Healing of Carl Kalin from Primary Encephalitis

Regained consciousness within hours of relic being placed; convulsions stopped within days; full recovery

Carl E. Kalin was an engineer living in Yonkers, New York, when he was stricken with primary encephalitis caused by meningitis — a condition so rare that only five documented cases existed in the medical literature and none of the five had survived. He fell into a coma and was given hours to live.

The Sisters of Charity staffing his hospital prayed with his wife for the intercession of Mother Seton. A relic described as a piece of Seton's bone was placed on him. Within hours, Kalin regained consciousness. His convulsions stopped within days, and he eventually made a full recovery.

The Vatican Medical Commission found no medical explanation for the recovery. The case was accepted as the miracle required for canonization. Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized by Pope Paul VI on September 14, 1975 — the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross — becoming the first person born on American soil to be canonized.