TESTIMONY 68

TESTIMONY 68

Name: Mr. Antony 

Surname: Nimmagadda 

Date & Place of Birth: 76 years old, Kesarapally 

Profession / Occupation: Farmer / Carpenter 

Address: Kesarapally Village, Gannavaram Mandal, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh State 

Relationship: Direct Witness 

Date of Written Witness: 2006

I am from Avutapalli, and when I came to Vijayawada to learn painting, I saw Brother Joseph Thamby for the first time. From Vijayawada he came to Kesarapalli and put up a small hut for living there. He lived a very poor and austere life. It was curious for us to see that he also nurtured some hens and maintained a dog. 

As to his religious activities, I can testify that he went to visit the nearby villages, and on Sundays he gathered men and women and took them to the Church for praying. He was kind to put them back to their home, and ate whatever food they offered him. 

Brother Joseph Thamby was very serviceable. Although he had filaria on his right leg and was limping while he walked, he used to walk from Vijayawada to Kesarapalli. When children saw his way of walking and his colored dress, many of them mocked him calling ‘mad-man’. A master in the Kesarapalli School advised the children not to do so. When he came to Kesarapalli for the first time, he asked where the Church was. The master showed him the Church and he entered the Church, spent some time praying the Rosary. In the evening after the prayer when Brother Joseph Thamby came out, the master gave him meals. The servant of God humbly accepted what people offered him for his livelihood. 

I am a witness that the Servant of God prepared himself for death in an extraordinary manner that I had never heard of. Three months before his death Brother Joseph Thamby wanted to make a coffin for him in which to lie down and meditate on death. The Servant of God himself personally approached Kutumba Rao in order to get the wood that was needed for the coffin. In all truth I can testify that it was to me that Brother Joseph Thamby entrusted that wood and asked to make the coffin. Brother Joseph Thamby gave me the exact measurements and I made the coffin exactly as he guided me in two days-time with the help of Saiju. 

When we finished making the coffin Brother Joseph Thamby lying down in it and asked us: ‘Is it fitting well?’ I could only laugh and I replied: ‘It will be fitting well’. Then he told us, ‘My death is approaching; I am going away from this world’. After three months, when Brother Joseph Thamby was ill with fever, I visited him and talked with him. After a few days on an evening he expired, and when I heard of his death, I said to my friends, ‘The other day in the morning I had talked with Brother Joseph Thamby. He was a very kind and friendly person’. I then went to Boyapati house and saw his body. 

He was extremely charitable and compassionate. One evening I went to his hut and told Brother Joseph Thamby that there was no kerosene oil in my house. He asked me to bring the lamp from my house. When I brought it he poured all the kerosene oil that he had in his house. His nature was to sacrifice what was necessary for him and help others in their need. 

When Brother Joseph Thamby was living in his house in Telaprolu, he used to give medicine to the sick people who came to be healed. Fr. Calderaro did not show a sympathetic attitude to BrotherJoseph Thamby. One day I saw Brother Thamby was washing a big wound on the back of an old man. Noticing me he just smiled. One day he visited our home. My wife asked for his blessing and he gave it. After that she offered meals to Brother Joseph Thamby, but he did not eat any food; he just tasted the curry and went away. 

He lived a very poor life. After the farmers finished their reaping, Brother Joseph Thamby used to go and collect the left over from the field. He prepared it and cooked food for himself. 

Later when the parish priest permitted, Brother Thamby came from Telaprolu to Avutapalli; He came to Avutapalli and Fr. Calderaro made the arrangements to put up a small house for him. I am the carpenter who did the construction work for that house. Wall of that house was made of mud and stone; its roof was of tiles. The Servant of God lived there till his death. I have heard people telling that Boyapati Bala Swamy was born to their parents because Brother Thamby prayed for their intention. 

The servant of God was a contemplative, and enjoyed supernatural gifts. On a certain Friday in the afternoon I came to Avutapalli parish Church to attend the Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament. During the Holy Hour Brother Thamby and I were sitting side by side. At certain time he began to suffer from stigmata, and in agony he was leaning on my body; I witnessed his movements in anguish. I did not understand what was happening to him. As I looked I could see on his forehead sweating blood. He took my towel from my shoulder and wiped the blood. After that he put it back on my shoulder, and I noticed that the color of blood disappeared. I asked him gently: ‘Why is this happening to you?’ He told me, ‘This is the miracle of St. Francis of Assisi’. 

Three years after the burial, the village president and some other people came to Fr. Calderaro and told him that they wish to see what had happened to Brother’s body, and they wished to have the grave opened. The parish priest objected to it and said that his cannot be done without ecclesiastical permission. 

Mr. Antony Nimmagadda 

2006