A BABY. A MIRACLE. A SAINT: THE “MIRACLE BABY” AND THE CANONIZATION OF ST. MARIE EUGENIE
By Ana de Villa – Singson
What does it take to be canonized as a saint? It begins with establishing sanctity. The candidate’s life and writings are carefully scrutinized for “purity of doctrine” and compiled into a transumptum ( a faithful copy) that is authenticated, sealed then submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. Her life is scrutinized in minute detail and if deemed to have “heroic virtue”, the candidate is proclaimed as “Venerable”. Beatification is the next milestone. One is beatified and called “Blessed” only if a miracle was unequivocally performed by the candidate saint’s intercession. The next and final hurdle is canonization, the formal declaration of sainthood that happens after another miracle is performed. The miracle has to be so extraordinary that it defies all natural and medical explanations. It must be unquestionably unfathomable for it to be recognized as divine intervention. Only then, after many decades and sometimes centuries have passed, can one be canonized as a saint.
St. Marie Eugenie was canonized after Assumption congregations throughout the world prayed for a miracle to happen. One last truly indubitable miracle was needed to canonize then Blessed Marie Eugenie. That miracle happened to Risa Bondoc . Dubbed “ the Miracle Baby”, her story is forever intertwined with the sainthood of St. Marie Eugenie.
It happened in a very roundabout way. Menchu Bondoc, Risa’s mom, was contacted by Sr, Claire Theresa, former Superior General of Assumption, to look for an adoptive daughter for a French couple. After months of searching, a baby whose mother wanted the child aborted, was found. The child, alleged the husband, was not his. And in the dissolution of that fraught marriage, the baby girl was made available for adoption. Almost immediately after her birth, the one day old Risa was brought to Menchu’s home. Menchu went about arranging for Risa to be brought to her adoptive French parents in Paris. But at 2 months of age, Menchu noticed that Risa’s eyes were not focusing. Each eye would turn in separate frenzied whirls. She was brought to a pediatric ophthalmologist, who upon seeing the MRI scan of Risa’s brain, said that there was no cure, no medication, that Risa would never walk, talk nor see; that she would not live beyond 3 – 4 years. At less than a year old, Risa was brought to the US for a second opinion.. The prognosis was no different. But this time, they could put a name to her condition: SEPTO OPTIC DYPLASIA.
SEPTO OPTIC DYSPLASIA. It is a disorder of early brain development that causes the underdevelopment of optic nerves resulting in fewer connections between the eyes and brain. RISA WOULD NOT SEE. There is also abnormal development of the structures that separate the left and right halves of the brain. This would lead to intellectual disability and neurological problems. RISA WOULD NOT TALK. “In rare cases, septo optic dysplasia is associated with additional symptoms, including recurrent seizures, delayed development, abnormal movements.*” RISA WOULD NOT WALK. And she had all the additional symptoms. RISA WAS A RARE CASE.
*National Library of Medicine, Medline Plus
With that prognosis, Menchu’s husband, Ditos, decided to keep the baby rather than give the “defective” child to the French couple. Menchu and Tito were certain that they could take care of Risa. Her story by then, had reached many Assumptionists around the world. Menchu recounted that the “whole Assumption started praying for her, not just here, but also the Mother House.” The novena prayers asking Blessed Marie Eugenie to intercede for Risa began. Risa was brought to Europe and the Superior General, Sr. Cristina, laid Risa on Blessed Marie Eugenie’s tomb. A candle by the tomb was lit daily for a year. The days passed but the petition remained the same. Blessed Marie Eugenie, please intercede for the recovery of Ris
Back home in Manila, Risa’s development was expectedly slow. The left side of her brain which controls logical functions of speech, writing, arithmetic, was underdeveloped. The right side which controls the artistic and creative abilities, was spastic. The 2 sides of her brain were not connected. Missing the hormone which controls water intake, she would uncontrollably drink bottles of milk and water and completely drench her diapers. She had seizures. Her hand was spastic, oftentimes frozen and unable to move from one position.
But Menchu remained unfazed. She had the equanimity of deep faith. “ They said she wouldn’t see, but little by little, her doctors put her on eyeglasses.” They said she would not walk, but even if she was not completely balanced and would stumble while favoring her left leg, Risa defied all medical prognosis, and walked. They said she wouldn’t talk, but as Menchu laughingly said, “she now talks and talks …and talks.” The progress of Risa was carefully monitored and recorded and sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican. The Assumption congregation prayed. Would this be THE miracle?
One fateful day, while travelling abroad, Menchu received a call. The Vatican wanted to see Risa. A postulator, who examines the the case for the canonization of a saint, flew to Manila to consult with Risa’s doctors. Then together with the postulator, Menchu and Risa flew to the Vatican. Menchu recalls that the meeting was “not extraordinary.” They could easily see that Risa, against all the medical compendium enshrined in her file with the Congregation, was able to see, to talk, to walk. With bated breath, they waited.
Not long after, the canonization of St. Eugenie was proclaimed! “We were very happy,” said Menchu. “We had been praying for the miracle and canonization all the time. How God works in strange ways! For Sr Claire to call me for a child for a French couple, only for that child to be defective and to stay with us. And God used this for the miracle to make her [St Marie Eugenie] a saint. What a roundabout way!”
The child who was not supposed to live beyond 4 years is now 27 years of age. She holds a job as a receptionist in the Henry Sy Building in Assumption San Lorenzo. It was not easy and Risa recalls challenges along the way. While on rehab in the US, her doctor told her to cross the room on tiptoe. She could not do it and fell several times. When she gets emotional or sleeps late, a seizure happens. She had a seizure just the day before we spoke over Zoom. At times, her hand gets spastic and she has to be reminded to do her stress ball and hand machine exercises to induce mobility. Some challenges were not physical. And they are perhaps the more painful ones. In Grade 4, bullies would tease her for being the teacher’s pet. When classmates witnessed her seizures, they called her “special, different.” Before the canonization, she would be called “El Miraculo” in a jeering way. Stoically, she would shrug her shoulders; but it must have hurt because while she constantly said that words could not hurt, her multiple references to the bullying incidences indicate otherwise. At one point, she was asked to do her school work in the library and was exempted from attending student forums so she could be spared from snide remarks and sly looks. Being special, even as special as a miracle, can be burdensome.
But Risa resolutely refuses to be burdened. Like any young lady, she has her “crushes.” She admires ABS CBN’s Donnie Pangilian ang DJ Jhai Ho of Monster 101.9 FM. She sings Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper” and songs by Stone Cold and Celina Gomez. She dances too. Menchu proudly adds, “She dances anything she can dance to.”
At the end of our conversation, Risa gifted me with a song and with a dance. She sang and danced to the song she performed, along with Assumption’s META group, at the canonization of St. Eugenie. It was beautiful and heart-tugging. This beautiful woman-child continues to defy all the odds. She continues to break down the barriers of the things which should be impossible for her to do and goes beyond. She wasn’t supposed to speak…but she sings. She wasn’t supposed to walk..but she dances. She wasn’t supposed to live but she breathes in life’s wonders and revels in all her experiences.
I asked Menchu, who has journeyed with Risa, what their secret is. “We prayed. I was confident that MME would intercede. The best thing is to have faith in God. Do your best and He will do the rest.”
As for Risa, her sage advise to adults is to “Open your ears so you can hear more.” She enjoins us to listen more closely to “the younger ones.”
A “defective child”, a miracle and a saint. How “God writes straight with crooked lines.” And how very beautiful those crooked lines, those differences that make a person unique, can be. So crooked sometimes, that as this story tells us, they become extra special and are chosen to become a miracle.
Ana you did Amazing and I love the way you write the only one who did justice to my story Bravo !!!! Thank you Ana
Dearest Risa…and Tita Menchu too, It was a privilege to write your story. Thank you for entrusting me with it. It is a story that should be written and be made known. Because miracles do happen!
I am very happy that you like the article, Risa. I tried very much to do justice to your testimonial and your mom’s too.
Sending hugs…stay safe and healthy!