A recognized miracle in Lourdes. The amazing healing of a sailor moves hearts!

Jack Traynor, a British Royal Navy sailor who suffered severe wounds during planet War I, was found to have been sentenced to death by doctors. However, thanks to his deep faith, he experienced remarkable healing in the sanctuary in Lourdes. His communicative was described in 1944 by Father Patrick O’Connor, an Irish priest from the St. Columbus Missionary Society. On 8 December this year, Archbishop of Liverpool, Malcolm McMahon, announced that the healing of Traynor was officially recognized as the 71st miracle attributed to the intercession of Our woman of Lourdes.

Father O’Connor in his book I Knew a Miracle: The communicative of John Traynor, Miraculously Healed at Lourdes He described the gathering with the Royal Navy sailor on a 10-hour train journey to Lourdes on September 10, 1937. Traynor then told him about his healing in 1923, which took place at the sanctuary in Lourdes, and was associated with serious wounds sustained during the war.

The priest portrayed Traynor as a “massive man” 5’5” (about 165 cm), “with a strong, chamois face”. According to the biographical description, if not for miraculous healing, Traynor should be paralyzed, suffering from epilepsy, multiple open wounds, distorted, useless right arm, and severe skull injury.

Traynor was a man of "male religion and deep devotion." Despite his modest education, he had a “clear head enriched with faith” and “great honesty in life”. He was modest, but at the same time “a fearless and militant Catholic”, which contributed to his peculiar place in the past of the miraculous healings associated with Lourdes.

He spoke with simplicity of the miracle he experienced at the place of revelation of the Immaculate Conception of Saint Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Father O’Connor not only wrote down Jack Traynor's account and sent it to correct the hero himself, but besides read the authoritative reports prepared by doctors who examined the healed. He besides searched the archives of the then newspapers to confirm the credibility of this story. Traynor's miraculous healing was reported, among others, by "Journal de la Grotte" in December 1926.

Jack Traynor was born in Liverpool in 1883. His mother, from Ireland, was a devout Catholic, but died erstwhile Jack was a child. "His faith, his attachment to Holy Mass and Communion—which he received all day, which was uncommon in those days—and his trust in Mary remained with him as a fruitful memory and a lasting example," wrote Father O’Connor.

At the beginning of planet War I, Traynor joined the army. During 1 of the battles, he was hit by shrapnel and passed out for 5 weeks. In 1915 he was sent to expeditionary forces operating in Egypt and the area of the Dardanel Strait. He took part in the landing on Gallipoli.

During his charge for bayonets on May 8, 1915, he was hit with fourteen bullets from a device weapon to the head, chest and shoulder. He was sent to be treated to Alexandria, Egypt, where he underwent 3 surgeries in a fewer months. During these tests the damaged nerves in the right arm were tried to sew together. The doctors offered to amputate the hand, but Traynor definitely refused. He shortly began experiencing seizures. In 1916, a 4th operation was carried out, which besides resulted in failure.

After being discharged from the hospital, Jack Traynor received a 100% pension due to “permanent and full disability”. In 1920 he underwent another surgery, this time a skull to treat epilepsy. As a consequence of the procedure, he was left with an open wound about 2 centimeters in diameter, covered with a silver plate. Traynor experienced 3 epileptic attacks regular and struggled with partial leg paralysis. Upon his return to Liverpool, he moved in a wheelchair.

Eight years after he landed on Gallipoli, the 10 doctors who treated him confirmed that he was “completely and terminally ill, incapable to work.” Father O’Connor described him as a “real wreck of man.” On July 24, 1923, Traynor was to be admitted to Mossley Hill infirmary for terminally ill, but having learned of the organized pilgrimage to Lourdes, he decided to do everything to participate.

To finance the journey, he utilized the savings put aside for a "special accident", sold any of his property, and his wife pawned the jewelry. Many counseled him against this idea, fearing that he would not last the hardships of travel. Only his wife and “one or 2 relatives” supported him, even though they thought he was “out of his mind.”

Indeed, the journey was exhausting. Traynor felt very bad and was tried 3 times to get him to a hospital. On Sunday, July 22, 1923, erstwhile he reached Lourdes, 2 Protestant sisters from Liverpool engaged in his care, who happened to be in a sanctuary.

Upon arrival, Traynor was in critical condition. “A female wrote to his wife that there was no hope for him and that he would be buried in Lourdes,” noted Father O’Connor. Despite this, a sick sailor was immersed 9 times in water from a origin in the cave. He besides attended services for the sick.

The next day, he suffered a strong epileptic attack, prompting volunteers to refuse to re-immerse him in the pools. Eventually, however, they gave in. To the surprise of everyone, the seizures abruptly completely subsided.

On Tuesday, July 24, Traynor was first examined by doctors in the sanctuary. These described in item his past ailments and events from the pilgrimage to Lourdes, which formed the beginning of his extraordinary healing.

Wednesday 25 July Jack Traynor "appeared to be as bad as ever". Realizing that his return journey was planned on Friday 27 July, he spent his last shillings buying spiritual souvenirs for his wife and children. That day he went back to the bathhouse in the sanctuary. "When I was in the bathhouse, my paralyzed legs started shaking rapidly," he reported later. Volunteers taking care of the sick feared it was another epileptic attack. "I had difficulty getting up, but feeling that I could do it without a problem," he explained.

Upon leaving the bathhouse, he was again placed in a wheelchair and was taken to the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, during which Cardinal Louis Henri Joseph Luçon, Archbishop of Reims, carried the monster. "He blessed the 2 sick before me, came to me, made the sign of the cross a monstray and passed on. Just erstwhile he left, I realized there was a large change in me. My right hand, which had been dead since 1915, began shaking rapidly. I broke the bandages and got over it for the first time in years," Traynor recalled. "I felt no abrupt pain, nor did I have any vision. I just realized that something crucial had happened," he added.

He then went to the erstwhile hospital, present based offices of the parent of God infirmary of Lourdes. There, he proved that he could walk 7 steps. The doctors who examined him stated that he "regained conscious power in his legs" and could walk, though with difficulty. In the early morning of the following day, Traynor opened his eyes, jumped out of bed, kneeled on the level to finish the rosary, and then ran out to the door. Boso, dressed only in pyjamas, went to Massabielle's cave to thank the Virgin Mary for her healing. “I only knew that I had to thank her and that the cave was the right place to do so,” he said later.

Before the figure of the Crowned parent of God in Traynor Rosary Square, remembering the teachings of his mother, he made a peculiar sacrifice. "I had no money due to the fact that I spent my last shillings on rosary and medals for my wife and children. Kneeling there before parent of God, I decided to quit smoking," he recalled.

Traynor noted that although he was aware of receiving large grace, at that minute he did not remember all his earlier ailments. He then learned that the priest who advised him not to participate in the pilgrimage wanted to meet him at his hotel. The priest, seeing his condition, asked if he was feeling well. “I said I was fine, thank you, and I hope he is. He cried," Traynor reported.

On Friday, July 27, doctors re-examined him and found that his right hand and legs had recovered completely. The gap in the skull decreased significantly, and the seizures completely stopped. They were besides amazed that the wounds that had previously been bandaged healed erstwhile Traynor returned from the cave. At 9 o'clock in the morning, a man boarded a train back to Liverpool. During the journey Archbishop Keating visited him, asking for a blessing and discussing miraculous healing with him.

News of events in Lourdes reached Liverpool, so they advised Traynor to inform his wife of his condition. “I didn’t want to make a fuss with the telegram, so I sent a message: “I feel better – Jack”, he explained. His wife, unaware of the healing, assumed that her husband was inactive in a “ruined state”, especially since she had previously been informed of the anticipation of his death in Lourdes. At the Liverpool Traynor station, the crowds had to calm the police. After returning home, as he reported, “he could not describe the joy of his wife and children.”

In subsequent years, Traynor returned to work on coal transport, lifting 200-pound bags without difficulty. 3 of his children were born after being healed in 1923, and 1 of his daughters was named Bernadette in honor of Lourdes' visionary.

The healing besides affected others – 2 Protestant sisters who took care of Traynor in Lourdes converted to Catholicism, as did respective members of his household and an Anglican pastor.

Jack Traynor, until his death in 1943, on the eve of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, regularly pilgrimaged to Lourdes. The Ministry of War Pensions has never revoked his invalidity pension, which was granted for life.

Source: catholicnewsagency.com
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