My name is Suha Sweiss and I live in Oak Lawn, Illinois. I am married and my husband and I have four children together.

In 2015, my second child and oldest daughter, Marlena, was diagnosed with an incurable disease called ulcerative colitis at the age of 19. This is a chronic, painful and episodic inflammation of the colon. I had been praying for her healing since the day of her diagnosis, with no change in her disease. She was receiving treatment at Edwards hospital, in Naperville, Illinois, as well as Christ hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois. As a result, she missed many days in class at Loyola University during her first year.

One day we learned that the priest, Father Ubald Rugirangoga, would be holding a Mass of Reconciliation and Healing on October 4, 2016, in Skokie, Illinois. I have heard a lot about this priest from Rwanda and also that God has again and again given healing to people from often serious illnesses during his Masses. We felt hopeful, so my daughter and I drove to Skokie to pray at Father Ubald's healing Mass and ask our Lord for complete healing for Marlena.

After celebrating Holy Mass, Father Ubald walked with Our Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament through the church, from row to row, pew to pew, blessing people as they prayed for their intentions.

During the procession, Father Ubald was shown by divine grace those illnesses that were healed by Our Lord. Afterward, Father Ubald went back to the altar and described very specifically all the spiritual and physical healings that were given by God during this Mass. He also mentioned my daughter's bowel disease and said that the Lord healed that person. I knew immediately in my heart that she was healed, and Marlena and I looked at each other and cried tears of joy.

But I also want to tell you that before I went to that healing Mass with Marlena, I had previously attended a healing Mass with Father Ubald on my own. The first time I heard him preach, he spoke about the importance of forgiveness and how the lack of willingness to forgive prevents the graces and healing power of our Lord from coming into our lives. While Our Lord was exposed in the Blessed Sacrament, Father Ubald also preached about how forgiveness is the secret to peace. As I pondered Father Ubald's words and looked at Jesus on the altar, Jesus showed me in my heart the people I needed to forgive and also to let go of the grudges I had held on to for years. Our Lord also showed me that something I had held on to in my heart for years was blocking His healing grace. Then, when I was ready to forgive and let go, healing came for my daughter with God's help. Since that October day in 2016, my daughter has been healed and has no symptoms.

The doctor at the next colonoscopy was completely surprised by my daughter's healing and even commented that she seemed to have a new colon.

Later in 2016, my husband, Luai, discovered a nodule on his thyroid that was growing and looked suspicious to the doctor during an examination. An appointment was then set for a biopsy. My husband never attended a healing service with Father Ubald, but I prayed for his healing. On that day when the biopsy was scheduled, a re-examination was done beforehand to determine the exact location of the nodule. During that examination, the examining doctor noticed that the nodule that had been previously seen on the scans of the earlier examination had suddenly disappeared. The doctor told him that he had no explanation as to why the nodule was no longer there.

Praise God!! God is so good! Thank you, dear Father Ubald! The healing came after I let go of my emotional hurt and was able to forgive with God's help! Forgiveness is truly the secret of peace and the path that leads to God's healing grace.

Remark:

Father Ubald was a native of Rwanda. In 1963, his father and uncle were murdered by radical Hutus. This was a catalyst for his later strong commitment to forgiveness and reconciliation in his priestly ministry. Then, in 1994, when a total of 85 members from his family, including his mother, were killed during the genocide against the Tutsis, he was once again ready to forgive the killers of his relatives. His example and his priestly work led to an unexpected wave of reconciliation between the victims and perpetrators in Rwanda. In the course of his reconciliation celebrations and services, there were many spontaneous healings, often of the most serious infirmities, and God gave Father Ubald the gift of inner sight as to who of the persons present had been healed by God (see also the testimony: "God healed severe spiritual wounds from the genocide in Rwanda and subsequently gave many physical healings" and "Healed from stage IV cancer through prayer"). An extraordinary number of providences also occurred in his environment (see, for example, "God filled my empty hands again and again to help people in Rwanda" and "Examples of how God has intervened and helped in our aid projects in Rwanda"). Father Ubald passed away in 2021.