Taken from the Booklet, Welcome to Notre Dame by Thomas F. Murphy Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1963 The Story of Claudette The Catholic Church willingly recognizes the possibility and the reality of miraculous cures "less completely established" but refuses to authenticate them. Even doctors are often astonished at the severe requirements of the Church in the presence of what appears to be extraordinary cures. The Church asks of the doctor, the medical bureau and the medical Commission, that they be rigourously exact. They have to furnish the ecclesiastical authorities with medical observations, all of which are indisputable and based only on the evidence of medical documents, and from a purely technical point of view. Cures of nervous maladies are not considered------they must all be of an organic nature. At Lourdes, the Medical Bureau lists five characteristics which mark a cure as "miraculous", as differentiated from a natural cure. When a cure has been scientifically established, anyone of these five sets the case outside the borders known to medical science. 1. Absence of a curative agent. 2. Instantaneousness. 3. Absence of convalescence. 4. Irregularity of method. 5. Function restored without action of the organ------still incapable of accomplishing it. After the doctors report has been accepted by a medical commission which authenticates the cure and the medical proof, the ecclesiastical commission receives the case. The members of the Ecclesiastical Commission are chosen by the Bishop of the Diocese in which the cure took place. A study is then made of the natural and scientific laws governing the case as well as the religious circumstances. The Bishop then takes it upon himself, in accordance with the powers granted him by Rome, to declare the cure "miraculous" or not in the eyes of the Church. To illustrate the thoroughness of these Bishops Commissions, in the last one hundred years, only sixty of the ten thousand or more cures reported at Lourdes, have been pronounced Miraculous Cures by the authorities.   Our Lady of the Cape Shrine has its local records of a large number of authentic cases never publicly proclaimed as "miraculous" because of the absence of facilities for scientific medical verification. There are also scores of people with no adequate medical dossier who are cured and make no official report ------they will mention their case confidentially to one of the guardians of the Shrine. The large majority of cures are "without official recognition" but their beneficiaries, who enjoy the bliss of being made whole after years of illness, care very little, in the end, whether their cures are recognized as "miraculous" or not. They come to the Cape each year to give thanks to Our Lady (Annals, Nov. 1969). Let us go back a little in time. Claudette Larochelle was, and is, a native of Rouyn-Noranda, Abitibi, in the Province of Quebec. At the age of nine, she became the victim of muscular dystrophy, sometimes referred to as "slow paralysis" or the "creeping death". This disease usually attacks the lower limbs and then gradually takes over the whole body; medicine has no cure for it and death is the inevitable result. Claudette was exceptionally energetic by nature and despite a gradual deterioration of muscular activities, she became a secretary. She also drove a specially equipped car and took part in grueling auto rallies, rivaling the intensity of those who were not handicapped physically as she was. It was common to see her driving along with her wheelchair strapped to the roof of her small car. She competed in a thousand mile rally and was one of the few who finished the course. Throughout all of this time she remained cheerful and full of vitality, so much so, that her friends were amazed. But the disease was progressing and she was forced to retire to a home for invalids in Montreal. Claudette is deeply religious and has an understanding of Our Lady to such an extent that she can say: "The Madonna and I, we have always understood each other very well." The Oblates have a Retreat House in her town and it was through them that she became devoted to Our Lady of the Cape. She became a pilgrimage promoter and came to the Shrine at least once a year. In 1969, everyone realized that the end was near for Claudette. It was decided that she would be transferred to Macamic on August 19th to live out the last stages of this disease. The normal life expectancy at this stage was six or seven weeks. The dystrophy had now spread to such an extent that she wore trousers to cover her withered legs and her braces------she called these braces her "lover", because they held her so tightly. She was literally strapped into the wheel chair, with a collar to support her head, straps beneath her shoulders, around her waist, wrists and ankles. Yet, she never seemed discouraged or bitter, but always remained resigned to the inevitable end. However, on Thursday, August 14th 1969, Claudette told all at the Home that she was going to the Shrine on the 15th, even if she had to thumb a lift. And she did arrive on the Feast Day. She got to the Shrine about noon, knowing that it was to be her last visit and she was asking for spiritual strength for herself and her friends, whom she knew she would soon leave. She was saddened by the thought of leaving them but after all she was going home to "Maman." This was to be her farewell to the Shrine; she never expected to return again. For the Candlelight Procession that evening, Claudette and her friends in wheelchairs, were placed on the terrace overlooking St. Mary's Lake. From here they were able to see the ever moving spectacle and join in the prayers of the thousands of pilgrims who packed the grounds that evening. When the Procession was over and the prayers were recited in the Shrine Church, the pilgrims slowly left the grounds. The Hospitallers had wheeled their charges back over the Rosary Bridge and up to the Shrine Church. It had been a long and tiring day and all of the handicapped decided not to enter the Shrine for a last stop. All, that is, except Claudette and her friend Rita. Claudette wanted to say good-bye to Our Lady. The men wheeled the two chairs to the front of the Altar, near the statue of St. Joseph. There in the quiet of the church they prayed and Claudette, having gazed intently on the statue of Our Lady of the Cape, whispered to her friend: "I have never found her more beautiful." There were about two hundred pilgrims in the Shrine Church at this moment, waiting for a Mass to begin------ a special and simple ceremony for latecomers to the great Feast. Then, it happened. Claudette, suddenly and without any possible assistance or explanation, found herself free of all the restraining straps which held her in the wheelchair. Then, as if driven by some invisible force, she stood up and walked to the Altar rails and knelt there before the Statue of Our Lady. All in the Shrine Church were stunned by the suddenness of the events and in the quiet they could hear Claudette cry softly "Maman! Maman! Maman!" and then her heartfelt "Merci". Throughout the Mass she knelt there oblivious to her surroundings, looking up at the Madonna and holding her head in her hands, absorbed in her meditations and private thoughts. Mass was finished some time before Claudette suddenly sprang up, rushed over to her friend's wheelchair, embraced her and said: "Rita, I am cured". Then she pushed Rita's wheelchair out of the Shrine Chapel. For the pilgrims who had previously seen Claudette's pitiful condition, this was a sight to touch their hearts. There were tears of joy and wonder as the group spontaneously burst out in a stirring Magnificat to Our Lady who had once again, before their very eyes, smiled upon one of her children. Father Rinfret, Jean Normandin and scores of other priests and workers all were in the Director's Office listening to her story and getting it down for posterity. Over and over, she told the details and then, with a step matching that of the Hospitallers, she returned to the Shrine to again say "Merci". She came to say good-bye and left with the knowledge that she would never tire of coming back again and again to say "Thank You". It will be long, if ever, before the Church takes a definitive stand on the exact nature of this wonderful event, but for those who lived these thrilling moments, it was an experience that they will never forget. They cannot help but feel, without wishing to interfere with the judgments of the Church authorities, that Our Lady of the Cape has once again claimed this little Shrine to be her own. Once again, She has given dramatic proof of Her presence at the Shrine in order to perpetuate the most important miracle of Our Lady of the Cape: "Mankind on its knees in humble prayer." We should also remember that, if there was a "miraculous cure", it was God Who performed the miracle in honour of His Mother in order to invite us to go to Her, to pick up the Rosary and to pray to our Queen more fervently than ever. (Annals, Nov. 1969.) E-MAIL HOME------MARY'S INDEX------CHILDREN'S VERSION OF NOTRE DAME DU CAP www.catholictradition.org/Mary/ducap2-6.htm