The first thing you need to
know about Betty Wiegand is that she loves music. She
really, really LOVES it. An accomplished organist and
pianist, Betty has worked as a church organist and choir
director and given music lessons to children throughout much of
her life. Betty also composes music and has received
numerous awards for her
contributions to music and teaching.
contributions to music and teaching.
But music has touched
Betty’s life in a way few people can claim. The
healing power of music has helped restore Betty’s health,
and in turn, she shares her music with others who are
recovering from pain and illnesses.
On March 17, 1995, Betty was
diagnosed with congestive heart failure, which doctors
suspected was the result of an influenza virus. After
spending two weeks in the hospital, Betty was allowed to go
home, but, unknown to her, doctors estimated she’d have
only a one-in-ten chance to regain her health.
Prior to her illness, Betty
helped care for her husband after he suffered a brain aneurism.
“After my heart
failure,” Betty says, “our roles were reversed.
My husband and others took care of me. I could
barely lift my head from the pillow – I was so weak.
It took a long time, but through faith and
prayers, I started getting
stronger.”
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Two years after her illness,
Betty still had not regained all her strength. One day,
she stopped to pray in the chapel at St. Anthony Memorial
Hospital in Michigan City, Indiana, where she had been
hospitalized in 1995.
“I had a strong feeling
of incredible peace when I was there. I felt I was being
called to spend more time there,” Betty says.
Soon after, Betty was asked
by a hospital worker to play the piano during dinner for
patients in rehabilitation and transitional care. Betty
played each day for one hour – she was too weak to play
any longer.
Then, Betty was asked to
provide music for the noon Mass celebrated each day at the
hospital. Up to then, no music had been played.
Betty agreed. Soon Betty’s talent turned into
a music outreach that has helped many patients on their road to
healing.
“The intermingling of
the music and the patients seems to be a spiritual
communication,” Betty explains. “The music has
helped bring more happiness into their lives, which helps the
healing process. In turn, my strength increased and my
health improved. The more I played, the better I felt.
All along, I just had a feeling that I wanted to help
other patients by playing music. As it turned out, I
saved my own life by doing so. Music has always been a
part of my life, and I’ve won awards as a composer and a
music educator. None of those awards compares with the
feeling I get from my music outreach.”
Nearly nine years after Betty struggled
to recover from congestive heart failure, she decided to spend
her 72nd birthday at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the
Snows. And in honor of Our Blessed Mother, Betty wrote a
hymn, “Dear Mary, Our Lady of the Snows.”
On September 25, 2003, while Orin
Johnson, Coordinator of Music and Liturgy at the Shrine, played
and sang the hymn during Mass, Betty leaned back in her pew,
tears welling in her eyes, and her love of music evident in her
face.
“I can’t think of
a place I would rather be than here at the Shrine,” Betty
said that day. “I wanted to honor Mary in a special
way and give thanks to her for all the help she gives me.
There are so many things I still want to do with my life,
and music will always be a part of that.”
