GUWAHATI, India (CNS): The sainthood cause of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta could cross its last hurdle if the Vatican approves an allegedly miraculous cure a priest claims he experienced on the 10th anniversary of her death.
Salesian Father VM Thomas said Mother Teresa’s intercession was responsible for the disappearance of a 1.2cm kidney stone in his lower urethra, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News.
The stone disappeared in an inexplicable manner after Fr Thomas celebrated Mass and prayed to Mother Teresa on September 5, the day before he was scheduled for surgery.
UCA News reported that Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati gave the agency a copy of the priest’s files and medical records and, according to the priest’s notes, the surgeon affirmed “the disappearance of the calculus (stone) was beyond medical explanation”.
Fr Thomas, 56, was associated with Mother Teresa from 1979 until her death in 1997.
The priest had been suffering from severe abdominal pain since February 13.
Fr Thomas said that on the morning of September 5, before preparations for his surgery, his doctor allowed him to leave the hospital to celebrate Mass at Shishu Bhavan, a home for abandoned children Mother Teresa started in Guwahati.
At the Mass, he asked those present to pray for him, especially through the intercession of Mother Teresa.
According to standard Vatican procedure, a miracle that occurred following Mother Teresa’s beatification on October 19, 2003, would be required for her to be canonised, or declared a saint.
In cases of alleged medical miracles, the Vatican has a commission of medical specialists review the case.
