Alexandrina da Costa of Balasar

When we need help in our lives – what can we do?

We can pray for God’s help.

That sounds a bit ambitious. Although God does answer prayers, it seems that more often than not, our prayers remain unanswered – particularly when we pray for miraculous healings. What can we do in the face of our sense of abandonment? Perhaps we can learn from Alexandrina da Costa of Balasar’s experience and remain faithful just as she did when it appeared her prayers for relief of incessant pain were apparently ignored.

Alexandrina da Costa of Balasar

Sometimes miracles reveal themselves in the most unexpected ways. If the petitioner asks for a cure when medical science says none is possible, and is then healed, that’s a beautiful and glorious miracle that all can see. Sometimes, however, the miracle arrives quite unexpectedly and in contravention of our request. Blessed Alexandrina da Costa of Balasar in Portugal (1904-1955) gives us a perfect example.

When Alexandrina was 14 she was sexually assaulted. Rather than submit she leaped out a window falling 13 feet to the ground. She suffered severe injuries and the doctors diagnosed her condition as ‘irreversible’ and they correctly stated that the paralysis she suffered would only get worse. As the years progressed her paralysis and pain steadily intensified and finally in 1924 at the age of 19 and until her death 31 years later, she would remain bedridden, suffering agonizing pain, and completely paralyzed.

Alexandrina was intensely spiritual and prayed for a miracle. She and the villagers and her family and friends prayed and prayed that her pain be relieved and that she be cured and her paralysis lifted. The prayers were never answered. Instead, her condition became more desperate over the years and she was always in constant and severe pain. There was never any relief. Finally, she concluded that her vocation in life was to suffer. By so doing she would join her pain with that of the Savior for the salvation of souls. In other words, she would ‘offer it up’. This means that when we suffer we join our suffering with that of Jesus. Since we are all part of the Body of Christ, we offer our pain and sacrifice to the Lord to help in the salvation of others.

Her physical pain and suffering was intense and never ceased. Through it all her faith continued intact and strengthened as the years progressed. Her prayer life was ceaseless, and she was devoted to the Eucharist.

Finally, in 1942 Jesus told her in an ecstasy, “You will not take food again on earth. Your food will be My Flesh; your blood will be My Divine Blood, your life will be My Life. You receive it from me when I unite My Heart to your heart. Do not fear, my daughter. . . .” Consequently, beginning on Good Friday, March 27, 1942, and until her death in 1955 Alexandrina received no nourishment of any kind except the Holy Eucharist.

In June 1942, she was admitted to a hospital to be studied under strict observational controls to determine the veracity of her claims. For forty days while in the hospital she was certified by attending physicians to have not eaten or drunk any liquids. Her only food was the daily Eucharist – the body and blood of Christ.

Her pain and suffering continued unabated for the remainder of her life, but she was always secure in her faith and a joy and inspiration to others. The miracle of physical healing never occurred, but a far greater miracle took place – a lifetime of being nourished only by the Eucharist. Just as Jesus’ love and presence was demonstrated by the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima and the physical cures in Lourdes, so there could be no doubt that he continues to be with us, not just spiritually but physically in the Eucharist.

God doesn’t hide, and he answers prayers in ways we may not understand at the time. Alexandrina could easily have told you this. God made us so that we could choose to spend eternity with him. To reach the finish line we have to trust him. We have a choice. When we suffer we can trust him and accept that his will is for our benefit, or we can curse or ignore him. When we do the latter we in effect are saying that we and not he should be the captain of our ship.

Suffering ends in triumph

When we contemplate the suffering of Jesus on that first Good Thursday and Friday, all of Eternity becomes present and we should be filled with gratitude and wonder. At first, it seemed that Evil won, but we know that Evil’s victory on that first Good Friday was brief and illusory. Jesus stayed faithful until he breathed his last, and just like Alexandrina, we need to stay faithful to the end and follow the infinitely powerful example Jesus set during his Passion, no matter how difficult.

Helping others through their suffering

Jesus expects each of us to carry our own cross and help others bear theirs. Simon helped Jesus carry the cross and in so doing carried his own cross. Jesus wants us to accept the inevitability of the thorns that will pierce each of us during our lives. Moreover, he expects us to do something with the gift of faith. Suffering tests that; nobody wants to be pruned, but our job is to grow stronger and more faithful after each pruning. Alexandrina did and has become a great inspiration for faith, even in the most difficult of times.

Alexandrina tells us that in the midst of her suffering that one day Jesus himself told her, “You will very rarely receive consolation… I want that while your heart is filled with suffering, on your lips there is a smile.” That’s what she did. She smiled through her physical pain because she knew the Lord was with her.

Alexandrina died on 13 October 1955. Her last words: “I am happy, because I am going to Heaven”.

Is there a lesson here?

Some websites and references

Footnotes and Attributions

Last modified December 18, 2019