He prayed to St. Anthony of Padua and survived skin cancer
Adam Bialy, a 48‑year‑old art teacher from Rozkopaczew near Lublin, was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma and given little chance of survival. He turned to prayer, seeking the intercession of St. Anthony of Padua at the shrine in Radecznica, and began to notice the spots on his chest and foot diminishing. Despite medical skepticism, a later examination by a doctor described his remission as a miracle, noting the unusually malignant form of cancer had vanished. The story includes personal reflections on faith, the role of the Secular Franciscan Order, and a prophetic dream that reinforced his trust in God. The article portrays the event as a testament to the power of prayer and faith within the Catholic community in Poland.
2 months ago
He prayed to St. Anthony of Padua and survived metastatic melanoma, a story that Aleteia reported on 23 July 2026. Adam Biały, a 48‑year‑old art teacher from Rozkopaczew, Poland, noticed a rapidly growing, itchy red spot on his chest in March 2012. A biopsy confirmed an aggressive form of melanoma with metastases, and doctors gave him little hope of survival. While awaiting surgery, Biały intensified his prayer life, repeatedly invoking St. Anthony of Padua through the Secular Franciscan Order’s shrine in Radecznica. After a devotional meeting in which a priest laid hands on the lesion, the melanoma began to fade. Subsequent examinations showed no cancer cells, and his physician described the remission as a miracle.
Biały’s first symptom was a red, itchy spot that spread to his foot. Medical evaluation identified it as metastatic melanoma, one of the most lethal skin cancers, and specialists warned that his chances were minimal. 1
A member of the Secular Franciscan Order, Biały turned to the shrine of St. Anthony of Padua in Radečnica, praying daily and participating in a novena. He also reported a vivid dream that reinforced his trust in Jesus. 1
During a meeting with charismatic preacher Maria Vadia, she placed her hand on the melanoma and prayed. Within days Biały noticed the lesion’s color fading and the itching stopping. A follow‑up visit confirmed the spot had vanished, and a biopsy later showed no cancer cells anywhere in his body. 1
When Biały asked his oncologist whether melanoma could disappear spontaneously, the doctor expressed astonishment, noting the lesion no longer required treatment. The final pathology report declared “no cancer cells in the whole body,” and the doctor called the outcome a miracle. 1
The remaining spots on his foot disappeared by 15 August, the Solemnity of the Assumption, which Biały interpreted as a Marian sign. He now serves as the superior of the Secular Franciscan Order in the Lublin region, sharing his experience as evidence of divine intervention and urging others to trust God’s will. 1
The article appeared on Aleteia, a Catholic media outlet that categorizes the piece under “Inspiring Stories” and “Miracles,” highlighting its spiritual significance for readers. 1
Examine Catholic intercession’s role in reported medical miracles
Catholic “medical miracles” (as understood in the Church’s canonization process) are not treated as proof that intercession replaces God’s action or replaces medicine; rather, intercession is a real form of prayer through which God may choose to grant healing, while the Church simultaneously applies rigorous discernment—both theological and medical—before attributing a cure to God in a way that exceeds ordinary processes.
Catholic teaching holds that there is one Mediator in the strict sense—Christ—and yet it does not follow that invoking saints is unnecessary or illegitimate. A classic defense appears in the Catechism of the Council of Trent on the First Commandment, responding to objections that God needs no intermediary:
“True, there is but one Mediator, Christ the Lord… But it by no means follows that it is therefore unlawful to have recourse to the intercession of the Saints.”
The same passage further argues that prayer to saints does not diminish Christ’s mediatorship, because living Christians can recommend themselves to the prayers of others, and likewise Christians in heaven can intercede.
A later dogmatic compilation (Denzinger) provides a concise doctrinal statement:
So, in Catholic terms, intercession’s role in a reported healing miracle is intercessory prayer directed to God, not an alternative causal agent to God.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) stresses that the Fathers considered it normal to ask God not only for the soul but also for the body.
It explicitly points to liturgical and devotional practice: the Church asks for healing (for example in prayers connected with the Anointing of the Sick), including requests that the anointed receive healing “in body, in soul, and in spirit.”
This provides the broader theological context: if Christians may ask God for bodily health, then intercession (whether from the faithful on earth or from saints in heaven) is a lawful and meaningful way of presenting that request to God.
The CDF also notes that the Church welcomes the sick and interprets illness in a way compatible with redemption in Christ, describing a redemptive dimension of suffering.
This does not deny medical efforts; rather, it situates healing within God’s action and the Church’s pastoral prayer.
In beatification and canonization causes, the Church investigates healings proposed as miracles with a strict method. For medical cases:
Therefore, while devotion and intercession (e.g., “through the intercession of Blessed X”) frequently appear in the framing of a case, the recognition of a miracle depends on whether the healing is medically and procedurally judged to be inexplicable in the ordinary way.
Acta Apostolicae Sedis declarations show how the Church formally relates intercession to the healing. For example, one decree states:
Another example similarly states that the miracle is granted by God through intercession (e.g., “per intercessionem” of a Venerable Servant of God).
And in an extended case description, the narrative explicitly connects devotional intercession to the healing timeline, while still describing a chain of ecclesiastical and medical evaluation.
Putting the theology and procedure together, Catholic reports typically follow this pattern:
This is crucial: intercession is the Church’s theological way of speaking about prayer’s role, while medicine and evidence are the Church’s way of discerning whether something can truly be called miraculous.
In Catholic understanding, intercession in reported medical miracles serves a twofold role: