The evening world., 1894-07-24
CURED BY A RELIC ?
Wonderful Recovery Of Little
Valentine Gebelt.
Able TO Walk After Visiting 81. lean
Baptiste Church.
Many Pilgrims Said to he on Their
Way Here.

The annual pilgrimage TO the little
church of st. Jean Edpt.stc. in Seventy
sixth street. nea- Lexington avenue. is
again in progress. This is the novena
OF the feast Of -. Anne. the mother OF
the Virgin Mary.
The novena Is rs the name implies,
nine days preparation preceding
feast. and in this instance commenced
last Tuesday and will end Thursday,
when masses will be said every hour
from 6 until II O'Clock tn the morning.
Rev. Father Gladu. -. NJ. l.. OF Mon
trcal, also breaches at $50 a. NJ and
S y. NJ. every day.
II is only two years since this cult has
sprung up at St Jeans and is quite the
result Of chance. 1t happened the Mgr.
Marquis Of St. Anne Beaupre. in Can
ada. stopped for awhile two years ago
at the house Of Father +. Tetreau, the
pastor OF 81. Jeans. Mgr. Marquis was
on his way home from Rome whore
he had been to secure portion OF the
wrist bone OF ST. Anne.
While at Father Te,reaus tho mon
signor allowed this relic to be exhibited
during certain hours each day The
church became crowded with worship
pers and curious. and several
miraculous cures from contact with the
relic were soon reported.
After Mgr. Msrquis's departure
Father Tetresu begged the Pope to pre-
sent his church. too. a lcrtion OF the
relic. This reaue't was complied with.
Anne. Aug .. 1892 a piece of the bone,
abe ut two inches long by H. inches
wide. arrived and was placed on exhibit
ton al the church.
From that day to his the shrine has
been visited daily by hundreds. often
thousands, OF persons. generally the
blind, the halt and the Otherwise sick
were reported: but the latest. and per-
haps most wonderful OF these. II that OF
fthr-year-old Val a1tlne Gebelt. who lives
with his parents ut 55S First avenue.
Little Valentine had, 1t is said. suffer.
lrg long time from double spine and
hip disease, and was fr sduently taken to
the Hospital for Cripples, at Lexington
avenue and Forty-second street. There
he was put in braces and furnished with
hieh-heeled shoe. one OF the child's
legs being considerably shorter than the
other
Although these appliances served to
lessen Valentines pain. his cure seemed
as remote as ever. So last September
tie sufferers body with the relic.
The first visit seemed to bear no
fruit; nor did the second, but & at the
her. after kissing the relicuary in
which lay the bone, little Valentine eX-
claimed:
Mamma. ! feel better now; please
take off the braces At the same time,
according to those who say they wit
I essed the event Valentine made efforts
TO free himself from his bandages:
and when these were take off. they say
he stood erect awhile and then began
to walk about.
1t was noticed. however, that the lit
tie fellow limped very considerably.
| Somebody suggested that this might be
| owing to the thlck-soled shoe. His
shoes were. accordingly. taken off, and
| ne then walked. 1t Is said, with as firm
| and even a gait as II his legs had never
| been of unequal length.
| These facts are testified to by grown
| persons and children In the neighbor-
| hood OF little Valentines home. AZ well
| as by the priests and nuns attached to
| the Church OF st. Jean Baptiste.
| A physician gave IL az his opinion
that the child had suffered from ner-
| vous malady that simulated double
| spine and hip disease and had become
| whole when the nervous strain was re-
| moved This. however. is regarded by
others as very unlikely in SO young "A
child.
1t is reported that a company OF 1000
pilgrims IL on Its way to st. Anne's
was known OF this at the church
| fhe new cult has given such promi-
nence to ST. Jeans that the Marist
| Brothers. under Brother Zephyrini,
have been enabled TO build and thor
| oughly equip n great school which they
| call St Anne's Academy. next door to
| the church. 1t will accommodate 500
students, and will he open for instruc-
ton some time in September.