The Child Jesus may have saved this priest from cancer

It was the spring of 2020. Father Lucjan Bielas, 68, an active pastor of the Diocese of Krakow (Poland) and a scientist, noticed blood in his urine.

“What do you mean, cancer? I'm not in any pain,” he reacted to the diagnosis in the urologist's office.

“It needs to be removed. Preferably tomorrow, because every minute counts,” replied the doctor.

Four days later, he had already undergone surgery. “G4, the highest degree of malignancy,” he read the histopathological test results, becoming increasingly aware of the seriousness of the situation. He saw concern and hopelessness on the doctors' faces. It was the kind of cancer that soon metastasizes.

“I was afraid, not so much of death, but even more of having to put my life in order before I passed away, because time might be short,” he says. "And then something extraordinary happened. During Mass, I began to realize anew the meaning of the words of the prayer that the priest recites before Holy Communion,” which says:

The words “and body” echoed in his head. The truth, which he took very seriously, that Christ is truly present in the consecrated Bread and Wine, reached him with new power.

“If I believe that I am truly touching the Body of Christ, just as the people He healed centuries ago touched Him, then that means He can heal me too,” he understood more and more.

“What does God need me for as a healthy person?” he began to ask in prayer. And he discovered that God wanted him to lead the Ora et Labora Ministry for Workers. Before the pandemic, he had decided to take on this ministry when he retired from parish ministry.

Despite the pandemic and the suspension of pastoral activities, he decided to push ahead. Together with the pastoral staff, he visited the Shrine of St. Joseph at the cloistered Benedictine convent in Krakow, which seemed ideal for establishing the ministry.

It was June 19, 2020, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sister Ewelina, who welcomed them at the gate, began to talk with great faith about the graces obtained through the intercession of a miraculous statue of the Child Jesus. The image is known as the “Colettine” Child (because it was originally kept in a monastery of Colettine Sisters) and has been in their church for 200 years.

“I have a nasty cancer that usually ends dramatically,” Fr. Lucjan told her, sharing his problem. And then the sister, with a cheerful face behind which stood her faith, placed in his hand a book with a novena to the Colettine Child, a bottle of water in which the statue had been bathed, and some pieces of cloth.

“At first, the idea of the Child seemed infantile to me, but when death is staring you in the face, you cling to every prayer,” says Fr. Lucjan. “I began to recite this novena every day with great seriousness, and new thoughts accompanied my prayer.”

The novena to the Child began to connect in his mind with the Blessed Sacrament. “Since I touch You every day, Lord, if You want, You can cleanse me,” he prayed.

Subsequent tests showed that there were no metastases in his body, and there were no traces of cancer on the scar from the first operation.

“I was clean, which of course doesn’t mean that it won’t come back.”

The doctors, surprised by the results, cancelled the planned chemotherapy and recommended only regular check-ups.

”I felt very clearly then how the prayers of hundreds of people were pulling me out of my problem by the ears," he says. "Happily, I went to the hospital chapel and thought, ‘Maybe a trip to the Caribbean? Maybe around the world? Enjoy life!’ And almost at the same moment, I heard an inner voice: 'Lucek, you're getting me angry. Get to work, or I'll take away your support.”

This is how the Ora et Labora Ministry for Workers began to develop, shaping the culture of work. Representatives of various professions meet every month at the Bernardine Sisters' convent to find concrete solutions to the changing labor market and in relation to God. They touch on realism, the concrete challenges of life...

Fr. Lucjan also began to accompany specific groups: foresters, architects, aviators ... and prisoners. He conducts catechesis for adults and retreats. And every association of which he is the chaplain operates on the basis of the Living Rosary.

“To this day, I recite the novena to the Colettine Child every day, and thanks to it, I visit Bethlehem and Nazareth spiritually,” he says. "I understood that through the Eucharist and doing God's will, I’m a member of the Holy Family. And the devotion to the Child Jesus, which once seemed infantile to me, today makes me grow together with Jesus — in my relationship with God the Father, Mary, and Joseph.

“How does it work?” he explains. "It dawned on me that as Jesus grew up, he learned all his behaviors in everyday home life from Mary and Joseph. He observed how they talked, how they worked, how they built relationships with others. And then he shared that great wisdom, as when he debated with the scholars in the Temple at the age of 12. We usually only pay attention to the period of his public activity. Meanwhile, he learned how to behave in the community of the Church at home. And I also learn this every day from the Holy Family.”

“What happened changed me completely,” summarizes Fr. Lucjan Bielas. “And my daily work, in all the situations of life, in taking on every topic, even the most difficult ones, is a thank you for being alive.”