The following account, supplied by the Vatican Information Office, is that of Sr. Marie Simon-Pierre, the French nun whose miraculous cure paved the way for the process of Pope John Paul II's beatification.
"I had suffered from Parkinson's disease from 2001", she said, "and the
clinical signs of the illness worsened in the weeks after John Paul II's
death. On the afternoon of 2 June 2005 I asked the Mother Superior Sr. Marie
Thomas to meet with another nun who could take over the responsibilities of
the Catholic Maternity services because I didn't have the strength, I was
exhausted ... The Mother Superior listened attentively ... reminding me that
all of the order's communities were praying for my healing, invoking the
intercession of John Paul II ... They were hoping for a miracle that could
help contribute to the cause for the beatification of this pope who had been
so important to our institute. I was cured during the night between the
second and third of June of that year (2005). During the night I awoke with
a start and went to our community's chapel to pray before the Most Holy
Sacrament. A great peace came over me, a sense of well-being ... Later, I
joined the community to pray lauds and receive the Eucharist ... I had to
walk for about 50 meters. It was then that I realized that my left arm,
which had been paralyzed because of the illness, was beginning to move. It
has been six years since I've received any treatment. Since my cure, my life
is normal ... What the Lord has caused me to live through the intercession
of John Paul II is a great mystery, which is difficult to explain with words
... From the moment I accepted that the entire congregation was praying for
John Paul II's intercession for my recovery, I always said that I would go
to the very end so that our prayers might be heard. Yes, to the end so that
John Paul II might be recognized as blessed and a saint of his time, to the
end for the Church, to the end so that the world might believe, to the end
so that life might be respected and that all who work in service of life
might be fortified".
