“I promised St. Francis that, if I was able to bring my children home alive, I would return to thank him and present them to him at the Basilica.”
Antônia Keliane’s babies were born at just 28 weeks of pregnancy. In the midst of fear and anguish for her children, this Brazilian mother made a promise to St. Francis: if she could bring them home alive, she would go to the Basilica of St. Francis of the Stigmata in Canindé, Ceará, to give thanks and present them to him.
And she has fulfilled that promise.
Antônia, from São Domingos do Cariri in the Brazilian state of Paraíba, traveled hundreds of miles to the Basilica of St. Francis of the Stigmata in Canindé, Ceará, to give thanks with her twin sons.
In a viral video shared by the Shrine, the mother explained that her twins were born at only 28 weeks. During those difficult days, Antônia made a promise to St. Francis.
“They were born at 28 weeks of pregnancy. There were many days of fear and anguish, but faith never left us through any of them. I promised St. Francis that, if I was able to bring my children home alive, I would return to thank him and present them to him at the Basilica.”
The promise remained in her heart, and when she finally brought her children home, she knew it was time to return to Canindé.
“Today we are here, giving thanks for the grace received, with my two children in my arms.”
The mother’s emotion is easy to understand when she explains what her children represent to her. She calls them her “two living testimonies” and says she is overjoyed to be there with them.
“I am very happy—very happy—and even more grateful to St. Francis, because he has always been my beloved saint of devotion. And today, being here with my children… I truly have no words to explain it.”
“Being Here With My Children Today Is Beyond Words”
In sharing her testimony, the Basilica highlighted this aspect of the story: after living through a time of waiting and anguish, Antônia returned to the Shrine to give thanks for the gift of her children’s lives.
The post describes the moment as a testimony that “needs no great explanation,” but can simply be contemplated in the two little ones now resting in their mother’s arms.
The video ends with this famous prayer attributed to St. Francis:
“Where there is despair, let me bring hope;
where there is darkness, let me bring light;
where there is sadness, let me bring joy.”
For Antônia, the pilgrimage to Canindé was a way to fulfill a promise made during one of the most difficult moments of her life.
This time, she did not arrive alone. She came carrying her two children in her arms—and a story of faith for which to give thanks.