TESTIMONY 66

TESTIMONY 66

Name: Mr. Yesuratnam 

Surname: Chintagunta 

Date & Place of Birth: 76 years old, Manikonda 

Address: Manikonda Village, Unguturu Mandal, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh State 

Relationship: Direct Witness 

Date of Written Witness: 2006

Brother Joseph Thamby was very prudent, and thoughtful of what he was doing or saying. Regarding this I have the following testimony. My name is Chintagunta Yesuratnam. My village is Bhuthumallipadu, a sub-station to Avutapalli parish. It was in 1941, I was 21-22 years old when I met Brother Joseph Thamby for the first time in our village. Fr. Calderaro was coming to our village for Mass. One day, Brother Joseph Thamby accompanied him to our village. We were 60-70 people in the Church. Brother Joseph Thamby did not enter the Church but knelt down outside the Church and praying. We did not know him before and so we asked Fr. Calderaro who was he? He introduced saying, he is Brother Joseph Thamby, staying in Avutapalli; he came as a poor man; he came from Madras, people say he is a holy man…etc. We all together greeted Brother Joseph Thamby. 

After four days or five days, two or three of us gathered and said, ‘we shall go to Avutapalli to see Brother Joseph Thamby and invite him to our village to bless us’. Then we went to Avutapalli; seeing us, he asked, ‘how come you are here?’ We told him that we came to see him. He asked, ‘Why did you come to me first without meeting Fr. Calderaro, the parish priest?’ We went to the Church to pray and then met Fr. Calderaro. Then we came to his small house and he gave us fruits, Teegalu and milk. 

It was while we were with him in his house, Brother Joseph Thamby got Stigmata. He was experiencing so much agony. We saw blood was oozing from the forehead, palm and feet. I gave him the white cloth that was on the table and he wiped the wounds. After sometime, the blood stains on the cloth disappeared, not seen any more. He told me to place the cloth back on the table. 

Then we expressed our purpose of coming to him; we invited him to come to our village and bless. Immediately, Brother Joseph Thamby came along with us. We went through the fields by walk. On the way, we had to cross the water so high (Eluru Canal) and we made Brother Joseph Thamby to cross the waters. We took him to the village Church and made him to sit there. Many people came to see him. Suddenly he changed his mind and said he is going away. I pleaded him to stay back but he decided to go to Marreedu. 

He always carried the Bible and the Cross wherever he went. But that day he left the Bible and the Cross with me, because he went in a hurry. On the third day, I went to Avutapalli. When Brother Joseph Thamby saw me, he cried for 15 minutes. I asked him pardon for what had happened in the village. That day children from Manikonda were playing the drama. As it was getting cloudy and about to rain, he went near the stage and prayed for some time and there was no sign of rain. 

He asked me to stay back that day. He invited me for meals. He had rice only in a small pot hardly enough for one person, but he served the food for 20-30 people including the children and people from Manikonda. 

Mr. Yesuratnam Chintagunta 

2006