TESTIMONY 51

TESTIMONY 51

Name: Mr. Showry 

Surname: Madanu 

Date of Birth: 01-03-1914 

Place of Birth: Peddavutapally 

Profession / Occupation: Cook of Fr. John B. Calderaro, parish priest of Peddavutapally from 1928-1969 

Address: Peddavutapally Village and Post, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh State 

Relationship: Direct Witness 

Date of Written Witness: 20-06-2006

Joseph Thamby had profound faith and trust in God. I became convinced of this when I saw him compassionately welcoming the old man with chronic wound on his leg and licked in order to bring comfort and healing to him. 

For many years I served as cook to Fr. John Calderaro who was an Italian and parish priest of Sacred Heart Church for 40 years. I am happy to testify that I am an eye-witness to many happenings in Avutapally that are related to Brother Joseph Thamby. He was a humble man and lived a very simple, humble and poor life. Near the priest’s residence there was a little house with two rooms made by the parish priest for the servants to live. In one of the rooms, I lived while Brother Joseph Thamby lived in the other from the time he came there in 1939. 

Compassion for the sick and suffering people was the outstanding virtue that I noticed in Brother Joseph Thamby. On several occasions, I have seen Brother Joseph Thamby curing sick people with his power of healing and using some sort of country herbs. One day a certain old man who was suffering from a severe wound on his leg for more than three years, came to the Parish Dispensary at Avutapally. He had received treatment from several physicians but was not cured. Coming to Fr. Calderaro he described about this. Brother Joseph Thamby also was there and was listening to him. 

When Brother Joseph Thamby understood the situation of that poor man suffering, he called him aside and asked to come near. When he came near, Brother Joseph Thamby bent down, took off the bandage over the wound on his leg and licked it with an extraordinary emotion and then plucking some green leaves from a nearby tree, crushed them in his hands and put it over the wound. After that he bandaged it, telling him to come back after three days. His action reminded me of Jesus who spit into the ears of the deaf man and put his fingers in order to heal. The parish priest and I were watching the scene. 

When I saw this unusual thing, of course, I felt repulsion, and so I told the old man: “Those leaves are not medicinal and going home with this, you would only die.” That gentle man went home as Brother Joseph Thamby told him. Hearing of what Brother Joseph Thamby did to the sick man Fr. Calderaro, the Parish Priest scolded him and told that his action was unbecoming and repulsive. To my surprise the old man returned to the parish Church on the third day and asked for Brother Joseph Thamby. On that day Brother Joseph Thamby was not in the place, and therefore I asked the man to remove the bandage. He was unwilling to remove; and I told him again to untie it. He said: “Only in the presence of the ‘Sanyasi’ (Brother Joseph Thamby), I will remove the bandage”. 

When I asked him repeatedly, then, he obliged and untied the bandage, and I myself and all who were present there saw that the wound on his leg was completely cured. I am an eye-witness to this miracle and I am saying the truth. 

I am a witness to the extraordinary phenomenon of bi-location in his life. Once, Fr. George Kudilingal from Vatluru parish came to Avutapallyparish for assisting at the feast. After the celebration Brother Joseph Thamby Fr. George Kudilingal asked Brother Joseph Thamby to come with him to Vatluru. It was on a Friday and due to the Stigmata he gets on Fridays, it was inconvenient on that day, and so he refused to go. Later when Fr. George Kudilingal reached Vatluru parish, he saw that Brother Joseph Thamby was already sitting on a bench on the veranda of the school, waiting for the priest. Fr. George Kudilingal as well as I can testify to this miracle of bi-location of Brother Joseph Thamby. 

Basing on my personal contact with Brother Joseph Thamby, I can testify that during the last days of his life, he behaved in a very peculiar manner. He had the habit of making decoction out of yam and drinking it daily. He had foretold the exact day of his death and on 15th January 1945 in the morning, he drank that decoction. After drinking it, he began to suffer from diarrhea. He bore everything patiently and without showing any unhappiness. I was near him and saw how his dress was spoiled badly. He gently requested me to help him and I helped him to have the dress washed and to lie down on his bed. In the evening, stealthily, so to say, he went to the house of Boyapati Francis and Claramma and died there. 

Mr. Showry Madanu 

Dated: 20/06/2006