by Sr. Keresifon Ekanem MMM                                           Nigeria                                         30.08.2025

It was very early in the morning; I boarded the aircraft back to my community from the Heritage Experience in Ireland. On board, we were served snacks and drinks for breakfast. Later, in the afternoon, we were served lunch. I gladly enjoyed my meal even though there were some of the contents I did not know what they were, but as a missionary, I ate and enjoyed the meal. About an hour later, I had some funny feelings in my stomach. I had pain and cramps. I was still trying to figure out what was wrong when I suddenly felt very warm and panting for air in-spite of the air-conditioning. Was it a reaction to the food? Was it motion sickness? I never had any experience like that before on board and I just did not know what to think. I removed my jacket but that did not ameliorate the situation. The pain and panting for air were very severe. I was restless and helpless and the worst part of it was that I could not open my mouth to say anything. All I could say in my heart was, “God please, come to my aid.”

One of my Sisters I travelled with tried to help but could not do much. I felt if I went to the loo, I would feel better and so I did, but that did not help. Back in my seat, I had very strong nausea. What do I do Lord? I thought to myself what the best thing was to do at that moment and suddenly, I remembered the Capacitar Acupressure point for nausea, taught by one of our Sisters, Sr. Geneviève van Waesberghe, MMM. So, I put my right fingers on the middle of my left wrist and the nausea was taken care of. The pain and the panting for air? They persisted. I checked the time again and again and it showed we still had many hours to fly, and minutes seemed like ages.

It was as though the breath in me was being snapped away and so I unfastened my seat belt and bent over my knees just for some sort of relief but there was none, and I thought I was dying. However, I remembered the testimony of St. Terese of Calcutta about praying the Memorare eleven times – ten times for her intention and once in thanksgiving. I started praying the Memorare for eleven times. At the end, I started this Mantra: “Mother Mary Martin, pray for me.” I did not know when I slept off with this Mantra on my lips. When I woke up, I felt better! The pain had gone and my breathing returned to normal, it was as if nothing had happened to me before. I sat back upright, fastened my seat belt and enjoyed the rest of the flight! God saved me through the intercession of Our Blessed Virgin Mary and Mother Mary Martin!