Doreen Taylor

On Eagles Wings

“We had two services on the Sunday, one in the morning and the other in the evening called Evensong. I was due to go for an x-ray with the results to decide whether I was to have a bone graft to my spine. After one Sunday service Mum C mentioned this to Canon Corbin and he said he would minister Holy Unction to me for my healing – “Come to the 8am services on September 7 (my birthday) and I will pray and anoint you with oil.” All this was double Dutch to me and I didn’t have a clue, but on the morning of the 7th I was in the Lady Chapel with Mum C and a number of other parishioners. Canon Corbin entered and proceeded with the Holy Communion service, then called me forward, asking me to kneel. He prayed and laid his hands on my head, then made a sign of the cross with holy oil on my forehead. This is what James 5:14 says: “Is there any among you sick. Let them pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.” After the end of the service Canon Corbin drove me out to the Order of the Good Shepherd in Arney Road, Remuera. This was an Anglican women’s religious order. There I spent the day in prayer and reading and came back to St Paul’s for the evening service. Then it was time for x-rays again at Middlemore Hospital. As I waited my turn to see Mr Morris I was scared what he would say. As I went in he was reviewing my x-rays and he asked: “We didn’t do a bone graft on you did we Doreen? “No”, I replied. Then what happened blew me away. He said it looks for all the world as though you have had a graft done. I was so surprised and me a Christian for only five months! I didn’t know what to say and so I said nothing. God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.”

Doreen Taylor, 1952 (from a typed autobiography, "On Eagles Wings", found in a filing cabinet in the church offices).