French nun cured by miracle to speak at John Paul II prayer vigil
(April 06, 2011) :The French nun, whose healing was accepted as the miracle needed
for Pope John Paul II's May 1st beatification, will share her story with
pilgrims at a prayer vigil in Rome the night before the beatification Mass. Cardinal
Agostino Vallini, the papal vicar for Rome, said the April 30th vigil
would include the precious testimony of Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the former papal spokesman;
Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, who was the pope's personal secretary
for almost 40 years; and Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, the member of the Little Sisters
of the Catholic Motherhood, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and believes
she was cured in 2005 through the intercession of Pope John Paul II. Cardinal
Vallini, other officials from the Rome diocese and Jesuit priest, Fr.Federico Lombardi,
Vatican spokesman, held a news conference on Tuesday (April 5) to discuss the details
of Pope John Paul's beatification and other events surrounding the ceremony. After
the prayer vigil at Rome's Circus Maximus, eight churches located between the vigil
site and the Vatican will remain open all night for pilgrims to pray, the cardinal
said. Fr.Lombardi told reporters that the grotto under St. Peter's Basilica would
be closed to the public April 29 and 30, as Vatican workmen prepare to move Pope John
Paul's casket from its grotto burial site to the chapel of St. Sebastian on the main
floor of the basilica. The body of Blessed Innocent XI, who originally was buried
in the chapel, will be transferred April 8 to the Altar of the Transfiguration, closer
to the main altar, Fr. Lombardi said.