#stjohnpaulii — Public Fediverse posts

Here are a few lines about a healing that occurred in Córdoba on the day that Thérèse of the Child Jesus became a Doctor of the Church, October 19, 1997. We can communicate this to you firsthand since the beneficiary came here and told us himself how everything had taken place.

On that afternoon, our Mother Superior received a phone message from a man who had asked her urgently to call him back. The man had been hospitalized in the room next to the room of one of our sisters who had to undergo surgery.

His name was Raphaël M. Pérez, and he was about seventy years old. He and his wife had grown children and some grandchildren. Our mother [the prioress] told us that Raphaël and his wife were very devout. We had met them in the Jesuit church in Córdoba.

When Raphaël could no longer go to church because of his illness, his wife received permission to bring him Communion, and she did this very reverently.

Raphaël had undergone thirteen heart operations. He also had a stroke, which led to paralysis on his right side. He partially recovered after a while, but after two more strokes, he could no longer talk or walk. He bore it all bravely, however.

He was in this condition on October 18. His wife told him that it was okay for him to complain a bit when they were by themselves; he didn’t have to smile all the time. He responded by pointing to Heaven, as if to signify to her that he was happy about everything God was sending him. How could he have complained?

In the morning, they all watched on television the ceremony in which St. Thérèse was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church. Raphaël told us that he had never asked God for health but only for the strength to suffer.

During the procession of St. Thérèse’s reliquary, Raphaël felt compelled to say:

“Lord, not for me, but for my loved ones who are suffering so much, You can heal me, through St. Thérèse’s intercession, if You want to.”

When his wife returned from Mass that day, she had brought him Communion. When he received the holy Host, he repeated this to the Lord:

“Lord, You can heal me through St. Thérèse’s intercession if You want to.”

He then felt a jolt, and he shivered from head to foot. He got up and shouted for his wife, who had left the room.

Startled, his wife told her son: “Your father’s calling me.”

The son replied, “But that’s impossible for him!”

Both of them came running and found Raphaël standing in the middle of the room. Imagine their surprise and joy when he told them what had happened! They called their other children, who rushed over to see him, and they called us. You can imagine the impression it made on us!

Some time later, Raphaël, his wife, and his son-in-law came to the monastery to offer his cane as a gift to the Virgin Mary. This was marvelous. It had a golden ring, and there was a marble rose on the knob. (It must have been a command baton).

Raphaël’s son-in-law, a parishioner from Córdoba, told us that he was astonished when he arrived for dinner and saw his father-in-law talking and walking! The seasoned doctors told him there was no natural explanation. — The Carmelites from St.-Calixte Monastery, Córdoba, Spain

Bishop Guy Gaucher, o.c.d.

A Healing on the Day Thérèse Became a Doctor of the Church

Note: On this day, we recall two significant events. First, on 19 October 1986, Guy Étienne Germain Gaucher, O.C.D. was ordained as Bishop of Meaux, France. However, he did not remain long in that diocese. On 7 May 1987, Saint John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Bayeux-Lisieux, France, where he served with distinction and deep love for his Discalced Carmelite sisters and brothers, particularly Saint Thérèse, until his retirement on 1 July 2005 upon reaching the age limit. Bishop Gaucher passed away on 3 July 2014 at the age of 84. His funeral Mass took place on 10 July in the Basilica of St. Thérèse in Lisieux, with the homily preached by Father François-Marie Léthel, O.C.D. Father Léthel had entered the Discalced Carmelite novitiate of the Paris Province with Guy Gaucher on the same day, 21 September 1967. The two received the Carmelite habit and made their religious profession together. Just over a decade after Bishop Gaucher’s appointment to Bayeux-Lisieux, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus was declared a Doctor of the Universal Church on 19 October 1997.

Gaucher, G & McMurtrie, J 2023, I Would Like to Travel the World: Thérèse of Lisieux: Miracle-Worker, Doctor, and Missionary Sophia Institute Press, Manchester NH.

Featured image: The world’s most famous statue of St. Thérèse is located in front of the historic entrance to the Carmel of Lisieux on Rue du Carmel. Image credit: rparys / Adobe Stock modified in Adobe Express (Stock photo)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/10/18/guy-heal19oc97/

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