As an architect, sometimes I have to inspect the sites of future work for the purpose of obtaining subsidies for the projects. On one of these occasions I went to a particularly inhospitable location. I didn't know beforehand that the area was covered with high brush, which came up to my waist, and that there wasn't even a path to walk on. My colleagues wore trousers and boots, while I, the only woman on the team, was dressed in a skirt and sandals.

Walking in the midst of the brush, I suddenly felt a sharp prick on my foot. The pain was so strong that tears began to pour from my eyes. At the instant of the bite, however, there came to mind a passage from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy that says, "All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible" (p. 514). I said to myself that only creatures of God could be there. That idea helped me to overcome the fear. I didn't let my colleagues know about my pain, because I didn't want them to worry.

As soon as I arrived home I went to take a bath and clean the place where I had been bitten. I was still feeling a lot of pain. Knowing that God is the only real power, I couldn't let myself be impressed by the appearance of injury, which would suggest a malignant power. A passage from Science and Health helped me a lot as I prayed. The first sentence reads, "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter" (p. 468). I repeated to myself the whole passage, which I know by heart, thinking about its profound significance. With this, the pain immediately went away and never returned. In three days there was no more sign of the bite, nor were there any further problems.

"The best sermon ever preached is Truth practised and demonstrated by the destruction of sin, sickness, and death" (ibid., p. 201). During the holidays last year, my mother and I had the opportunity, more than once, to practice and demonstrate Truth.

We had taken advantage of a good part of the holidays to study Christian Science, but at that moment, when preparing lunch, we were conversing about other matters. I was fixing a salad while she, in front of the stove, was frying some fish. Then she finished frying, saying that she would save that hot oil so that my cousin could fry the rest of the fish for herself and her husband when they returned from the beach. While my mother was talking, she went to move the frying pan and it turned over, spilling the boiling oil over her legs. She cried out in pain and shock.

I told her to remain calm, assuring her of her actual, spiritual nature. I affirmed that in divine Mind there are no accidents, and then I began slowly to repeat out loud the words from Science and Health that I mentioned above. My mother also repeated those words. As soon as we finished she just asked for a cloth to clean the oil off her legs. When my cousins arrived from the beach, we didn't say anything about what had happened.

A few days later I saw mother showing my cousin her legs, completely free from any sign of a burn, and expressing much gratitude to God and to Christian Science.

I wish to express appreciation for all the healings we have had simply through the renewing of our mind, as Paul counsels us (see Rom. 12:2). One of these healings was of a severe attack of allergic rhinitis during the winter. It disappeared completely without my realizing it. Regarding my mother, painful calluses disappeared from the bottom of her feet. There wasn't specific prayer made for these two cases. The healings were the natural result of our spiritual progress.

I am very grateful for these healings and for the many blessings that my mother and I receive from the study and practice of Christian Science.

Carolina Maria Cardoso
São Paulo, SP, Brazil

I am the mother mentioned in the testimony above, and the events occurred exactly as my daughter related.

Lúcia Cardoso