Embedded Files
The approved miracle that elevated Frassati to canonized sainthood!
Studying to become a priest, Fr. Juan Gutierrez experienced an ankle injury on September 25, 2017 while playing basketball with fellow seminarians. He headed for the bench and got a ride back to St. John’s Seminary. An X-ray indicated no broken bones, but the pain and swelling persisted the following weeks. Eventually, he got an MRI on October 31, which indicated he had an Achilles tear. The doctor told Gutierrez to make an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon, and that surgery would be his best option. A sense of dread came over the seminarian. Surgery would mean a long, painful road to recovery.
The next day, November 1, was "All Saints’ Day." After Mass in the chapel, Gutierrez stayed behind. His heart was heavy from the latest news, and he felt called to begin a nine day novena. For him, the question was: who do I pray to? “I had this whisper in my head that tells me: ‘Why don’t you make it to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati?’ I just remember thinking, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a good idea.’ ”
And so it was on that fateful All Saints’ day in 2017 that Gutierrez came back to the chapel to start the novena to Blessed Frassati. At no point during the novena did he ask to be healed. “My prayer was, ‘Lord, through the intercession of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, I ask you to help me in my injury.’ ” Gutierrez said he would have ended the prayer there, before praying the usual rosary to accompany the novena. But at that moment on that first day, he had another “inspiration,” to follow up that prayer with a declaration: “…and I promise that, if anything unusual happens, I will report it to whomever I need to report it to.” “That part did surprise me,” recalled Gutierrez. “I’m like, where did that come from?” It would prove to be a thought worth holding because unusual things were about to happen.
A few days later, Gutierrez entered the chapel to pray his novena. He recalled feeling “a warmth around the area of my injury” as he knelt and was praying. “It was gentle,” Gutierrez said. “But it would increase little by little, and at some point I thought that an outlet of the electrical was catching fire. And I was looking for the fire. And there was no fire there. So I just remember looking at my ankle and thinking, ‘That’s so strange’ because I could feel the warmth.” Gutierrez looked up toward the tabernacle holding the Blessed Sacrament. He began to cry.
On November 15, Gutierrez had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. After some initial evaluations, he noticed a puzzled look on the surgeon’s face. Pressing directly on the area of the tear, he’d expected to feel the gap with his thumb, something Gutierrez had felt the couple of times when he examined his own ankle. “You have no gap,” the surgeon said. “You must have somebody up there looking after you.” A chill went down Gutierrez’s spine. He remembered the novena and his experience in the chapel.
The surgeon told the seminarian, “As of October 31, you had a tear in your Achilles, but now I can’t find it.” Within a few weeks, Gutierrez was jogging, and ready to move on with seminary studies and normal life. Praise God!
YKF & Personal connection with Fr. Juan
Since 2022, The Young Knights of Frassati have volunteered at a Special Needs Mass for individuals with disabilities such as low functioning autism or down syndrome. These are individuals who are unable to attend Mass in a regular setting because they may be loud or wander about. We have gotten to know Fr. Juan Gutierrez because he often celebrated Mass with us. During this time, no one in the club knew about Fr. Juan's miraculous experience through Frassati's intercession. He had only told a few close friends and his spiritual director. And since it was being investigated by the Vatican as a possible miracle, he could not spread the news. Fr. Juan was always so appreciative of the YKF volunteers and took an interest in the club.
It wasn't until December 2024 that the details of the miracle elevating Pier Giorgio Frassati to canonized sainthood were revealed! And the most shocking part was that it was Fr. Juan who experienced the miracle! Not only is this canonization what we had been praying for, but to experience Frassati's intercession so locally is such a blessing!
Some club members attended the news press conference on December 16, 2024 that announced to the world the details of the miraculous healing. They were even interviewed by ABC7 News.
Page updated
Report abuse