Roseanna Ruane, the mother Saoírse Ruane, the ten-year-old Co. Galway girl who is battling childhood cancer, addressed crowds gathered at Knock basilica on Monday.
Thousands have gathered at Ireland’s Marian Shrine this week, with the National Novena currently underway, running from 14-22 August.
This year, the Novena takes on the theme ‘Journey in Hope’, which symbolises an emergence from the darkness of the ‘past two years’ to “embrace a new dawn and embark on a new Journey in Hope”. The Shrine has a full schedule of guest speakers daily to share inspiring personal stories of faith, and will also welcome Diocesan Pilgrimages from Meath and Raphoe and Elphin over the course of the National Novena.
The 21st August marks the Anniversary of the Knock Apparition which took place in 1879. In celebration of the anniversary, a Family Day will take place on the grounds of Knock Shrine, where the public are invited to enjoy a day of activities geared towards families and young people.
Novena Ceremonies take place at 3pm and 8pm in the Basilica every day of the Novena. On Monday, those present heard from guest speaker Roseanna Ruane.
Roseanna, her daughter Saoírse, and their family captured the hearts of the nation in December 2020 when now ten-year-old Saoírse, a brave amputee who is currently coping with childhood cancer, gave an extraordinary interview to Ryan Tubirdy on the Late Late Toy Show about dealing with her diagnosis, and the suffering she has endured and overcome.
❤️️ One amazing girl, Saoirse Ruane, fulfills her three wishes ✔✔✔#LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/wGnLKluaza
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) November 27, 2020
Ms. Ruane told pilgrims attending the annual Novena how she and her family remain filled with gratitude despite the crosses they have carried, as she gave a personal and deeply moving insight into the power of prayer in difficult times. She also spoke about her life-long devotion and connection to Italian saint and mystic, Padre Pio, and shared her hopes of bringing Saoirse to his shrine in the Southern Italian town of San Giovanni Rotondo where the saint’s incorrupt body remains in order to give thanks for Saoirse’s recent surgery and continued recovery when Saoírse is able to make the journey.
Roseanna, who lives near Athenry in Co. Galway with her husband Ollie and two daughters Saoírse and Farrah Rose, 3, spoke at length about the consolation and strength the family have gained through prayer during Saoirse’s long battle with cancer.
Parish priest Fr. Richard Gibbons introduced Ms Ruane to the congregation, adding briefly that despite our human challenges, “we are not without hope” and an eternal destiny.
“I am very humbled to stand in front of you all today, and be asked to share my family’s story with you all. It’s a very surreal feeling, as I myself am still dealing with the emotions of the past two and a half years,” Ms Ruane told those gathered.
Touching on her devotion to St Padre Pio, she explained how, at the age of seven, she developed a life-threatening infection which required numerous life-saving surgeries. One memory of that time that endures is hearing the name Padre Pio – after she received his glove during her period of illness.
“From there on in, I kept a picture of him in my room and I always prayed to him nightly,” she said.
During the moving address, Ms Ruane also opened up about her now-husband, Ollie’s diagnosis with cancer in 2007 at the age of thirty when the couple were engaged.
“This was, to me, the most devastating blow,” she said.
During that time, the mother of two once again turned to Padre Pio for intercession:
“I remained by his bedside night and day helping him to recover from his surgery – and when I wasn’t beside him, I was lighting candles in the local church in the hospital. I turned to God, and indeed Padre Pio, and I welcomed any prayers that came our way. Thankfully, Ollie made a full recovery, but it didn’t go without years of worry and doubt.”
The couple went on to get married in October 2009, and welcomed daughter Saoirse in January 2012 – a baby who was “hoped for, and most importantly, prayed for”.
The couple would face years of fertility struggles, but finally welcomed their second daughter Farrah Rose on New Year’s Day in 2019.
“We felt like we won the lotto when our second daughter Farrah Rose was born,” Ms Ruane told those gathered.
“We felt so blessed, especially now more than ever, as we have witnessed first-hand the joy that she has brought to us all, especially Saoirse, over the last few years. We started 2019 on the highest of highs as Farrah Rose was born on New Year’s Day.”
It was only 12 weeks later when the Ruane family’s world was turned upside down.
“This would see us finish the most amazing year on such a painful low,” Ms Ruane recounted.
On a Friday morning in December 2019, Ms Ruane’s husband Ollie brought Saoirse to the GP after the little girl, aged only seven, started to complain about pain in her ankle. The couple thought she may have innocently hurt her ankle at school.
“I never in my wildest dreams thought we would end up where we did”, she recounted.
Ms Ruane told those gathered that the GP advised Saoírse to have an x-ray perfomed, so she was brought to A&E by dad Ollie, while Roseanna stayed at home with 11-month-old Farrah Rose.
She said: “I told Saoírse I would have finished decorating the Christmas tree in time to watch the toy show that very same night”.
Hours later, Saoírse returned home from the hospital in a cast with a broken bone, upset to be on crutches that were so alien to her. The Toy Show proved a great distraction, and Ollie and Roseanna were relived at the same time that they were only dealing with a broken bone.
However, two days later, while getting ready for mass on a Sunday morning, they received a phone call from the the orthopaedic team at the hospital informing them that they wanted to rule out several abnormalities after examining Saoirse’s x-rays. The family were called in straight away.
“We spent the day there while Saoirse had bloods and x-rays taken. We didn’t know what to think, but hoped that we would have some answers by that evening.”
It was decided that evening that Saoirse would be admitted, and the family would see a consultant in the morning. Heading to the ward, things started to become clearer. Ms Ruane recalled how walking onto the ward, the family were met by the orthopaedic team who introduced themselves and shook their hands, and had a chat with Ollie, Roseanna and Saoirse.
“In some ways, it felt like watching a movie unfold before our eyes. We were so oblivious as to what was going to happen next,” she recalled.
Remembering the ‘compassion’ and ‘delicacy’ of Dr Fintan Shannon who was on duty that day, Ms Ruane recalled being dealt the devastating news that Saoirse likely had a tumour as she held her husband’s hand.
“You cannot imagine all that goes through your head when you are told your seven-year-old child may have cancer,” she told those gathered.
“We were given time to cry our tears behind closed doors, and then we had to wipe them away and go back to our two beautiful girls. We were allowed to bring Saoirse home with us. We drove home that night completely numb but did our best to hide it from Saoirse.”
Just weeks later, Saoirse was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening tumour of the bone called osteo-sarcoma. The schoolgirl underwent ten months of intensive chemotherapy and all the side effects attached to the treatment.
“Seeing an adult go through cancer is hard, very hard, but to watch a child go through it is unimaginable,” Ms Ruane said.
Things only got worse when talk started of Saoirse having to have her leg amputated. While Saoirse’s dad Ollie sought a second opinion in Massachusetts with the help of their GP, something that involved a lot of time, effort and paperwork, all doctors were of the same opinion. The family were left with no option but to go ahead with the amputation.
“Handing Saoirse over to the surgical team filled me with dread. How were we going to send her to theatre with ten toes and welcome her back with only five?” Ms Ruane said as she recalled the turmoil of that time in March 2020, just as the country grounded to a standstill.
“But we did. A strength came over us, and we did whatever it was that we needed to do. It was a traumatic time but Saoirse made a great recovery. It was slow due to the fact that she was still having chemo, but once she finished her treatment, her wounds healed and she had her first appointment to be fitted with her first prosthesis.”
Saoirse won the hearts of the nation and moved many viewers to tears when she appeared on the Late Late Toy Show one year on from the day she first went to A&E. Many across Ireland have followed her journey since then, offering prayers especially during her surgeries.
“To see her sit across from Ryan Tubridy filled us with such unimaginable emotion and pride and to us it was the highest and biggest reward she could ever receive for enduring such a cruel illness”.
What a beautiful shot — Kiltullagh's Saoirse Ruane pictured with her mum at The Late Late Toy Show 2020
Pic: Andres Poveda Photography pic.twitter.com/TuqM3wS4iz— Declan Varley (@declanvarley) November 27, 2020
Just as the family began to “slowly come through the haze” of surgeries and upheaval, they received bad news again. In April of this year, they were informed that Saoirse’s cancer had returned, this time in the lung. It was a diagnosis which shook the family to the core all over again.
While the consultant was doubtful that surgery could be performed because of the location of the tumour, Ms Ruane told pilgrims how the family leaned on prayer and once again enlisted the help of Padre Pio. Ms Ruane’s sister was able to get Padre Pio’s healing glove, which was brought into Saoirse on the night before her surgery – something she is “eternally grateful” to her sister for.
“We blessed Saoirse with the glove and prayed to Padre Pio. This to me felt like a sign: history was repeating itself. I was now standing in my parent’s shoes, the very same way that they did 35 years previously.”
The family once again appeared on the Late Late show in May to talk about Saoirse’s continued fight, resulting in a fresh outpouring of support:
We could all learn so much from young Saoirse Ruane on the Late Late Show. Her courage and her incredible ability to think of others, while facing up to her own challenges is overwhelming . What a beautiful, brave and courageous young lady. Life can be so cruel at times. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/memZdklCe4
— Dublin Gaelic Fans (@DubsGAAFans) May 13, 2022
Speaking at Knock, Ms Ruane also opened up on how her faith was seriously tested as shock, depression and grief once again seeped in on learning of the return of Saoirse’s cancer..
“I was so cross with God at one stage,” she said.
“We hadn’t fallen out, but I thought, why had He let all this sadness happen to someone so young with her life ahead of her? But I soon realised it isn’t God. It isn’t any one person. God is there to guide us in troubled times. He is there for comfort, to listen and to heal. And most importantly, to teach us something very important: to be grateful”.
Ms Ruanne also spoke about how the family attended mass at Clonfert shortly after Saoirse’s diagnosis.
“We were welcomed so warmly by Fr Declan McEnerny. After mass, he introduced Saoirse to the statue of Our Lady of Clonfert, and he gave her the prayer which she brought home with her that day.”
She says the family strongly believe that they have Our Lady to thank, as well as everyone’s prayers, for the miracle that came next.
“A few days later, we received a phone call to attend a meeting in Dublin where we would be informed that surgery would now go ahead. It was an extremely difficult meeting listening to the risks involved in this major surgery, but this was hope. It really was hope and we grasped it with both hands. Her tumour was growing at such an aggressive rate there was no time to do any further tests.”
This time around, Saoirse had tens of thousands of people following her recovery. The Instagram page run by Roseanna – ‘Saoirse and Mamma’ – has over 73,000 followers, and is used to post weekly updates about Saoirse’s progress and to offer daily doses of inspiration.
The power of social media has meant that prayers, mass cards and relics continue to be sent out to the Ruane home, offering huge hope and solidarity to the family as Saoirse continues to recover.
“We couldn’t believe the amount of people praying for her. The relics, mass cards, holy water, candles, prayers, scapulars and oils are still coming through the door daily, and for this, we are eternally grateful,” she added.
On her renewed connection to Padre Pio, she told the crowd about her plans to bring Saoirse to his shrine:
“Now more than ever, I feel a stronger connection to Padre Pio. So strong in fact that I have made a promise to bring Saoirse to visit his resting place in San Giovanna when she’s able.
“I finish up by telling you that I don’t have all the answers, but I have seen how the country and further afield came together and prayed for Saoirse. And I will ask you to continue to keep her in your prayers as she travels her long road to recovery.”
She ended her testimony by reciting the prayer to Our Lady of Clonfert – prayed by Ollie every night with Saoirse, who now knows it off by heart.
“It will always hold a special place in our hearts. Our story is what it is – our story – but no matter what we’ve been dealt, we continue to be so grateful for what we have” she said to a lengthy applause.
The ‘Journey into Hope’ at Knock Shrine continues until next Monday, with many of the ceremonies streamed on the Knock Shrine Facebook page and website.