Cancer Survivor Credits Miraculous Medal for Lifesaving Diagnosis

Cynthia Nastars pinned two small medals to her bra every day for six weeks in 2014, never imagining they would save her life.

The Wichita mother of four had received the medals after chaperoning a youth mission trip. One was a Miraculous Medal of Mary, the other a St. Benedict medal blessed with special prayers for healing and protection.

After six weeks of wearing the medals over her heart, Nastars felt an overwhelming urge to schedule a mammogram. She had no symptoms, no lumps, no logical reason to go.

Her husband questioned the urgency. Nastars couldn't explain it beyond a gut feeling she couldn't ignore.

The mammogram revealed two types of breast cancer, including an aggressive form that doctors said could have been fatal if discovered just a year later. She was 48 years old.

In the months following her diagnosis, people kept asking what prompted her to seek the test. One day, the answer hit her with clarity: the Blessed Mother had told her to go.

The medals had been pinned directly over her tumors. Nastars believes Mary interceded with God to save her life through those sacramentals.

Why This Inspires

After treatment left Nastars cancer-free, she eventually misplaced the medals. Instead of panicking during her search, she felt peaceful knowing "they are where they need to be."

Eighteen months later, the medals appeared in a sweatshirt pocket the same month a close friend received a rare metaplastic breast cancer diagnosis. Nastars gave her friend the medals.

That friend wore them throughout treatment. She's now cancer-free too.

To honor the intercession that saved her life, the Nastars family donated a hand-carved Carrara marble statue of Our Lady of Grace to Church of the Magdalen in Wichita. Bishop Carl Kemme blessed and crowned the statue on May 3, 2026.

The statue stands outside the parish's discipleship center as a permanent reminder that sometimes grace arrives through the smallest acts of faith.