If you have a minute to say a prayer ...

please pray for my 14-yo niece Helen. Seems she has curvature of the spine -- not scoliosis (which is side to side) but back to front causing a slight hump. If left untreated, the spine will continue to curve.

She goes in for a 4-5 hour surgery on WEDNESDAY, MAY 24th. The surgeon told my SIL yesterday that the "hope" is that the operation will stop the curving; the surgery MAY ALSO straighten what's already curved.

If you have a moment, please say a quick prayer for my niece. If you'd like to join me an emergency novena -- saying the following prayer every hour for nine hours on the day of her surgery -- that would be wonderful!

Here's the prayer for JohnPaul 2's intercession:

O Holy Trinity, we thank you for having given to the Church Pope John Paul II, and for having made him shine with your fatherly tenderness, the glory of the Cross of Christ and the splendor of the Spirit of love. He, trusting completely in your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary,
has shown himself in the likeness of Jesus the Good Shepherd and has pointed out to us holiness as the path to reach eternal communion with You. Grant us, through his intercession, and according to your will,
the grace that we implore --
safe surgery for Helen and impprovement in straightening her back -- in the hope that he will soon be numbered among your saints.
Amen.