A few years ago, a family from Lemessos, Cyprus, named Vassiliou received
the following miracle. In Greece they are well known from the televised
requests they made in order to find a donor for their young boy Andrea, who
suffered from leukemia. The donor was indeed found and the parents began
preparing for their trip to Texas, U.S.A where the bone marrow transplant
was going to be performed. Meanwhile, they also prayed and begged Jesus
Christ to save their boy. Before they left for the U.S.A the parents heard
of St. Marina's miracles and they called the monastery of St. Marina located
on the island of Andros in Greece to ask for Her blessing.
The Elder of the monastery, Archimandrite Fr. Cyprianos promised that he
would pray to St. Marina. He also wished the parents for St. Marina to be
with Andrea in the operating room, to help him. With Elder Cyprianos'
blessing and with strong faith that St. Marina would help indeed, the
Vassiliou family went to the U.S.A. After the necessary pre-operation tests
that Andrea had to undergo, he was taken to the operating room. A short time
before the operation was to begin, a woman came to see the surgeon who would
be operating on Andrea. She said that she was Andrea's doctor and asked to
be allowed to observe the operation.
The conversation that ensued proved that the woman was indeed a doctor.
However, the surgeon replied that 'outside' doctors were not permitted to be
present in the operating room and that his medical teams' policy was that no
doctor other than those on the team be involved in such delicate operations.
The persistence of the woman however, convinced the surgeon to allow her in
the operating room. But before, he asked her to leave her coordinates at the
administration desk. The unknown doctor did as told and then entered the
operating room with the surgeon. During the operation, she gave several
directions regarding the progress of the procedure. The operation went well
and in the end the surgeon thanked the woman and exited the operating room.
Andrea's parents immediately went to inquire about the outcome of the
surgery and the surgeon replied that all had gone very well, adding that he
could not understand why they had brought Andrea to him when they had such a
fine doctor. The parents were surprised and responded that they had not
brought any doctor with them. The surgeon insisted however. He also told
them that when he came out of the operating room Andrea's doctor had
remained there for a little longer with the rest of the operating team and
therefore, she would probably still be around. He recommended that they look
for her. The search however, proved pointless as the 'woman doctor' was
nowhere around. The Vassiliou couple then concluded that it must have been a
doctor from Greece or Cyprus who had decided to travel to the U.S.A and
contribute to the delicate operation.
They expressed the wish to know who she was so that they may be able to
thank her, and at the surgeon's recommendation they then went to the
administration desk to ask for her coordinates. It was with utter surprise
that they read that the unknown woman had signed with the name "Marina from
Andros". Tears of gratefulness and joy filled their eyes as they recalled
that the Elder at the monastery had said to them that he wished Andrea to
have St. Marina in the operating room to help him.
Andrea's parents shared with the media their joy both for the successful
operation and Andrea's recovered health and for the miracle they received.
The Vassiliou family made the vow that the entire family will be present at
the saint's monastery every year on the saint's feast day (July 17) and
Elder Cyprianos reports that the family has been making the annual trip from
Lemessos to Andros every summer to thank Saint Marina for saving Andrea.
