When his colleagues retired, he became a priest. When he was 65 years old. The miracle was made five months later. The extraordinary story of a French priest 2004 Bernard Brien returns from a business trip in Italy to his home in Brittany in western France. The house was empty. - his second wife took everything, including furniture, and moved out. He feels broken. He was married twice - the first church (annulled), the second only civilian, he is the father of two sons and the grandfather of four grandchildren. For forty years he did not go to church, he lived far away from God. Although then he thought he had everything he needed for happiness: a prestigious job, big money, success among women, a beautiful home, even his own boat ... I took a piece of paper and started to write down the facts of my life. I remembered the date of baptism and all my childhood, the first communion, catechesis. I discovered that when I left the church for 40 years, I forgot what was the most important. There was emptiness around me. A few days later, Bernard Brien looked in to the chapel on the seafront in Brittany. He remained there for an hour of adoration, after which in his heart there was a difficult to express peace. - I've found a great God's mercy. Jesus acted with me as an evangelical woman, an adulterous one and with Zacchaeus - he forgave them all sins. I knew that nothing would be the same again. One year later, in the same chapel, a priestly vocation was born in him. Bishop Michel Santier agreed to his preparation for the priesthood, although he warned that it would be complicated and that there might be difficulties. On Sunday of Mercy in April 2012, he was ordained a priest. No one from the family came for his priestly ordination. Neither one of two sons, nor one of seven siblings. For the first time in the Mass he celebrated, they took part only four years later when he celebrated his mother's funeral. But they still do not understand and do not accept his decision. He declared that in the same year he would take three pilgrimages: to Rome, the Holy Land and ... to Poland. The last one because he was fascinated by Saint John Paul II. He wanted to know his country better. And here he came first, in July, three months after his priestly ordination. A friendly monk proposed a trip to the capital and that he will show him the grave of Fr Jerzy Popiełuszko. - This name did not tell me anything, I did not hear about this place - admits Fr. Brien. When he was at the grave of a Polish martyr in Warsaw, he felt that some spiritual power was flowing from here. And when he watched the exhibition in the church presenting the life of Fr. Jerzy, he discovered that he was born on the same day as he: September 14, 1947. What might seem like an irrelevant detail made a huge impression on him. - I found my twin brother! - he recalls. After returning to France, he began to explore his life story, read his sermons, wanted to know him, understand the meaning of the message. He prayed daily for his canonization. He did not part with the pictures of Fr Jerzy, he carried them with him and gave them to others. A bond developed between them. - I felt that Fr. Jerzy is more and more present in my life - he says. 2001 It all began in 2001 when François Audelan fell ill. Doctors diagnosed him with chronic myeloid leukemia in an atypical form and from the beginning gave him a poor chance of curing. For him, it was a shock: he was still young enough, he had a good job, a loving wife and three teenage daughters. He wanted to live so much. He was treated by the best hematologists, world-renowned professors. Long stays in hospitals, cumbersome chemotherapy, medicines - all this prolonged life, but did not bring a cure. After 10 years, his body ceased to function normally. François fell into a coma. He was then transported to a palliative ward, where patients are in terminal condition. All possibilities of undertaking medical procedures have already been exhausted. A wife was watching over the unconscious man. He received Holy Communion daily until he lost consciousness. She made sure that François would accept the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick (they are both very religious, have undergone spiritual formation in the community of Chemin Neuf). The doctors resigned from further treatment and the man connected to the medical equipment headed for the hospital in Créteil. They told her that the time of agony had come and her husband was dying. They suggested that she could arrange funeral formalities. - So I did. I even chose the coffin. From the oak tree, because Francois liked oaks. And cross to the coffin. Very simple, because my husband liked simplicity - says Chantal. During the night at home, she also cleaned up his belongings, torn up all the letters she had once written to him. - I felt some inner peace. Even my sister was stunned that I did not cry at all, I did not panic. And I felt that Jesus is with me. And that François has to get out of this disease, he will not die - he emphasizes. (...)
Friday, September 14, 2012 A Polish nun Sister Rozalia from the community of the Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel works in a hospital in Créteil and leads the ministry of the sick there. She made friends with Chantal when she was watching over with her husband. It so happened that on that day Father Bernard Brien was called to the hospital in Créteil to a woman in the next room where François lay. - I offered his wife to call a priest for her husband - recalls Sr. Rozalia. She announced that her husband had already received all the sacraments while he was still conscious and that he was ready for death, so she would not want the priest to come especially to him. Nevertheless, I felt an inner need for the priest to come - says sister Rozalia. I went to her again and said that the priest would be in a moment. Then she agreed to his come and pray. It was about 15 o'clock. Hour of Mercy. A priest stood by the bed of a dying François. In the presence of his wife and nun he began to pray for the sick. He opened the book with prayers and ... he came across a picture of Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, because he had his images everywhere. And then he realized that it was just September 14th that it was the anniversary of the birthday of the blessed Jerzy. So he put the picture together with the relics of Fr. Popiełuszko on the bed of a dying man and he said: Father Jerzy, today, September 14, your birthday. If you can do something, just do it today. Therefore to work. Help! The priest continued to pray with his own words, and Sr. Rozalia and Chantal gave a text to pray for the canonization of Fr. Jerzy. It all happened spontaneously, I did not plan it before, only when I was at François when I was looking for a prayer, I realized that it was the anniversary of the birth of Fr. Jerzy, and hence through his intercession, I began to pray for a sick person - recalls Fr. Bernard. As soon as the priest and sister left, and the spouses were left alone, something unexpected happened. François opened his eyes and asked, "Where am I?" Says his wife. - Then he stood up and wanted to go to the bathroom on his own, but all the apparatus to which he was connected did not allow him to do so. His wife still did not believe. She thought it was a temporary improvement before the final end. Meanwhile, neither Fr. Bernard, or s. Rozalia did not know what happened after they left the patient. The following day - on Saturday morning, the nun felt some internal injunction to take Holy Communion. to the François room. - I do not know why - she said. I knew that François was unconscious that his wives would not be in the room, because in the morning she was supposed to take care of her husband's funeral matters, I myself had many activities that day, - she explains. - But something pushed me to go. She went to the hospital. First she entered the chapel, took the Blessed Sacrament, instinctively, because she did not know whom to give him. And she turned to the room where François lay. - I opened the door and saw ... an empty bed! - she recalls. She thought that he must have died in the night. But the bathroom door was open, she could hear the water coming from the tap. - I called, "François, is it you?" - Yes, sister, please come in 20 minutes, if I shave and wash, then I will receive Communion. The nun did not believe her ears. Surprised and somewhat terrified, she ran out into the hospital corridor. She began to ask if François was alive. She was stunned that it was him. Because from a medical point of view he had no right to heal. When Sr. Rozalia returned, François Audelan stood dressed and shaved, as he had previously announced. They prayed together. She gave him Communion. As medical examinations have shown, François does not even have a trace of leukemia in the body. "Total remission of the disease" - said the doctors. Complete resolution of chronic myelogenous leukemia. It happened suddenly, after the prayer of Fr. Bernard through the intercession of Bl. Fr.. Jerzy Popiełuszko on Friday at approx. 15.00 - 14 September 2012, when it was the anniversary of the birth of the blessed martyr. It was this miraculous healing that was chosen to examine them thoroughly in the canonization process of the blessed priest from Poland. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, the legendary priest of Warsaw Solidarity. He started Holy Masses for the homeland, which gathered crowds of people. Father Jerzy captivated the crowds with his sermons, in which, using the teachings of Saint John Paul II and Cardinal Wyszynski, he demanded respect for the dignity of the human person, for freedom and social justice. As he repeated, he fought with evil, not with his victims. He understood that the people who worked for the communist authorities were his brothers and sisters, and although they make mistakes, they must show mercy. It happened once, that his pursuers spent the whole night investigating him at the presbytery in which he lived. Then he came to them with a thermos of hot tea. Everything that was done by the blessed priest Jerzy led him to a martyr's death. Death, which was an expression of the weakness of power and the senselessness of its propaganda, and became a symbol of the strength of the Church and people who were faithful to the words of Father Jerzy. Before his death he was tortured. He had his hands, legs and neck tied up with rope, he was put in a sack that is laden with stones. The torturers entered the dam on the Vistula in Włocławek. There, from a height of several meters, they dropped Fr. Jerzy into the river.
Prayer for the Intercession of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko God, source of all good, I thank you that in your love you have endowed Blessed Father Jerzy Popiełuszko with the dignity of the priesthood. You sent him to ardently proclaim Your word, dispense the holy sacraments, courageously act in Your name and be close to every human being, calling for forgiveness, unity and peace. You endowed him with the grace of martyrdom through which he came to resemble Christ along the way of the cross. We adore and thank you, Lord, for this great gift to the Church, especially because you have made him an intermediary in the dispensing of grace. In Your infinite mercy, deign to include him in the communion of saints and through his intercession grant me the grace of ………………, mention your intentions for which I trusting implore You. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
