ELAINE GANLEY, Aix en Provence
A nun who nurses in a maternity hospital said she was mysteriously "cured" of Parkinson's disease after praying to Pope John Paul II two months after his death.
Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre's recovery on June 2, 2005, from a disease that had afflicted her for years, just as it had the late pontiff, could be accepted as the miracle the Vatican needs to beatify John Paul and eventually lift him to sainthood.
"Since that day, I take no medicine. My life has totally changed. For me, it is a bit like a second birth," said the nun. "I had the impression I was rediscovering my body."
The word "miracle" hung in the air, unspoken. Simon-Pierre, 46, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2001, chose the word "mystery" to describe her sudden healing.
The faithful have clamoured for the Church to make John Paul a saint since he died. That process begins with beatification, and requires a miracle. A second miracle would be needed for sainthood.
The findings of a year-long study of Simon-Pierre's case will be delivered to Rome on Monday when the Roman Catholic Church marks the second anniversary of the pontiff's death.
A favourable review by a special non-Vatican committee would pass the case on to Pope Benedict XVI, the only person who can declare Simon-Pierre's case a miracle.
She recounted her struggle with Parkinson's, describing how she nearly gave in to it and withdrew from her job.
Devoted to John Paul, Simon-Pierre watched sadly as his trembling worsened. She stopped watching him on TV, because, she said, he showed what she would become. When he died, she said: "I felt as if I had lost a friend."
The Little Sisters of Catholic Maternities pushed her to hold on. All prayed to the late Pope.
A sister gave her pencil and paper and asked her to write.
"I wrote to John Paul II as if to beg him," she said, but the words were nearly illegible. Later, she went to her room. "I felt as if I heard a voice telling me, Take your pen and write."' She did and saw it was legible. At 4.30am, she awoke and to her surprise, jumped out of bed. "I wasn't the same."
She went to the chapel to pray. "I was filled with a great peace."
A left arm that was nearly limp was swinging again and light returned to her life, she said.
"John Paul cured me," she told the other nuns.-AP
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