Case Studies
Case 1
In 1867, Pierre de RUDDER had his
leg crushed when a tree fell down. As a
result he sustained an open fracture of both bones in the upper third of
the left leg.
Despite all treatment given, it
was obvious from an early stage that the
fracture would never heal. Due to local infection, and (because of it) the
elimination of newly formed bone over the years, a pseudoarthrosis set in
at the site of the fracture, and there was not the slightest chance of the
bones uniting.
The doctors advised amputation
several times, but Pierre de RUDDER refused.
After a few years, these doctors abandoned him, because they were
absolutely powerless to help his chronic condition.
In this state, eight years after
the accident, Pierre de RUDDER decided to
make a pilgrimage to Oostacker on 7.4.1875, where a replica of the Grotto
of Lourdes had recently been built for the piety of our Belgian neighbours.
Setting off from Jabbeke in the
morning as an invalid, unable to stand on
his left leg, he returned in the evening without crutches or wounds.
The bones had united in a matter
of minutes, without any shortening or
deviation from the vertical axis. During the following days, the doctors
who had treated him, verified these changes.
Pierre de RUDDER resumed a normal
and active life straightaway. To our
knowledge, he went to Lourdes, at least once, and that was in May 1881.
On 22.3.1898, he died, 23 years after his cure.
Later, for further proof, the
bones of both legs were exhumed. This allowed
us to see the objective evidence, the site of the fracture in its healed
state, which can now be seen in the moulds in the possession of the Medical
Bureau.
In July 1908, 33 years later (a
sort of record!) the Bishop of Bruges
declared that in the cure of Pierre de RUDDER, one could see a miracle
attributable to "an intervention by God, obtained through the intercession
of the Blessed Virgin Mary".
Case 2
Cured on the 8.9.1897, at 20 years
of age. Miracle on 27.10.1907, by Mgr
Rene Francois Renou, Archbishop of Tours.
This young lady in late
adolescence was already suffering from tuberculous
peritonitis by the time she was 18 years old. Six months later the disease
had spread to her vertebral column. Within a few more months the lesions
were serious, having caused:
--destruction of 2 or 3 vertebrae,
with marked curvature of the dorsolumbar
spine; --a bone abscess in the left thigh; --muscular atrophy and clubfoot.
All these were certified by her doctor on 7.8.1897.
At the beginning of September,
Jeanne, in a very poor state, came to
Lourdes with her Diocesan Pilgrimage.
On the 8th. of September, her
twentieth birthday, she too joined in the
Blessed Sacrament Procession. Her own Bishop, Archbishop of Tours, carried
the monstrance.
And then, all at once, she felt cured.
She was examined at the Medical
Bureau of Verifications the next day, and
again the next year, 1898, where doctors had no option but to confirm the
cure from the prolonged illness of Pott's Disease, as complete, sudden and
lasting.
Nine years afterwards, Mgr Rene
Francois Renou, Archbishop of Tours, upon
request, appointed a Canonical Commission in 1906, which found the cure
miraculous.
Case 3
Lived in Dinard. Cured on
25.6.1900, in his 39th. year. Miracle on
1.7.1908, by Mgr A. Dubourg, Archbishop of Rennes.
This case was diagnosed as one of
pulmonary tuberculosis at the beginning
of 1898.
In 1900, two years later,
tuberculous peritonitis set in. This was
confirmed by his doctors on the day before his departure for Lourdes. These
doctors refused to treat him, said he was doomed, and even opposed his
pilgrimage.
On arrival at Lourdes on the 25th.
June, he too was taken immediately to
the Baths. A few minutes later, he emerged from them transformed; so
rejuvenated was he that neither he nor those with him were in doubt about
his cure.
That same evening Fr. SALVATOR
took some food, in fact ate with a hearty
appetite, and could sleep well again.
The next morning, 26th. June, out
of obedience, he went to the Medical
Bureau of Verifications, where no sign at all could be found of his former
and formidable illness.
Finally, 8 years later in 1908,
the Friar was examined again by two doctors
attached to the Canonical Commission appointed by the Archbishop of Rennes.
His physical condition was considered most satisfactory.
And on 1.7.1908, Mgr Dubourg was
delighted to declare that "this cure of a
grave organic disease was instantaneous, radical and definitive, presenting
all the features of a miraculous case and could only be due to a
supernatural intervention".
Case 4
Lived in Marseille (Convent of the
Sisters of Hope). Cured on 20.5.1901, in
her 44th year. Miracle on 5.2.1908, by Cardinal Paulin Andrieu, Bishop of
Marseille.
A 43 year old nun, ill for 15
years and totally bedfast for 5, due to a
hydatid cyst of the liver with phlebitis of the left leg, decided to come
to Lourdes, knowing she was incurable.
She arrived there on 20.5.1901,
and she too was taken forthwith to the
Baths.
A few minutes later, she came out,
walking... and cured! The swellings of
her abdomen and leg had vanished!
The next day, 21st May, Sister
visited the M.B.V. where she recounted her
long history. After the doctors had heard her story and examined her, they
decided to request her own doctor to telegramme a medical certificate. This
came a few hours later.
In it, Dr Rampal quoted the
diagnosis and the incurable nature of her
illness.
Eight days later, he thought it
upright to write another report in which he
stated:
"I am bound to say in all
sincerity, that Sister MAXIMILIEN returned from
Lourdes completely cured" on the 29.5.1901.
This cure, from an illness reputed
to be incurable, was sudden, definitive,
and completely unexpected. The Bishop of Marseille declared it as
miraculous, and attributable to the all-powerful and effective intervention
of Our Lady of Lourdes on 5.2.1908.
Case 5
The story of this young woman is an example in more ways than one!
At the end of an illness, which in
those days was sufficiently serious to
need treatment in hospital, she developed, in February 1905, an abscess of
the right leg with phlebitis and lymphangitis, and stayed in hospital for
more than 6 months. In September 1905 she went to Lourdes with the
Pilgrimage of Grenoble. Five days later she left, without any improvement
at all!
Back in hospital in Vienne, her
condition deteriorated. More abscesses
appeared, causing fistulae intermittently. This continued for 5 months, up
to March 1906.
Then she spent 10 months in the
"Hotel-Dieu" in Lyons, where in spite of a
variety of treatments, there was no improvement.
At the end of 1906, fearing death,
she wanted to be brought nearer to her
relatives. Despite every care, her general state remained in jeopardy. The
local wound on the right thigh increased in size and depth, and never
stopped discharging pus. Her knee became grossly enlarged and ankylosed.
In August, Antonia set off again
for Lourdes, two years after her first
visit. On the journey, the offensive odour of the pus was most unpleasant
for the others in her coach. She arrived as an incurable patient.
On the second day after her
arrival, August 10th., she was carried to the
Baths again. When her wound was redressed, it was noticed that it had
scarred over, and that she could use her limb once more!
She was taken immediately to the
Grotto so that she could walk round it,
and from there to the M.B.V., where her cure was confirmed after
examination.
Everyone was amazed when she got
back home, especially her doctor who, on
25th. September, signed a certificate stating:
"This cure is scientifically inexplicable".
Case 6
Cured on 21-22nd. August, 1907, in
her 28th. year. Miracle on 4.6.1911, by
Mgr Jacques Gely, Bishop of Mende.
From the age of 22 years, Marie
BOREL suffered many attacks of acute
appendicitis. Eventually, after two years of ineffective treatment, she was
operated upon in 1903.
A few months later, in 1904, an
abscess formed beneath the incision. It was
lanced, but it quickly led to the formation of a fistula. Although attempts
were made to close it, they were in vain.
From 1905, other abscesses
appeared; and what was much more serious, they
invaded the colon, and discharged on to the anterior and posterior
abdominal walls, to such an extent that after several months, the normal
path of the stools was entirely re-routed!
It is hardly necessary to say that
this situation could only get worse, and
that in those days there was no effective treatment for such lesions.
Marie BOREL arrived in Lourdes on
17.8.1907 with the National Pilgrimage,
and took part in the ceremonies as far as her pitiful condition permitted.
On the morning of 21.8.1907, the
dressings over the discharging fistulae
were changed as usual. In the evening, the four on the anterior wall had
closed, and the dressings were clean and dry. The next day, the two on the
posterior wall had closed when she came out of the Baths.
At the M.B.V. the doctors verified
that the fistulae had closed, and the
stools now followed their normal course. This sudden, perfect and
definitive cure, checked each year by different doctors between 1907-11,
has always been considered by all the experts as scientifically
inexplicable.
Case 7
Cured at the beginning of July
1858 at the age of 2 years. Miracle on 18th
January 1862, by Mgr Laurence, Bishop of Tarbes.
(Orthography and full
chronological details established by Frs. Laurentin
and Billet, cf. "Lourdes, Documents Authentiques" Volume V. P.
137-139).
This cure is a delightful story to tell!
Without any doubt whatever, this
young boy had been ill frequently since
birth. As a result by the age of 2 years, he showed a great failure to
thrive, had never walked, was considered a hopeless case. In fact, for
quite a long time, he was looked upon as having a "miserable
constitution"... as being a puny and disabled little boy.
At that time he was dying from
"consumption" of which his parents were the
first to be aware.
One day, his mother, while
watching Justin languish because nothing useful
could be done for him, in desperation made up her mind to take him to the
Grotto in the late afternoon, to implore help from the Blessed Virgin,
despite the notices which prohibited the general public from going there.
On arrival, with the child in her arms and surrounded by a crowd of curious
onlookers, she prayed for a few moments in front of the Rock. Then she
decided to bathe the moribund child in the hollow recently dug by
labourers. Those around shouted, protested and tried to refrain her from
"killing her child!"
After a while, which inevitably
seemed terribly long, she lifted the child
out and returned home, carrying her son. When she arrived, Justin was still
breathing feebly, but slept peacefully; while those present feared the
worst, his mother alone was more than ever convinced that the Virgin would
cure him!
In the days which followed, no
further sign of a threat to his life. Justin
very quickly recovered, and walked! Back to normal, he grew up and reached
adulthood. Before dying in 1935, he attended the Canonisation of Bernadette
in Rome on 8.12.1933.
Concerning this cure, doctors
Dozous, Vergez, and also Dr. Peyrus, who had
treated him, could see nothing else than the almighty power of God...
Our Lady appeared in Zeitoun hovering above Saint Mark's Coptic Church, a shrine dedicated to the Holy family, which according to tradition rested in that place during their stay in Egypt.
The apparitions, ( hundreds in number ) took place at night, and Our Lady was always surrounded by light.
The Coptic Church celebrates 32 feast days in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The last day falls on 2 April, and commemorates Our Lady under her title, Our Lady of Light.
At 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday 2 April 1968, She appeared on the roof of the Church in a kneeling position, surrounded by light. The first man who saw her, Muslim, Farouk Mohammed Atwa, was undergoing operations for a case of gangrene. The following day when he went to hospital for his scheduled operation, he was certified completely healed.
(Reported by Watani, an Egyptian newspaper, 21 April 1968) Other devoted women saw her and recognised her as Our Lady. The first apparition lasted only for a few moments.
For the next three years Our Lady appeared on many occasions especially at night, and sometimes she was accompanied by white doves that would fly around her. May lights would be seen in the sky preceding the apparitions as if beautiful diamonds made of light were dropping from the heavens.
The first two years she appeared about two to three times a week.
These apparitions attracted large crowds by night, sometimes up to 250.000 people, they were Christian, Jews, Moslems, unbelievers and many others, it was a gift of Our Lady to all the nations.
The apparitions finally ended in 1971 leaving an atmosphere of unity and peace and many people received miraculous healings there.
The apparitions were approved firstly by the Patriarch of the Coptic Church in Egypt, and later on they received approval by the Roman Catholic Church.
Roman Catholic Cardinal Stephanos did all the investigations and submitted them to Pope Paul VI in May 1968, who approved them as a visitation of the Mother of God.
One remarkable thing about these apparitions is that Our Lady was visible by everyone and she allowed photographs to be taken.
Although no messages were given in these apparitions, Our Lady appeared many times in a position of prayer as if inviting us to pray. The doves would fly and form the sign of the cross, so that Christianity was shown to millions of people of different religious backgrounds for the Glory of God.
For more detailed information about Our Lady
of Zeitoun, visit this site
hosted by Rev. Father Boutros Gayed.
This site provides invaluable information for all those who are called to be the
children of Mary," the children of God."