Healing Miracle of Margaret Bieser (2015)
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Margaret Bieser broke down in tears as she and her husband drove home from the doctor’s office. She felt grateful for all the ways God had provided for her, but she was still disappointed.
Margaret had Trigeminal neuralgia, known as the suicide disease online because of how dramatically the pain increases over time. She had found a surgeon who recently had developed a surgery that could ease the pain. But she sincerely hoped that God would miraculously heal her instead. One day after Mass, her pastor suggested she ask the parochial vicar, Father Charbel Jamhoury, to bless her with the relic and anoint her with the holy oil of St. Sharbel. Margaret had been blessed by the relic before, but she had known nothing about the sainted Lebanese monk, and nothing had happened. Since then, she had learned more about his healing miracles, and she had faith she could be healed through St. Sharbel’s intercession. |
Margaret Bieser and Her Husband
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She experienced no pain the day after she was anointed. And no pain the day after that. So she went to the doctor again, explaining what had happened. He told her she indeed was healed. Nearly six years later, she’s still pain-free.
Testimony
I’ve always been Catholic. I was a strong Catholic all through grade school. In high school, I was starting to get away. When I went to a Catholic college, I had a friend say, “Why are you still going to confession?” And I just looked up to her and I said, “You know, you’re right.” So I quit going. And that was the beginning.
I met my husband when I was 29. He was also a Catholic, but he wasn’t practicing. When he proposed to me and we decided to get married, I suggested getting married by a judge and he said, “No, we’re both Catholic, we’ve got to get married in the Catholic Church.” And I said, “If we’re doing that, we both need to go to Confession and do it the right way.” And we did that and it had been quite some time for both of us since we had been to confession and we started to go to church as a couple but it became intermittent. When we had our children, we decided we needed to start going back to Mass and confession regularly.
It wasn’t until we moved to Houston in ’83, while we were in Houston that I could tell God was wooing me.
Many other experiences throughout her life moved her into a deeper relationship with God. She was a devout Catholic when she was diagnosed with a life-changing illness.
My journey began in the middle of the night on November 13, 2014 when I was awakened by severe shooting pains in my lower right jaw and cheek. The bouts of pain continued throughout the night and into the morning. Since I was a second-grade teacher, I called for a substitute and then made an appointment with my family doctor. I was diagnosed with Trigeminal neuralgia.
The doctor tried various medications, but I was not getting the relief I needed. As the pain continued, there were times when I would have to pause from teaching and the children knew it was time to pray to Our Lady to ask her assistance. When the pain subsided, I would continue the lesson.
By the summer of 2015 the pain was worse. One Saturday morning while my husband and I were attending Mass at our parish church of St. Agnes in Baton Rouge, I received an incredible episode of pain. An ENT doctor witnessed the episode and approached my husband and me after Mass to offer his assistance. We told him about my condition, and he recommended I take an anticonvulsant. Knowing the pain would probably increase over time, he warned me not to exceed 600 mg per day as an excess can be toxic to the liver.
I began seeing a neurologist in Baton Rouge. He tried different drugs, but the anticonvulsant was the most effective. I was now at 600 mg of medication per day.
As the pain and the amount of medication continued to escalate, the neurologist suggested I locate a surgeon as he knew of no one in Baton Rouge or elsewhere who could do any surgery to alleviate the problem. I spread the word that I needed a surgeon. One of my prayer-warrior friends called to tell me that she remembered praying for a parishioner in another parish who had the same condition four years earlier and had been operated on successfully. I got in touch with her and she gave me the name of her surgeon in Houston and all the information I would need to proceed. With this phone call I began to see more clearly that God was walking me through this journey.
I began a new school year in August of 2015. I had not called the surgeon in Houston as I was hoping that through the prayers of the children, their parents, and even grandparents, my condition would improve and perhaps a miracle would occur.
As the school year continued, the pain continued to escalate and so did the medicine. By January I was on 1200 mg of medication, twice the amount that was considered safe. My neurologist put it to me this way, “What are you waiting for? Schedule the surgery!”
I had gone to a healing Mass at my parish, St. Agnes, in December thinking, “I am really sick. I’m going to have to have surgery.” I didn’t know anything about St. Sharbel. I just went up to the altar rail to be blessed with the relic and I said, “OK St. Sharbel, just do your thing.” But I knew nothing of him. And nothing happened.
Later, I went to a first Saturday Mass, and Father Hill had offered the Mass that day. And after Mass, I told him I was going to meet the surgeon. He said, “Margaret, let’s anoint you.” And I said, “I’ve been anointed twice.” And he said, “No, let’s do the anointing. But before I anoint you, when was the last time you went to confession?” And I said, “I went a week ago.” And he said, “Well why don’t you do it again?”
So he anointed me and heard my confession and after we did that, he looked at me and he said, “Margaret, I want you to get blessed by the relic of St. Sharbel and the holy oil by Father Charbel before your surgery.” Since the Mass in December, Father Charbel had posted something in the cafeteria about the miraculous healings of St. Sharbel with some pictures, and I started reading them, and my faith started building up about how powerful this saint was. So I started getting to know him.
So I went to Houston, and I kept praying that the Lord would heal me in some way, somehow. There were a lot of students and parents and grandparents praying for me and I had a lot of people in the church that were praying for me. And I met the surgeon, and he said, “We’ll schedule you for February 18.”
We were driving back and I just broke down in tears. My husband said, “What are you crying about?” and I said, “I really thought Jesus was going to heal me without the surgery.” And he said, ‘Well, you have a doctor to heal you.” And I said, “Yeah, I know. But I don’t want to have brain surgery. I don’t want to have a hole cut in the back of my skull and have it put back together with screws.”
When I came back, I went to confession and by the grace of God, Father Charbel was hearing confession that morning. But when I recognized it wasn’t Father Hill, I asked him to bless me with the relic after Mass. He said, “Yes, meet me in the sacristy.”
So he blessed me with the relic and the holy oil. I asked if I could kneel on the floor and hold the prayer card and he said yes. I prayed so hard from my heart of the miracle. I asked him to please obtain the miracle of healing before I returned to Houston and to let me know that I had received a miracle so I could call and cancel surgery. I then proceeded with another option; if it was not to be a miracle before I left, but it was to be a miracle to help the surgeon have faith in God then so be it. But I did say I preferred my first request! I then went on to pray that if it was not to be a miraculous healing, then please walk me through the surgery and healing process.
After this prayer, Father Charbel and I went into the cafeteria where volunteers prepare breakfast every Saturday for those who attend the morning Mass. Once in the cafeteria, I had no desire to eat but a strong desire to continue my prayer with St. Sharbel. I placed a chair before some posters of St. Sharbel that testified to miracles of healing that St. Sharbel had performed years earlier. I decided to re-read each of them, praying to St. Sharbel as I read.
The next day I had no pain all day. That night, my husband fixed this huge meal. It was pork chops and salad. I couldn’t eat salad, everything had to be mashed because any movement of my jaw hurt. Sometimes just opening my mouth a little bit would hurt. (That night), I ate everything on my plate and nothing was smashed. He looked at me and he said, “Did you have a miracle?” And I put my hand up and said, “Don’t go there. Don’t get your hopes up. But I haven’t had any pain all day. We have to see what's going to happen.”
Well, next night, same thing. He fixed a big meal, again nothing. (On) Thursday I had an appointment with the doctor, the neurologist. I knew God was leading me. At that time, if you went online, it was called the suicide disease because doctors didn’t know what to do with it. The pain just escalates. (The surgery) is not a cure. They put Teflon pads between the arteries that are touching the nerves. That’s what he developed, this neurosurgeon. After that phone call (with the fellow parishioner who had gotten the surgery), I could tell God was giving me hope after hope.
Prior to going to this appointment, I went to Mass. At the consecration of the gifts, I told Jesus that I thought I had a miracle but I could not cancel surgery on what I thought. I needed to know what He wanted. I begged Jesus to give the words he wanted me to hear to my neurologist so I would know what to do. I went to my doctor's appointment and shared with him what I had experienced since the blessing of St. Sharbel. The doctor listened carefully as I told him about my blessing with the relic and the lack of pain and then he exclaimed, “You've had a miracle! Call and cancel your surgery!” I was elated at his words. He told me he attended Mass every Sunday and he believed in miracles.
When I called Father Charbel to give him the good news he requested a report from the doctor to verify the miracle so it could be registered. My husband and I traveled to Lebanon in July of 2016 to thank St. Sharbel and to register the miracle at the Monastery of St. Maron where St. Sharbel lived and is buried. I was the 120th miracle to be registered for that year alone.
Going to Lebanon was pure grace — it touched my heart so deeply. The monastery was so peaceful. You could stay there forever.
Margaret believes the miracle has given her family members more faith in God. She also believes her miracle is a sign of God’s great love for St. Sharbel.
Pope John Paul talked about how our church was breathing with only one lung. I had prayed to all the saints I knew in the Western church. I didn’t know about the saints in the Eastern church. When I had this miracle from St. Sharbel, I felt like God was saying, “See, another part you don’t even know about.” But we need to know it all, there’s so much to learn. I had prayed to St. Padre Pio, because I have a devotion to St. Padre Pio. The saints have been wonderful, I prayed to all of my go-to saints. St. Therese — no answer. It wasn’t until St. Sharbel, and he was very quiet. It’s not like (I heard him say), “I'm going to take care of this.” It was just, all the pain stopped. Just like in his life, he was so quiet.
I’ve always been Catholic. I was a strong Catholic all through grade school. In high school, I was starting to get away. When I went to a Catholic college, I had a friend say, “Why are you still going to confession?” And I just looked up to her and I said, “You know, you’re right.” So I quit going. And that was the beginning.
I met my husband when I was 29. He was also a Catholic, but he wasn’t practicing. When he proposed to me and we decided to get married, I suggested getting married by a judge and he said, “No, we’re both Catholic, we’ve got to get married in the Catholic Church.” And I said, “If we’re doing that, we both need to go to Confession and do it the right way.” And we did that and it had been quite some time for both of us since we had been to confession and we started to go to church as a couple but it became intermittent. When we had our children, we decided we needed to start going back to Mass and confession regularly.
It wasn’t until we moved to Houston in ’83, while we were in Houston that I could tell God was wooing me.
Many other experiences throughout her life moved her into a deeper relationship with God. She was a devout Catholic when she was diagnosed with a life-changing illness.
My journey began in the middle of the night on November 13, 2014 when I was awakened by severe shooting pains in my lower right jaw and cheek. The bouts of pain continued throughout the night and into the morning. Since I was a second-grade teacher, I called for a substitute and then made an appointment with my family doctor. I was diagnosed with Trigeminal neuralgia.
The doctor tried various medications, but I was not getting the relief I needed. As the pain continued, there were times when I would have to pause from teaching and the children knew it was time to pray to Our Lady to ask her assistance. When the pain subsided, I would continue the lesson.
By the summer of 2015 the pain was worse. One Saturday morning while my husband and I were attending Mass at our parish church of St. Agnes in Baton Rouge, I received an incredible episode of pain. An ENT doctor witnessed the episode and approached my husband and me after Mass to offer his assistance. We told him about my condition, and he recommended I take an anticonvulsant. Knowing the pain would probably increase over time, he warned me not to exceed 600 mg per day as an excess can be toxic to the liver.
I began seeing a neurologist in Baton Rouge. He tried different drugs, but the anticonvulsant was the most effective. I was now at 600 mg of medication per day.
As the pain and the amount of medication continued to escalate, the neurologist suggested I locate a surgeon as he knew of no one in Baton Rouge or elsewhere who could do any surgery to alleviate the problem. I spread the word that I needed a surgeon. One of my prayer-warrior friends called to tell me that she remembered praying for a parishioner in another parish who had the same condition four years earlier and had been operated on successfully. I got in touch with her and she gave me the name of her surgeon in Houston and all the information I would need to proceed. With this phone call I began to see more clearly that God was walking me through this journey.
I began a new school year in August of 2015. I had not called the surgeon in Houston as I was hoping that through the prayers of the children, their parents, and even grandparents, my condition would improve and perhaps a miracle would occur.
As the school year continued, the pain continued to escalate and so did the medicine. By January I was on 1200 mg of medication, twice the amount that was considered safe. My neurologist put it to me this way, “What are you waiting for? Schedule the surgery!”
I had gone to a healing Mass at my parish, St. Agnes, in December thinking, “I am really sick. I’m going to have to have surgery.” I didn’t know anything about St. Sharbel. I just went up to the altar rail to be blessed with the relic and I said, “OK St. Sharbel, just do your thing.” But I knew nothing of him. And nothing happened.
Later, I went to a first Saturday Mass, and Father Hill had offered the Mass that day. And after Mass, I told him I was going to meet the surgeon. He said, “Margaret, let’s anoint you.” And I said, “I’ve been anointed twice.” And he said, “No, let’s do the anointing. But before I anoint you, when was the last time you went to confession?” And I said, “I went a week ago.” And he said, “Well why don’t you do it again?”
So he anointed me and heard my confession and after we did that, he looked at me and he said, “Margaret, I want you to get blessed by the relic of St. Sharbel and the holy oil by Father Charbel before your surgery.” Since the Mass in December, Father Charbel had posted something in the cafeteria about the miraculous healings of St. Sharbel with some pictures, and I started reading them, and my faith started building up about how powerful this saint was. So I started getting to know him.
So I went to Houston, and I kept praying that the Lord would heal me in some way, somehow. There were a lot of students and parents and grandparents praying for me and I had a lot of people in the church that were praying for me. And I met the surgeon, and he said, “We’ll schedule you for February 18.”
We were driving back and I just broke down in tears. My husband said, “What are you crying about?” and I said, “I really thought Jesus was going to heal me without the surgery.” And he said, ‘Well, you have a doctor to heal you.” And I said, “Yeah, I know. But I don’t want to have brain surgery. I don’t want to have a hole cut in the back of my skull and have it put back together with screws.”
When I came back, I went to confession and by the grace of God, Father Charbel was hearing confession that morning. But when I recognized it wasn’t Father Hill, I asked him to bless me with the relic after Mass. He said, “Yes, meet me in the sacristy.”
So he blessed me with the relic and the holy oil. I asked if I could kneel on the floor and hold the prayer card and he said yes. I prayed so hard from my heart of the miracle. I asked him to please obtain the miracle of healing before I returned to Houston and to let me know that I had received a miracle so I could call and cancel surgery. I then proceeded with another option; if it was not to be a miracle before I left, but it was to be a miracle to help the surgeon have faith in God then so be it. But I did say I preferred my first request! I then went on to pray that if it was not to be a miraculous healing, then please walk me through the surgery and healing process.
After this prayer, Father Charbel and I went into the cafeteria where volunteers prepare breakfast every Saturday for those who attend the morning Mass. Once in the cafeteria, I had no desire to eat but a strong desire to continue my prayer with St. Sharbel. I placed a chair before some posters of St. Sharbel that testified to miracles of healing that St. Sharbel had performed years earlier. I decided to re-read each of them, praying to St. Sharbel as I read.
The next day I had no pain all day. That night, my husband fixed this huge meal. It was pork chops and salad. I couldn’t eat salad, everything had to be mashed because any movement of my jaw hurt. Sometimes just opening my mouth a little bit would hurt. (That night), I ate everything on my plate and nothing was smashed. He looked at me and he said, “Did you have a miracle?” And I put my hand up and said, “Don’t go there. Don’t get your hopes up. But I haven’t had any pain all day. We have to see what's going to happen.”
Well, next night, same thing. He fixed a big meal, again nothing. (On) Thursday I had an appointment with the doctor, the neurologist. I knew God was leading me. At that time, if you went online, it was called the suicide disease because doctors didn’t know what to do with it. The pain just escalates. (The surgery) is not a cure. They put Teflon pads between the arteries that are touching the nerves. That’s what he developed, this neurosurgeon. After that phone call (with the fellow parishioner who had gotten the surgery), I could tell God was giving me hope after hope.
Prior to going to this appointment, I went to Mass. At the consecration of the gifts, I told Jesus that I thought I had a miracle but I could not cancel surgery on what I thought. I needed to know what He wanted. I begged Jesus to give the words he wanted me to hear to my neurologist so I would know what to do. I went to my doctor's appointment and shared with him what I had experienced since the blessing of St. Sharbel. The doctor listened carefully as I told him about my blessing with the relic and the lack of pain and then he exclaimed, “You've had a miracle! Call and cancel your surgery!” I was elated at his words. He told me he attended Mass every Sunday and he believed in miracles.
When I called Father Charbel to give him the good news he requested a report from the doctor to verify the miracle so it could be registered. My husband and I traveled to Lebanon in July of 2016 to thank St. Sharbel and to register the miracle at the Monastery of St. Maron where St. Sharbel lived and is buried. I was the 120th miracle to be registered for that year alone.
Going to Lebanon was pure grace — it touched my heart so deeply. The monastery was so peaceful. You could stay there forever.
Margaret believes the miracle has given her family members more faith in God. She also believes her miracle is a sign of God’s great love for St. Sharbel.
Pope John Paul talked about how our church was breathing with only one lung. I had prayed to all the saints I knew in the Western church. I didn’t know about the saints in the Eastern church. When I had this miracle from St. Sharbel, I felt like God was saying, “See, another part you don’t even know about.” But we need to know it all, there’s so much to learn. I had prayed to St. Padre Pio, because I have a devotion to St. Padre Pio. The saints have been wonderful, I prayed to all of my go-to saints. St. Therese — no answer. It wasn’t until St. Sharbel, and he was very quiet. It’s not like (I heard him say), “I'm going to take care of this.” It was just, all the pain stopped. Just like in his life, he was so quiet.
