A Christmas favorite, this column is being reprinted with Linda’s wish for a merry Christmas.

Our family visited LaSallette Shrine last night, as we do every Christmas holiday. The lights were magnificent! The live manger was awe-inspiring as the choir sang nearby. As we drank cups of hot apple cider, memories of my infant daughter, Dinora, flooded my heart again.

Dinora was adopted from Guatemala at the age of 6 weeks, and we were so thrilled! She came with a variety of diseases common in s 3rd World Country; scabies, intestinal parasites and malnutrition. We loved her and fed her and she blossomed into an adorable baby with big black eyes, shiny black hair and a toothy grin of brown teeth that was charming nonetheless.

At the age of six months, it became apparent that Dinora could not hear. She had not yet started to babble like other babies her age, but she also did not turn when her name was called, or look at the dog when she barked, or seem to notice my heavy footsteps as I tromped into her bedroom. As I peered into her crib, she would startle when she saw me as though she had not heard my weighty footsteps. Later that day, she was sitting next to me on the floor while I was doing the dishes. An accidentally dropped pan made a horrendous clang on the floor. Dinora happily sat there playing, her back to the pan. She did not startle. She did not cry. She did not hear it.

The rounds of the doctors and a brain stem evoked response test documented a hearing loss with no response up to 90 decibels, and a trial with hearing aids was suggested, although they would not be strong enough for her to hear normally. Digesting this news, I held back tears as the impressions were taken for her ear molds. She, of course, just sat there smiling and chomping on her favorite toy.

That evening, our family went for a visit to LaSallette. The lights, the music, and the manger failed to inspire me, as I was feeling very sorry for myself with a two-year-old son who was blind, and an infant daughter who was deaf.

Nearby, there was a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes surrounded by prayer water, candles and a large display of crutches and wheelchairs of people who had reportedly been miraculously healed by her. My toddler son, Francis, ran to the bright lights of the candles, and I helped him light one of the candles, guiding his excited little hand up to the wick. Because of his limited vision, the only candles he had seen previously were on his birthday cake, so he merrily sang “Happy Birthday Dear Jesus.” Dinora, sitting in the stroller, smiled as the glow from the candle flames brightly lit up her face, almost as though a halo. I said a half-hearted, non-de-script prayer, and Francis joyful mood did not rub off on me.

The next morning, the dog barked and Dinora woke up. Thinking it was a coincidence, I walked into her room and she turned to smile at me. She had heard my heavy footsteps. I started talking to her and she started waving her hands and smiled more broadly. Only a day earlier she had been fitted with ear molds for hearing aids. An excited call to the doctor was made, and he agreed to see her that day. Her hearing was tested again and it was normal. Taken aback, the doctor had no medical explanation, and said in his 29 years as an ear doctor he had never seen anything like it. He smiled and told me it must be a “Christmas miracle from above.” Stunned, the visit the night before to the shrine came to mind. A miracle had occurred, even though I did not ask for one.

Dinora is now an adult and has had perfect hearing ever since that day. My life has been lived with a peaceful, generous heart because I know, without any doubt that God is with us.

Merry Christmas, all!