About thirty years ago, a...
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About thirty years ago, a strange story was reported concerning an unlettered Brazilian peasant who healed tens of thousands of people with the use of nothing except an old kitchen knife. Some of Ze Arigos ("Joe From-the-Sticks") surgical feats were: removal of cataracts, restoration of sight to the blind, and causing the lame to walk. Of all those treated, none was worsened and none died.
In 1955, in a vision, the spirit of "Dr. Fritz," a German surgeon during WWI, came to him. Though Ze was illiterate, Fritz instructed him and spoke through him with remarkable medical precision. Doctors from San Paulo University in Rio de Janeiro and from Minas Gerais Medical Academy scrutinized his procedures, but were baffled.
Each morning at six, Ze arrived and received patients at the Jesus of Nazareth Spiritualist Center. After momentary meditations, Ze was transformed into Adolpho Fritz. He asked the patients only their names, but never their ailments. He would then accurately diagnose and heal them without fee. On one occasion when a man had advanced terminal cancer (which Arigo/Fritz correctly called), he prescribed daily Bible reading and prayer. The man shortly died.
Twice, Arigo was prosecuted as a charletan by the local medical association, but no corroborating witnesses could be mustered. Still, he was found guilty of "practicing medicine without a license." This curious healer died on January 11, 1971 in an automobile accident. Two weeks earlier, he reportedly said, "I am afraid that my mission on earth is finished. I will leave soon."
In 1955, in a vision, the spirit of "Dr. Fritz," a German surgeon during WWI, came to him. Though Ze was illiterate, Fritz instructed him and spoke through him with remarkable medical precision. Doctors from San Paulo University in Rio de Janeiro and from Minas Gerais Medical Academy scrutinized his procedures, but were baffled.
Each morning at six, Ze arrived and received patients at the Jesus of Nazareth Spiritualist Center. After momentary meditations, Ze was transformed into Adolpho Fritz. He asked the patients only their names, but never their ailments. He would then accurately diagnose and heal them without fee. On one occasion when a man had advanced terminal cancer (which Arigo/Fritz correctly called), he prescribed daily Bible reading and prayer. The man shortly died.
Twice, Arigo was prosecuted as a charletan by the local medical association, but no corroborating witnesses could be mustered. Still, he was found guilty of "practicing medicine without a license." This curious healer died on January 11, 1971 in an automobile accident. Two weeks earlier, he reportedly said, "I am afraid that my mission on earth is finished. I will leave soon."
