TESTIMONY 6

TESTIMONY 6

Name: Fr. John B. 

Surname: Calderaro

Profession/Occupation: Parish Priest, Avutapally

Address: Sacred Heart Church, Avutapally, Krishna Dist., Andhra Pradesh

Relationship: Parish Priest

Date of Testimony: 1960 [fifteen years after the death of Br. Thamby]

    "In 1939 a certain Brother Joseph Thamby arrived in the Parish fixing his residence at Kesarapalli. His poor life and sincerity captivated the Catholics of that village. One still remembers him going in the evening from house to house to recite the Rosary with the villagers. After eight months he was allowed to stay in the Avutapalli Sudras. Almost all the villages were visited by him. At that time a lot of whispering was going on about his stigmata. Some Fathers witnessed that fact. Three months before his death he got a coffin ready and kept it in his room. He foresaw that in spite of the three Priests [Fr. Calderaro himself, Fr. A. Rasi and the third one must have been Fr. Vincenzo Pagano] at Avutapalli, he would die without the last Sacraments. Really Extreme Unction was given sub conditione in the house of the first person converted by him. He died on 15th Jan. 1945 and a big tomb conserves the remains of this mysterious Brother."

        This Testimony of Fr. J. B. Calderaro, the parish priest of Br. Joseph Thamby at Avutapalli is taken from "A History of the Catholic Diocese of Vijayawada: Published on the occasion of the Diocesan Golden Jubilee 1937-1987" by Fr. John Leoncini PIME (1988).