Our strange experience in Lourdes

Title

Creator

de Joya, Mariano H., Sr.

Language

English

Year

1958

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

6 THE CROSS One evening recently, someone told us of a talk which former Supreme Court Justice Mariano H. de Joya had made before the Quezon City Council 3781 of the Knights of Columbus, where he is a second degree member. The former jur ist spoke of how he and Mrs. de Joya experienced a strange cure of their gall bladder ailment after a five-day visit to the famed shrine in France. With this information, we went to see him for the story. On this page you will read his own account of that unusual experience. Mr. de Joya, now 70 years old, and his wife, 62 years old, had both suffered from stones in their gall bladders for quite sometime. About three months ago, Mr. de Joya’s illness reached a critical point and he was brought to the U.S.T. Hospital. There he was confined for a week until he and his wife decided to go to the United States for surgical treatment, passing Europe and Lourdes on the way. A busy private law practitioner since his retirement from the highest court of the Ipnd, Mr. de Joya said that his devotion to the Blessed Mother was that of air ordinary practical Catholic, although his wife was given to long prayers. In his austere law office on the Escolta, he has a picture of Otir Lady of Perpetual Help and a medal of the Sacred Heart hanging on the wall in front of his big desk. He is the father of a full dozen, eleven of whom are now all professionals, and has 13 grandchildren and four great grandchildren. As a result of his illness, he necessarily neglected his work. But now all traces of sickness is gone and he is hack to his former daily routine with unusual energy for his years. In fact, he was back in harness at the office on the same day of his arival from abroad.—Editor. Our Strange Experience In Lourdes By Mariano H. de Joya, Sr. N THE beginning of April, 1958, shortly after leaving the Sto. Tomas Uni versity Hospital, wheye I had been confined, on account of bladder trouble, our original plan was to go directly to America for surgical operation, as advised by our phy sicians. Mrs. de Joya was also advised to submit to a surgical operation, as, accord ing to her physicians, she had many stones in the gall bladder. We could have submitted to surgical operations in Manila, of course, as we have fine hospitals and very good surgeons-here: but our children insisted that we should "u to America apd undergo the operations there, as they might have better facilities. But having heard so much about Lour des, we decided to go to Europe first. We stayed in Lourdes for five (5) days, at tending church services morning and night, even on stormy days, and drank from the fountains nearby. (Continued on page 25) August, 1958 EDITORI Al....... (Continued I) We return to our first question. ARE YOU RESPONSIBLE I* OR THE POISONED ATMOSPHERE IN OUR NATIONAL LIFE? Res pected readers of THE CROSS, we hasten to add that we consider you among our best citizens. We are confident that many of you are innocent of many of the abuses mentioned above. But still we suggest that all make an examination of conscience. We are the fallen sons of Adam. Unless we struggle constantly against it, we are all likely to fall prey to our passion for power and riches. Unless we discipline ourselves, we are likely to be contaminated by the materialistic poison of our civilization. Have we been outstanding as employers and fair and even generous in the treatment of our employees? Or if employees, have we always been loyal and faithful to honest employers? As students, as organization members, as citizens of our community, have we been fair and square and unselfish in the daily routine of our lives? If not, we have been partly responsible for creating this widespread atmosphere of injustice and corruption that seems to have poisoned our national life. When election day comes, if we vote not for the man who is good for the country but for the man who will do something gainful for us personally, who will give us a few pesos or a job or some other favor, then we are responsible for the bad men in our government. And if we have definite evidence of the wrongdoing of a public official and fail to reveal it out of fear that by doing so we will lose some personal advantage, then we, as citizens, are partly responsible for the crooks now holding some of the reins of power. Let us not shout indignant cries of corruption in the government, unless we can first say that we personally are doing our utmost to be honest and fair and just in our own personal lives. EXAMINE OUR OWN CONSCIENCE OUR STRANGE EXPERIENCE . . . (Continued from page 6) There were also many other pilgrims there coming from other countries, like the Germans, the Dutch and the English; who, although there were more than 2,000 per sons in each group, attended services from morning till night, marching and singing together, like So many soldiers. Some Filipino pilgrims wore barong-tagalog and terno, although.the weather was wintery, as a natural consequence of which, some of them got sick while in Lourdes. After spending about two (2) weeks in Brussels, London and Amsterdam, we pro ceeded to America for medical checkup, either at the Walter Reed Military Hospi tal or at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. But we decided first to consult competent phy sicians in New York City, where X-ray examinations were made of both of us. And strange to say, after thorough physical examinations, X-ray and otherwise, Mrs. de Joya’s physicians said that the stones in her gall bladder had disappeared, and that her gall bladder was in its normal condi tion, not enlarged anymore, as it had been, before our departure from the Philippines. And in my case the big stone in my blad der, which, according-to my physicians in the Philippines, was solid, was found in the process of dissolution (not solid anymore); and we were informed that there would be no necessity of any surgical operation or hospitalization. After I had been so in formed, I regained courage to stand up straight and to walk fast, as I had been advised previously by some friends that 1 must walk slowly to avoid any possible ir ritation. And strange enough, we were not given any medicine at all. We were simply ad vised not to eat foods that are very salty rr very sweet. And I was somewhat flat tered by the opinion of my physicians, after thorough examinations, that my health con dition could be favorably compared with that of a healthy young man of 25. And so I am verv thankful to a Most Merciful God.

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