Official Miracle Declared In Southern California By Catholic Church

BALDWIN PARK, CA — A miracle has taken place in Southern California, leading to the upcoming canonization of a saint, the Catholic Church declared at a press conference in Baldwin Park Monday.

Father Juan Manuel Gutierrez, a local priest who suffered a torn Achilles tendon while playing basketball, was healed without surgery after saying a prayer "novena" offered to the Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, according to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. A lengthy investigation by the church led to the declaration of the miracle needed for Frassati, a late Italian journalist, to be canonized a saint next year.

"This is a joyful day. Father Juan is one of our new priests, ordained just two years ago and currently serving as Associate Pastor here at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church," Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez said at a press conference Monday. "Father Juan is also a man for whom our Lord has worked a miracle. We praise God for that, and we want to share his story with you."

"In 2017 when he was a seminary here in the Archdiocese at our St. John's seminary, he suffered a serious leg injury while playing basketball with some other seminarians," Gomez added.

According to the church, Gutierrez, a 38-year-old Baldwin Park priest originally from Mexico, had undergone an MRI and was diagnosed with a torn Achilles tendon. The injury worsened as the days passed.

"Facing a painful surgery, Father Juan prayed to the Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati asking for his intercession, and he was healed. " Gomez said.

Gutierrez said a novena — a set of nine prayers offered over nine consecutive days — offered to Frassati.

"Today we gather to share news that reminds us that prayer works, the saints can help us to pray for our needs and that there is somebody listening to our prayers. God is always listening to our prayers," Gutierrez said Monday.

Gutierrez said his doctor had told him to prepare for surgery, and his heart was heavy at the prospect of a long and painful recovery.

"After going to mass at St. John's Seminary, I stayed behind in the chapel of the seminary, praying and thinking, and it's when the idea came to me that maybe I should make a novena... knowing that novenas aren't magic. They are journeys of prayer and journeys of faith," he said.

Gutierrez had learned about Frassati by from watching a YouTube video about saints, so he felt inspired to offer his Novena to Frassati, he said.

"Along the days of my novena, one day I went to the chapel when nobody was there. I was praying, and I started to feel a sensation of heat around the area of my injury, and I honestly thought that maybe something was catching on fire underneath the pews," he said.

From that day on, he didn't need to wear his leg brace, and during a pre-op appointment, the surgeon could find no indication of the tear which had so clearly shown up on the MRI, said Gutierrez.

Three years later, he was taking a class at St. John the Baptist Church in Baldwin Park taught by Monsignor Robert Sarno, an American priest who had recently retired after nearly 40 years at the Vatican's Dicastery of the Causes of the Saints.

The subject matter was the diocesan phase of canonization causes, so Gutierrez shared his story.

"It was the last thing that I had expected, that in this course that I was teaching in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, there could be a potential miracle for the canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati," Sarno told the Angelus News.

The Vatican expressed interest, and Gomez authorized Sarno to lead the investigation of Gutierrez's story. Two LA priests were appointed to help with the judicial process, and in fall 2023, Sarno returned to St. John's to interview witnesses and gather evidence, including doctor's notes, the initial MRI scan and other documents.

On Nov. 20, the Vatican announced that Frassati would be canonized next Aug. 3 during the 2025 Jubilee Year celebration for young people. Five days later, Pope Francis formally approved the second miracle attributed to Frassati's intercession, though Gutierrez wasn't named at that time.

"After a long time, the Vatican has finally accepted this as the miracle that will lead to the canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati," Gutierrez declared Monday.

Frassati was an Italian journalist in the early 20th century known for helping the poor, who died of polio at the age of 24. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987.

"I think Pier Giorgio was a great role model for what it is to be a young Catholic in the world. Someone who takes ownership of our Catholic identity, someone who is involved in the lived experience of the faith, not only in the walls of your church, but even beyond that," Gutierrez told the church newspaper.

"He was known to have a heart for the needy and the poor. Maybe it wasn't a big deal at the moment, but in my time of need, he drew near to me and he helped me. And there are a lot of people who have received graces from him. I'm not the only one."

City News Service contributed to this report.