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Happy Valentine's Day! Six-year-old cancer patient gets date with Justin Bieber

Sweet Valentine's Day gift marked with board games

Six-year-old Avalanna Routh is battling a rare form of cancer. She put her struggles with the disease this Valentine's Day with a date with teen pop singing sensation Justin Bieber. A highlight of her very special day was a pretend wedding ceremony, her friends and family now calling her "Mrs. Bieber."

Thanks to the Jimmy Fund, Avalanna Routh got a pretend marriage to Bieber last year to earn the moniker 'Mrs. Bieber.' Her family created a Facebook page dedicated to somehow arranging a meeting between Routh and Bieber, and it came to be three days after Bieber tweeted the link to the WHDH segment to his more than 17 million followers.

Thanks to the Jimmy Fund, Avalanna Routh got a pretend marriage to Bieber last year to earn the moniker 'Mrs. Bieber.' Her family created a Facebook page dedicated to somehow arranging a meeting between Routh and Bieber, and it came to be three days after Bieber tweeted the link to the WHDH segment to his more than 17 million followers.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Avalanna along with  her famous "husband," the 6-year-old Boston girl spent the day in New York with Justin Bieber after an online campaign and a report by NBC Boston affiliate WHDH caught the eye of the pop star. He flew Routh and her family to Manhattan for her special date.

Both Justin and Avalanna played board games, signed autographs for each other. Routh was even able to lay her hands on the trademark Bieber hairdo and style it her own way.

"That was one of the best things I have ever done," Bieber later tweeted. "She was AWESOME. Feeling really inspired right now." Another tweet read, "Best part of my day."

Thanks to the Jimmy Fund, Routh got a pretend marriage to Bieber last year to earn the moniker "Mrs. Bieber." Her family created a Facebook page dedicated to somehow arranging a meeting between Routh and Bieber, and it came to be three days after Bieber tweeted the link to the WHDH segment to his more than 17 million followers.

Routh has fought against an aggressive and rare form of cancer known as ATRT for most of her short life. The disease is diagnosed in less than 30 cases per year.
Avalanna was diagnosed at 9 months old with the rare brain cancer and has undergone many surgeries over the course of her life. Last August, she put a smile on everyone's face, when she joined the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon and proclaimed her love for Justin Bieber. In fact, Avalanna had the chance to "marry him" thanks to the Jimmy Fund.

The little girl has loved Bieber longer than she's been alive, as she joked during her "date" with him. Asked how long she has been a Bieber fan, Routh replied, "Seven years. No, 80. Eighty years."

 "It's wonderful," Aileen Routh, Avalanna's mother said. "It was another fun moment."

Like the rest of the legion of Bieber fans, Routh was afflicted with a certain condition sweeping the world on Valentine's Day.

"I got Bieber fever," she told NBC News before smiling.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention:
The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Justin bieber, brain cancer, Valentine's Day

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