Santo Subito!

The process continues for the canonization of the late John Paul the Great. As previously reported here at Seminarians the first stage of the investigation by the Diocese of Rome has been completed. This investigation sought to discover if there was a reputation for holiness for the late Pope. (I know, I know, pretty easy investigation...) Now the required miracles are starting to pour in.

Zenit news is reporting that many cases have poured in throughout the world reporting cures and miracles at the intercession of John Paul, including many cures from tumors, miracle fertilities, and in one case a mother who was having a difficult pregnancy lost her amniotic fluid and her baby was in danger of dying in the womb. However, after praying to the late Holy Father the amniotic fluid was restored and she gave birth naturally to a healthy baby.

One of these has risen to the top as a miracle the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints is officially examining to determine if John Paul II's cause can move forward. The miracle in question happened to a nun in France who claims she was cured from Parkinson's disease, the same disease the John Paul II suffered, on June 2, 2005 after praying for the late pontiff's intercession for the two months after his death.

Today the identity of that sister has been revealed. She is 45 year old Sr. Marie-Simon-Pierre and is "expected to be the main guest next week when the Diocese of Rome gives the Vatican tens of thousands of pages of documentation on John Paul’s holiness." She describes her cure as follows:

"I was losing weight day by day. I could no longer write and if I did try to, it was difficult to decipher. I could no longer drive ... because my left leg became rigid," Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre wrote.

However, she said, on June 2, 2005, after she and her community had prayed for John Paul’s intercession, and exactly two months after the Pope's death, she felt the sudden urge to pick up a pen: "My handwriting was completely legible ... my body was no longer pained, no longer rigid ... I felt a profound sense of peace."

The diocese Aix-en-Provence which performed the local investigation into the validity of the miracle is now sending a dossier of investigative materials including x-rays, blood tests, doctors reports and handwriting samples to the Vatican.

After the Vatican makes it's investigation, which could take some time, and they are convinced that this sister was healed through John Paul's intercession, he could be named Blessed John Paul the Great.

Stay tuned...
_______________________________________
UPDATE: CNA has an interesting story about a press confrence Sister Marie Simon-Pierre gave today.