A Living Miracle

Fr. Stanislaus Papczynski was recently beatified by the Catholic Church. The miracle that made that beatification possible was written about in the Winter 2007-8 edition of "Marian Helper." :

A Polish man named Zbigniew Chojnowski prayed to Fr. Stanislaus for his cousin (also his goddaughter) who was two months pregnant. The previous year she had suffered a miscarriage and her second pregnancy was in trouble. Upon examination, her doctor discovered that the amniotic sac had shrunk and the fetus had not been growing normally due to a lack of blood flow through the amniotic cord. In addition, the woman had a tear in the sac that had drained virtually all of her amniotic fluid. In-utero tests confirmed the baby's heart had stopped beating. The doctor declared the baby dead. The following day, Monday, a second test confirmed that the baby had no heartbeat.

'But I didn't stop praying to Fr. Stanislaus.' Zbig recalls. On Wednesday, the disconsolate mother hadn't yet spontaneously miscarried, so her doctor prepared to perform surgery that day to remove the dead baby.

'But just before surgery, examining her with an ultrasound, the doctor discovered a heartbeat.' says Zbig. Further tests confirmed the baby was alive and that blood was flowing through the umbilical cord. The presence of amniotic fluid also indicated that the tear in the sac had mended. . . . No medical explanation can account for these events.

Sebastian is now a healthy 6 year old boy. To find out more about Fr. Stanislaus Papczynski, visit www.marian.org