90 TIME-LIFE MIRACLES OF FAITH
THEEARSOFTHEHEART
THE BANKER’S
DAUGH T E R
TwofamiliesappealedtoanAmericannuninheaventohelptheir
children overcome deafness, and both times she answeredR
obert Gutherman was 14 in 1974 when he
developed an ear infection that was more
than just agonizingly painful. “The doc-
tor told my mother that the infection had
eaten away two of the three bones in my
right ear, and that I’d be deaf in that ear for the rest of my
life,” Gutherman said years later. With no way to cure the
damage, the Bensalem, Pennsylvania, boy and his family
prayed nightly to the late Mother Katharine Drexel, a local
nun whose order had run a nearby chapel where Guther-
man and his brothers had served as altar boys.
One night, about a month after beginning the prayers,
Gutherman heard a voice calling his name: “Bobby.” He
was certain he’d heard the sound in his right ear. The dam-
aged bones seemed to be somehow repairing themselves,
and by September his hearing was restored. The family
credited Mother Katherine, the miracle worker in their
own backyard.
Born in 1858 in Philadelphia, Katharine Drexel was the
second daughter of a prominent invest-
ment banker who was worth millions.
She and her siblings were taught that
their wealth was a gift to be shared. The
family opened their home to people
in need, and the girls taught Sunday
school to neighborhood children.The reading and traveling Drexel did as a young woman
left her distressed by the plight of African Americans and
Native Americans. In 1889, the heiress took her vows—
including the pledge of poverty—and entered a convent.
In 1891, Drexel founded the order of the Sisters of the
Blessed Sacrament, dedicated to serving black and Na-
tive American populations. By the time she died in 1955,
Drexel’s order had grown to 500 sisters in 51 convents.
Thanks to the Gutherman miracle, she was beatified by
Pope John Paul II in 1988.
After learning about Gutherman’s story in 1993, Con-
stance Wall, a Pennsylvania mother, was also inspired to
pray to Drexel for her intercession. Wall’s one-year-old
daughter, Amy, had been born with nerve deafness in
both ears. In 1994, after months of prayer, Amy started to
hear normally. It was this second miracle that paved the
way for Mother Katharine’s sainthood. She was canon-
ized in 2000.
It’s a lovely parallel that both of Saint Katharine’s
miracles were related to hearing. “I
think,” explained Monsignor Alexan-
der Palmieri, of the Archdiocese of
Philadelphia, “it’s almost as though
God’s saying to us through Katharine
Drexel, ‘Open your ears, the ears of
your heart.’ ” ▪HEAR OUR PRAYERS
Recognized as a saint in 2000,
Mother Drexel’s miracles were
tied to the act of hearing—
Katharine’s hearing the prayers
directed to her, and recipients’
hearing the promises of faith.MARY AND THE SAINTS