Believers find Healing Power at Priest's Gravesite: Spiritual Sites Part 1

ALEXANDRIA, Minn. - "He was always I'd say a humble soul, even when he won the region in cross country," Len Didier of Alexandria said. "He was not a puffy person. He was always just Darin."

From the very start, something told Len his son had something special.

A successful cross country star pursuing a career in physical therapy, Darin Didier's destiny seemed clear, but growing in faith it would soon become clearer, something else was pulling at him.

"I said 'Darin, we brought you up to finish what you start. You've got one year left. I'd appreciate it if you finished schooling. If God wants you, he will wait for you,'" Len said.

Fulfilling his father's wish, Darin earned his Master's at UND before entering seminary school. Determined to serve God, Darin was ordained a Catholic priest June 4^the of 2005.

"I saw non-Catholics stand in line for over an hour to receive his first priestly blessing and talking to them afterwards they said they'd do it again," Len said.

But the chance to be blessed by Father Darin didn't last long as his life had taken another turn during seminary. Diagnosed with a rare lymphoma cancer in 2003, Darin died just three months after fulfilling his dream to become a priest.

"People remember his loving smile and his laugh and that he always had time to listen," Len said.

Little did Len know lending an ear during his life here on Earth was just the beginning for Darin.

As some believers say, now lending an ear from the after life, Father Darin Didier's duty to serve God is felt now more than ever as folks from all over the country have come to be healed and heard.

"It's not even fate. I think it's faith and believing in the higher power that we call God," Shirley Fryxell's daughter Cyndi said.

Diagnosed with severe emphysema back in 2007, Shirley from Illinois and her daughters Cyndi and Tracy made the trip to Darin's grave this summer.

"I mean it was just like it was surreal, you know… and his father was there and his mother was there," Shirley said.

Praying for healing, praying for strength, Shirley says Father Darin intervened that day.

"Afterward, I just got better and better after I got home," she said.

Shirley says her oxygen level hasn't been this high in years. A recent doctor's visit revealed she's using almost 10% more than what she was before 2007.

"He was shocked. I mean my reports and everything that had come back from the hospital was that I had very severe emphysema and he just said, 'I don't have to see you again for another three months," she said. "I can't tell you the difference. It's just amazing. It is truly amazing."

It's something Shirley believes just might be a special blessing from the man now serving God from the after life.

"Darin would say to somebody that life is a matter of surrender. Surrender doesn't mean giving up," Len said.  "It means doing the best you can in faith and leaving the results to your heavenly father, whose dream for you is, or plan for you is more than you can dream for you."

Here are the last two installments of the KSAX Eyewitness News central Minnesota Spirtual Sites Series:

Fighting Spirit of Erhard Boy Felt in Local Garden: Spiritual Sites Part 2

Some say Lady of the Hills Cancer Curing: Spiritual Sites Part 3