When I woke up one morning in February of 2002, my left eye was very swollen, red, and painful. I became very frightened. My youngest daughter, Caroline, saw me and asked me if I had already prayed. She had been healed many times through prayer.

My husband and our oldest son do not study Christian Science, and they recommended that I go to a doctor. But in that same instant, I considered the spiritual fact that God—divine Love—was acting in me and in everybody. I went to my room and read Psalm 139 in the Bible. One verse caught my attention: "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there" (v. 8). After reading this, I became calm because I felt God's support.

When I got to work, my colleagues were concerned and my boss asked me to go to the infirmary. From there I was sent to a specialized clinic, where the ophthalmologist scheduled surgery for the following week. He gave me a certificate to stay home for the next two days, and recommended I apply compresses to the eye and wash it regularly so as to avoid inflammation. As he spoke, I prayed to see myself as a perfect daughter of God.

As I was leaving the clinic, a question in Science and Health came to me: "Does brain think, and do nerves feel, and is there intelligence in matter?" The answer given is, "No, not if God is true ... That only is real which reflects God" (p. 478). With that, I once again became calm.

When I got home, I began to study that week's Christian Science Bible Lesson, which was on the subject "Love." I read this lesson, made up of passages from the Bible and from Science and Health, several times that day.

Two days later I went back to work. Because the swelling continued, and I noticed growths on my eye, I decided to wear sunglasses so as not to arouse curiosity. I continued to pray, but nothing changed. When I became very afraid at one point, I asked God, with all my heart, to guide me.

On Saturday, I had a strong desire to study Science and Health. As I read, my thought became clearer and I felt calmer. After studying for about two hours, I got up to go to the bathroom. When I looked at the mirror, I noticed my eye was better—the redness had disappeared, although there were three little yellow dots on it. I went back to my room and continued to read. What most stood out to me was this passage: "Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must 'have her perfect work'" (Science and Health, p. 454). I felt that the problem with my eye was being healed, in spite of the way it appeared at the time. I only had to wait patiently on God.

I called my oldest son, Paulinho, to go to the market with me. When I returned, I went to take a bath, and I began to thank God for the tranquility that my reading had brought me. I thanked Him for my being able to understand that His love is consistently and abundantly available to us and is always present. When I washed my face, I felt a secretion from the eye. I was very moved and started to thank God for His care for me and for all of His children. When I stepped out of the bath, I saw that my eye was just as perfect as the other one. Carolina was the first to notice this, and she very happily told me, "Mom, there's nothing wrong with your eye! God healed you!"

When I returned to the clinic, the doctor was very surprised and said, "Your eye is perfect." He said I didn't need surgery. "The compresses alone did the trick," he said. I then told him that I hadn't applied any compresses to my eye. I had only prayed. He could hardly believe it.

When I got to work, my colleagues asked me if I had already had surgery. I answered that it hadn't been necessary because I had been healed through prayer. They were all surprised, while I, of course, was very grateful.

Simone Lordello
Salvador, BA, Brazil