KATHLEEN EVANS, whose lung and brain cancer was cured in the wake of prayer to Mary MacKillop, joined the Sisters of Joseph in St Peter's Basilica yesterday to prepare for the canonisation ceremony.
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Shielded by Sisters Judith Sippel and Katrina Brill who will read Mary's words at the Mass officiated by Pope Benedict and Sister Anne Derwin, the Josephites' congregational leader, Mrs Evans, 66, walked proudly up the stairs.
Mrs Evans's presence at the rehearsal, held behind closed doors inside the basilica, was a closely guarded secret.
The Hunter Valley grandmother had given out a letter in which she describes how her life changed when she first agreed to speak publicly about her inexplicable survival and of her eternal gratitude to the Josephites' founder whom she sees as a role model in her life and that of her family.
"From the first time Mary came into our lives, way back in the early '90s, she has had a great impact. I'm humbled by the example she set in her lifetime, and my family and I will always be grateful for the miracle she asked for on my behalf. But, more than that, I now think of Mary as a friend. I feel very close to her and the relationship means a great deal to me.''
It also means a great deal to Veronica Hopson, 72, the other miracle of Mary's making.
Mrs Hopson, from the Blue Mountains, was cured of leukaemia in 1961 but remained anonymous until yesterday.
''I feel very fortunate that I was given the opportunity to live my life, have a family, have grandchildren, so that's a miracle,'' she tells Seven's Sunday Night.
