month in a rehabilitation center before finally being allowed home.

Today, Smith, 65, said she is in fairly good health. She volunteers at Francis House in Syracuse, a home for terminally ill patients. She gladly offers her time as a way of paying forward the kindness and faith that was shown to her by the Sisters of St. Francis.

“That’s something I can do to help these sisters because they were there with me all the time,” Smith said.

Smith is looking forward to traveling to Rome for the canonization of Blessed Marianne, which has not yet been scheduled, but is expected to take place this year. She said she has learned a lot more about Blessed Marianne’s work and admires how “dedicated” the Franciscan sister was to her mission.

“I think she was inspirational herself for that time in her life where it wasn’t easy to get to Hawaii and there was so much devastation there,” Smith said.

Smith is not Catholic, but a baptized member of the Protestant Church of the Nazarene. However, she remains close to the Catholic community in her part of upstate New York and is a regular visitor at St. Vincent Church there. Smith also continues to be a firm believer in divine providence and the help of saints.

“I’ve always believed in God and I’ve always believed that saints were important and it kind of makes you part of being human with them,” Smith said. “Because they were people too.”

“I’m very happy that I was blessed by other people praying to Mother Marianne Cope and myself, when I was healthy enough. And I’m also very happy for the Franciscan Sisters that they have their saint,” she said.

Smith’s healing is the second of two miracles that were required for the canonization of Mother Marianne Cope. The first miracle attributed to Mother Marianne’s intercession, which led to her beatification in 2005, was the medically inexplicable recovery of Syracuse native Katherine “Kate” Mahoney from multiple organ failure.