Family prays for kidney transplant, comes closer together through saintly intercession

LINCOLN PARK — God works miracles in people’s lives not only to show His power, but to bring people closer to Him.

That’s how Michael Loria sees it, and he has the miracle to prove it.

Sitting in a Tim Horton’s next to his daughter, Julia, Mike gets emotional describing the decades-long struggle of his wife, Gabriela (Lilly), dealing with chronic kidney disease and stage 5 kidney failure.

The story begins when Mike and Lilly were married Nov. 10, 1996, at SS. Peter and Paul Romanian Orthodox Church in Dearborn Heights. At the time, Lilly’s kidneys were functioning at 75 percent.

“We knew there was a problem, but they said there was nothing to worry about for some years,” Mike told The Michigan Catholic. “We knew it was just something to watch.”

The couple had two children, Julia and Joseph. Mike now works as a controls engineer at U.S. Steel, and Lilly is a science teacher at Gabriel Richard High School in Riverview. Mike, originally of St. Clement Parish in Center Line, joined SS. Peter and Paul, Lilly’s home parish.

Things were going fine, until Lilly’s kidney function started to drop dramatically, functioning at only 15 percent in 2015.

“It was definitely a slow deterioration,” Julia told The Michigan Catholic of her mother’s condition. “A lot of doctors say most patients don’t notice they are feeling so terrible, because it’s such a gradual change.”

But by 2015, Lilly began to fatigue easily, trying to teach from a sitting position to conserve energy. Lilly was put on the transplant list in November 2015, but even then she didn’t show how sick she was to her students or the surrounding community.

“The way she carried herself in school, you’d never known that she was sick,” Gabriel Richard High School principal Joseph Whalen said. “At the beginning of the year, she started letting people in the school know, and we had a huge outpouring of support for her. But she never missed a day of work.”

Nearing 8 percent kidney function, Lilly would need a transplant soon, doctors said, or else she’d have to go on dialysis. The problem was, of the 20 or so people in the Gabriel Richard community plus family and friends that knew the Loria family, nobody was a match.

“When she finally went public, she put on a post on Facebook saying she was in need of a kidney transplant,” Mike said. “There was a lot of fear of the unknown. I knew this big storm was coming through our family.”

The storm was coming, but God was there for the Loria family.

Lilly’s kidney function continued to deteriorate, and the search for a kidney continued, in vain. The family chose to stay close to home, not knowing when Lilly would have to be hospitalized.

A Lent that changed a life

It was a trying time for the entire family, leading Mike to take on a new Lenten challenge.

Mike converted to Romanian Orthodox when he married Lilly at SS. Peter and Paul Romanian Orthodox, but during Lent in 2015 he vowed to receive Communion every day.

“In the Orthodox Church, holy Communion is only available on Sundays,” Mike said. “So for me to receive Communion every day, I had to move around and go to different churches because of my work schedule, kids and sporting events. So I visited a lot parishes to receive the gift of Christ in the Eucharist.”



Mike’s Lenten promise took him back to several Catholic parishes — St. Andre Bessette in Ecorse, Christ the Good Shepherd in Lincoln Park, where his children went to grade school, and St. Joseph Parish in Wyandotte.

“All this time, I was praying for my wife, praying for a kidney for my wife, and that Lent literally changed my life,” Mike said. “I went to see a Catholic priest at St. Joseph and asked him about me attending a Romanian Orthodox parish with my wife. He said once you’re Catholic, you’re always Catholic.”

Mike met the religious education director at St. Joseph and discovered the parish needed someone to play the guitar at the youth Mass. After playing at a few Masses, Mike learned the parish had an open seat for World Youth Day in Poland, if Julia was interested in going.

Julia was brought up in the Romanian Orthodox faith at SS. Peter and Paul, but after meeting some members of the youth group at St. Joseph, she wanted to join the Roman Catholic community.

“My experience in Poland was just incredible, it solidified my decision to come to the Catholic Church,” Julia said. “Experiencing the holiness of 2 million young Catholics gathered together in one place, it was just amazing.”

Mike joined the trip as a chaperone, worried that Julia would feel alone, since she just met the youth group. But it became evident early on that Julia was just fine with the St. Joseph youth group.

“There were so many times when I was in Poland, and I would just get emotional when I was thinking about my mom at home who couldn’t be here with me,” Julia said. “I was in the Church of Our Lady of Czestochowa, where they have crutches on the wall, medical devices of people who didn’t need them anymore, because they received a healing. My dad was with me, and when we left the church, he was sobbing, saying we needed to pray for mom.”

For Mike, the trip struck him that God’s power is everywhere, from Wyandotte to Krakow.

“I felt it wasn’t right for me to leave her behind like that, but (Lilly) urged me to go, saying it was a chance of a lifetime,” Mike said. “When I was there, I just got this sense that God was everywhere. I know He is just as strong here as He is in Poland, and I didn’t need to travel to find God. I can find God in the Church, in the Eucharist.”

Flowers from a friend

Returning home, the search for a replacement kidney continued. Mike said there were a few potential candidates to be a paired donor, but every time it seemed Lilly was close to getting a kidney, something would get in the way.

It was in the summer of 2017 that Lilly went public with her condition on social media, alerting many in the Gabriel Richard community for the first time.

“People started calling in and asking about donations,” Julia said. “A couple of parents messaged her, saying they wanted to donate a kidney, even though their kid never had her as a teacher.”

The prayers and the support kept pouring in, but still no kidney.

It was January 2018, and Julia, a student at the University of Detroit Mercy, was up late, unable to sleep.

“It was a Sunday night, and I had a class at 8 a.m. the next morning, but it was 2 a.m., and for someone reason I felt so inspired by the life of St. Therese of Lisieux,” Julia said. “I didn’t read much about her before, but something just led me to her Wikipedia page, and I just read her entire biography that night.”

Julia eventually got to sleep, but armed with the knowledge of her new favorite saint, she prayed to St. Therese for a miracle.

“It was the Friday after all of that, and I got a message from my mom in the family group text,” Julia said. “It read, ‘Tears of joy, when students bring you flowers.’ And I was just amazed, I texted back, ‘I was praying to St. Therese (often associated with flowers) for a miracle.’ I didn’t tell anyone I just read about St. Therese. It just happened and I told her things have to be happening soon. It has to be a sign.”



Inspired by this sign, Julia and Mike decided to trek up Woodward Avenue and visit the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.

“We got her a medal, and Fr. John Kopson was able to create a third-class relic for her to wear around her neck,” Julia said. “Then, a week and a half later, Feb. 7, we got the call around 3 p.m. that a potential kidney was available.”

The news hit the Loria family like a ton of bricks. After much anticipation, prayer, worrying and tests of faith, an answer seemed to be at their doorstep.

“I was at work when she got the call, it was my wife and she said there is a kidney,” Mike said. “She said we had to be on standby. What happened was someone from Gift of Life Michigan passed away, they were brain dead, but the kidneys were still viable.

“We left the house that night, 7 p.m., for surgery the next day at the hospital at the University of Michigan. That night she had surgery, 5 a.m. on Thursday, and at 11 p.m. they did the first blood tests and said you had 30 percent kidney function.

“After a couple of years of watching her just dwindle down, dwindle down, she was always so giving, she never says no to anybody,” Mike said, still emotional when describing what he feels about the power of Jesus and the intercession of St. Therese and all who prayed for his wife.

“Even when she was dead tired, she was helping the kids with their chemistry homework,” Mike said. “Even when she got really tired, even when you knew she was sick, she never said no. All of a sudden her kidney function is skyrocketing; now over 60 percent.”

Signs and wonders

The Loria home is full of get-well cards, from members from the Gabriel Richard community and family and friends.

Lilly is still too weak to speak with The Michigan Catholic, but Mike reports she is in good spirits and getting stronger by the day.

“When we found out she was getting a kidney, one she desperately needed, I was overjoyed,” Julia said. “But at the same time I was ashamed because I had so many doubts going through my head. I felt I needed to go to confession because I was doubting God. It’s happened before where we got close, and it didn’t go through. I was worried it would happen again, but we got a sign from God that He hears us, that He really cares about us.”

Mike believes the donated kidney is a miracle. But what’s even more important is how the trials and tribulations have brought his family closer together.

“It’s not about the kidney,” Mike said. “It’s about bringing us closer to God. God uses miracles as an epiphany to bring us closer to Him. We’re thankful for all we have. We have two beautiful children, so much time to spend together; everything God gives us is a gift.

“This whole episode has taught us to be closer to one another, spend more time together. It was a reason to really appreciate one another. God allows for things to happen, but He is in all things, knows all things. He knew that all of this would bring us closer together, closer to Him. He is right here, permitting all, but is there to feel all the heartbreaks, to experience all the triumphs.”

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