Venerables John Paul II and Pius XII
Posted on 01/19/2010 3:45:52 PM PST by NYer
.- Some details of the case under investigation regarding a possible miracle attributed to Venerable Pope Pius XII have been made public. The story features not just one former Pontiff, but two.
On Tuesday morning, Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli published an article in Il Giornale describing at length the situation which "mysteriously involves" John Paul II.
Tornielli reported that this case was brought to the attention of Benedict XVI shortly before he approved a measure on Dec. 19, 2009 venerating Pope Pius XII's life of "heroic virtue," whose cause had been on-hold for the previous two years.
In 2005, a teacher of 31 years of age was expecting her third child in the city of Castellammare di Stabia. She began to have strong pains, which after many tests and a biopsy, signaled the presence of Burkitt's lymphoma. The condition is typified by swollen lymph nodes, often starting in the abdominal region, and the cancer can spread to bone marrow and spinal fluid. Not only was her health in danger, but that of her unborn child was also threatened.
The woman's husband first prayed for the intercession Pope John Paul II, who was then only recently buried in the crypt of St. Peter's. It wasn't long before the Holy Father appeared to the woman's husband in a dream. The spouse described to Tornielli what he saw that night, "He had a serious face. He said to me, 'I can't do anything, you must pray to this other priest...' He showed me the image of a thin, tall, lean priest. I didn't recognize him; I didn't know who he might be."
Several days passed before he, "by chance," came across a picture of Pope Pius XII in a magazine and recognized him as the man John Paul II had shown him in the dream.
The man wasted no time in bombarding Pius XII with prayers for his wife's healing and following her very first treatments she was declared free of the cancer, the tumor had disappeared. In fact, she was cured so quickly that her doctors pondered the notion that they may have originally misdiagnosed the pathology.
The tests and charts were reconsulted and the initial diagnosis was confirmed.
In the absence of the tumor, she had her baby and returned to work. After some time had gone by, she decided to contact the Vatican regarding her experience.
A local news source, the Sorrento & Dintorni, ran an article on Sunday offering a basic story of the possible miracle and the diocesan response to it. According to their report, a Tribunal has been organized by Archbishop Felice Cece of Sorrento-Castellammare to determine the nature of the occurrence and whether it will move on to the Vatican.
According to Tornielli, if they decide positively, the case will be sent on to Congregation for the Causes of Saints for investigation by a team of doctors to declare whether the event was explicable by natural means. If there is no explanation found for the healing, theologians from the Congregation will debate the issue. Only with their "go-ahead" can a dossier subsequently reach the hands of Pope Benedict XVI for official recognition.
Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, told CNA on Monday that there is no telling how much time the entire process might take.
He also mentioned that if a case arrives to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints it is examined in chronological order based on the date of arrival and there are thousands of cases pending review.
However, he added, "exceptions might be made for Popes, etc."
There was no mention in Tornielli's report of where the lymphoma had manifested itself in the woman's body. According to the National Institute of Health, Burkitt's lymphoma is treatable and more than half of those diagnosed with the cancer are cured with intensive chemotherapy.
Ping!
Well, I’m certainly convinced...
Shazam!!!! 50 years later a miracle. Its a miracle. lol.
I'm laughing . . . in a nice way. It's just like JPII to be helping out PXII . . . PXII appointed him Bishop of Cracow so I guess turnabout is fair play!
I would love there to be a few dazzling miracles to quiet the naysayers. It would be great to be able to silence those who are trying to rewrite history.
I met him when I was 5 years old. He was quite ill at the time and what was supposed to be a private audience turned into a general one. There was a large crowd at the Vatican that day. My mother and I became separated in the melee. The only thing I remember is two strong arms with brown sleeves, swooping down to lift me up, place me on his shoulders, grab my mother and escort us out of the Vatican. To this day, I am a great admirer or the Franciscans :-)
(I have a soft spot for Franciscans too. I have a special devotion to St. Anthony of Padua, and I will say that I've met some fairly kooky and way-out Franciscans but I have never met a mean one or one who wasn't animated by a very sincere love of God.)
The personal anecdotes offered on FR continue to amaze me!
As a 5 year old, I was more focused on the doll I brought from home than on tourism. However, that was a Marian year and there was a procession during our visit. In my child's mind, procession equated with parade. I do recall the pope being processed on his sedia gestatoria, wearing the multi-tiered mitre. The bigger event for me, though, was my mother taking me to a gift shop positioned above the right 'arm' of the Vatican. I chose a large statue of the Sacred Heart that accompanied me over the years through all the moves, until it practically disintegrated. It was made from plaster of Paris. I also have the papal coin set from his papacy.
That sounds like a good argument for bringing back the sedia gestatoria to me (and the mitre too)!
PXII must have had a very good sense of balance, because there are many photos of him standing up on the sedia gestatoria!
How sad. But I thought our Roman Catholic FRiends were always assuring us that they only ask for the saints to pray on their behalf and do not actually pray TO them?
Side note: it's amazing how these miracles are always discovered right when they're needed.
Alright, you may commence flaming.
you’re not catholic, so why do you care what they do or how they pray? I thougt christians have a “personal” relationship with God. Shouldn’t you just worry about yourself and your salvation?
If you think that Christians are only concerned with their “personal” relationship with God and don’t care about anybody else knowing Him, then you obviously don’t know much about Christianity (Catholic or Protestant flavor) at all.
BTW, in the future, if you expect people to respond to your comments, it would probably be advisable to get them in within a week and a half of the post you’re replying to.
If you think that Christians are only concerned with their “personal” relationship with God and don’t care about anybody else knowing Him, then you obviously don’t know much about Christianity (Catholic or Protestant flavor) at all. >>>
Judging by the attacks by some of the evangelicals to the catholics on the FR, I see that they don’t care about us knowing Him. Christians are judged by the way they treat others. You were sarcastic on post 13, not christian at all which means your statement is false about your caring about others knowing “Him”.
BTW, in the future, if you expect people to respond to your comments, >>>
actually, i would rather have them not reply to me.
I must have overlooked the Biblical commandment against sarcasm. But maybe it's part of those additional traditions which I, as a Protestant, would obviously be unfamiliar with.
Oops, look at that, there I go again.
actually, i would rather have them not reply to me.
Then my recommendation would be to not post to them. Crazy idea, I know.
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