A red spot on his chest, then metastases. "Melanoma" — the diagnosis sounded like a death sentence. Doctors didn't give Adam much of a chance. However, he prayed persistently, and the spots began to disappear.
Years later, a doctor looked at him, visibly moved: “It was a miracle. You had one of the most malignant forms of cancer.”
The beginning of the story
It was the end of March 2012. Adam Biały, then a 48-year-old art teacher from Rozkopaczew, near Lublin, Poland, noticed a red spot on his chest. It itched intensely and grew faster every day, spreading and changing color.
When similar spots appeared on the top of his foot, he went to a primary care physician who was also a friend. “From the expression on her face, you could tell that the matter was serious,” Biały says today.
In the shadow of a diagnosis
“This is a very dangerous mole. It looks like melanoma,” stated a biologist friend. She mentioned the case of an acquaintance who had had an identical lesion and had died a few weeks earlier. A surgical oncologist, considered one of the best specialists in the area, recommended surgery as soon as possible while trying not to scare Adam too much.
“From the doctors’ reaction, I could tell I didn't have a very good chance of surviving,” he notes.
A few months before his illness, Adam — who was previously involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal — had joined the Secular Franciscan Order. The group met in a unique place: at the Bernardine Shrine of St. Anthony of Padua in Radecznica, near Zamość. This is the only place in the world where, after a thorough investigation, an apparition of St. Anthony of Padua has been officially recognized by the Church as authentic.
“Lord God, you have put so many tasks before me. Loved ones, my community ... I don't believe you could change your mind, and two months isn’t enough time to do it all,” he prayed sincerely. “I don't understand what’s happening here, but Jesus, I trust in you.”
“I trust in you,” he repeated every day, fighting a spiritual battle.
Spiritual warfare
“For me, this period became an opportunity to examine the state of my faith. Do I see God's face in myself, or have I buried my faith in the name of modernity and an unrestrained life?” Biały says.
Day by day, he tried to cling to Christ more strongly and to trust him even more. While waiting for the operation, he prayed through the intercession of Franciscan saints alongside his confreres in the Secular Franciscan Order from Radecznica. In a novena, he entrusted all his pain and fears to the shrine's main patron, St. Anthony of Padua,.
Prophetic dream
Then something extraordinary began to happen. On April 27, 2012, Adam was driving to meet Maria Vadia, a Catholic charismatic preacher and founder of the Magnificat community, to discuss a meeting in his parish. However, everything seemed to get in the way. On the road, he was in a car accident for which he was strangely and unjustly blamed.
“I forgive,” he said, seeing that this was the best way to react to unjust accusations. He had to overcome further obstacles to reach the meeting two days later.
On the night before the event, he had a strange dream. He started to read a passage of Scripture from the ambo during Mass at the shrine in Radecznica, and a single word emerged from the open lectionary: fly. He read it aloud, and the congregation started singing the Magnificat. Everything around him became golden and transparent, as if filled with grace. When he woke up, he was certain he would be healed.
“Don't make a fool of yourself. You have only a few weeks of life left, and you're busy telling people about God,” the devil whispered, filling Adam’s mind with bad thoughts and doing everything to make him give up. However, he kept focusing on the words: “Jesus, I trust in you.”
A miracle
On April 29, during his meeting with Vadia, she placed her hand on the spot where the melanoma was located and prayed for a moment. Adam felt warmth and tingling, followed by relief and joy.
A day later, during his morning routine, he noticed something extraordinary. The melanoma on his chest had faded. The red border had also disappeared, and it had stopped itching. On the top of his left foot, only a few of the largest spots remained.
When he went for a checkup, his primary care physician couldn’t hide her joy.
The doctor says it was a miracle
“Can melanoma go away on its own?” he asked the oncologist during his scheduled appointment. “Impossible,” the specialist replied, asking him to show him the affected area. “Please unbutton your shirt further down, because I can't see it,” the doctor insisted. “But you’re looking right at it,” Adam replied, pointing to the faded spot.
The doctor sat down. “This spot doesn't even qualify for dermatological treatment,” he whispered in surprise.
Despite this, Adam decided to have what was left of the spot on his chest removed and the tissue examined.
“I wanted to be 100% sure that I was healed,” he says. The results of the tests were unequivocal: “‘No cancer cells in the whole body.’ The doctor who was talking to me at the time said that I had been given a new life and recommended that I use it well.”
An invitation from Mary
Some of the spots on his foot persisted for a little while. The last mark disappeared exactly on August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Adam knew this was a special invitation from Mary.
“In the past, I was somewhat taken with Protestant ideas, and the traditional prayers of the Church began to bother me, such as the Rosary and May devotions,” Adam admits. “When the spot disappeared, I understood that I should no longer resist Mary's presence in my life, but trust with all my might.”
“You had one of the most malignant types of cancer, and you experienced a miracle,” an older doctor confirmed a few years later while issuing him a medical certificate for work. “You escaped death by the skin of your teeth.”
Today, Adam serves as the superior of the Secular Franciscan Order in the Lublin region. He often tells his friends an anecdote about a mechanic and a designer: “A mechanic can only make certain repairs in a car. But the designer, who created it, knows the car inside out. That's why he can fix any problem and knows exactly what it needs,” he tells them.
“It's the same with a human being. God knows best what we need. And that's why it's worth trusting him and discovering his will,” he concludes. “This is what I learned during my illness.”
