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The Rev. Richard Clifford, an American Catholic priest, spent the first twenty years of his ministry
as a missionary in Lima, Peru, starting c. 1960. In January 2003 my wife and I visited him at San Sebastian parish in Mérida, Yucatán.
During dinner at a local restaurant, Father Clifford remembered his life in Lima.
He loved Peru and was very fond of Peruvians.
To make a point, he told me a story where he was called upon to administer the last rites
to a moribund woman, who happened to live in one of the developing pueblos jovenes, or "young towns" which, at that time,
surrounded the capital city.
It was a cold winter night. As he kneeled down next to the bed-ridden lady, he could not help
but sneeze, given the circumstances. To his surprise and amazement, the lady
sat straight up and said, softly but clearly, enough to be heard: "God bless you, Father."
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