Healing of Maria Pellemans

Sudden and complete healing while kneeling at Thérèse's tomb in Lisieux, March 1923. All three conditions (lungs, stomach, intestines) resolved simultaneously. Physician Dr. Vandensteene confirmed transformation. Vatican-appointed physicians verified the inexplicable nature of the cure.

Maria Pellemans was a woman from Schaerbeek, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium. In October 1919 she developed pulmonary tuberculosis, and over the following years the disease spread beyond her lungs. By the early 1920s she was suffering from three simultaneous conditions: pulmonary tuberculosis, tuberculous gastritis, and tuberculous enteritis — lesions affecting her lungs, stomach, and intestines at once. Medical treatment produced no improvement. In August 1920 she made a pilgrimage to Lourdes; she returned no better.

In March 1923, following the beatification of Thérèse of Lisieux, Maria joined a small pilgrimage to Lisieux to pray at Thérèse's tomb. While kneeling at the tomb, she was suddenly and completely healed. The change was immediate across all three conditions simultaneously.

Her physician, Dr. Vandensteene, documented the transformation. He described her as "literally transformed" — eating normally, free from all abdominal pain, with the pulmonary symptoms resolved. The cure was simultaneous and complete across conditions that had been worsening for years.

Three physicians specially appointed by the Sacred Congregation of Rites submitted a favorable report confirming the inexplicable nature of the healing. The canonization bull of Pius XI notes that all three conditions resolved together in a way inconsistent with any known medical treatment or natural disease course. The miracle was formally approved on March 19, 1925, and served as one of two canonization miracles for the cause of Thérèse of Lisieux.