Do miracles still happen?

MIRACLES NO LONGER EXIST. Once upon a time, it was believed that miracles really happened as scientific progress was limited and it was impossible to verify the facts. These days science can explain everything. If there are still some unexplained facts remaining, then it is only a question of time. This is what many scientists write and confirm categorically. Furthermore, All of the supposed miraculous recoveries (which have been possible to prove using scientific methods) have been logically explained, with no need for or mention of divine intervention. The only occasions when it is impossible to conduct an in depth scientific analysis occur when the facts cannot be examined in depth, or when the event occurred too long ago or, even when religious authorities have forbidden any such enquiry.
These statements are disconcerting for believers as they severely contrast with their faith and culture. They are also unfounded and false and yet freely circulate in many recently published books which have had and continue to have great success with the general public. The tone in which they are written is no longer that once used by materialists and atheists by profession which was resentful, angry and scornful of believers. These writers use a courteous, kind, detached, almost cold tone, accusing the adversary, that is to say, the believer, of being a poor, deluded, old-fashioned and forgotten person in the depths of time.
The readers are struck and fascinated by the clear tone and the sureness in which the arguments are portrayed in the name of ‘science as truth.’ I have frequently found myself at a round table discussing this topic with such people on the radio or on television as they portray their line of reasoning. It has always been impossible to enter into a reasoned discussion as they insist on declaring You are a believer and thus you are unable to reason. You accept the directives of ecclesiastical authorities. You are free to think what you like, but the scientific facts we’ve presented to you, however, speak for themselves. How can you respond to such declarations? Do miracles really exist?

Miracles or grace?

If we use the Church as a yardstick, then the Supreme Pontiff’s behaviour clearly demonstrates that the Church believes that miracles continue to happen and perhaps more numerously than ever.
Let us first clear up any misunderstandings. A ‘miracle’ must not be confused with ‘grace’. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church the miracles of Christ and the saints... are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all; they are motives of credibility, which show that the assent of faith is by no more means a blind impulse of the mind. (number 156) Furthermore, this ‘miracle’ has to be examined by the Church, subjected to investigation following various procedures and then proclaimed a ‘miracle’ through the intervention of the ecclesiastical authority. All of God’s interventions which have not undergone such a procedure are NOT considered miracles, just private grace.
It is clear that there are many forms of ‘grace’ and few miracles, but this is only because there are these long and meticulous procedures to ensure that miracles are presented to believers in an objective and substantial fashion, free of all suspicion. In Lourdes, the great Marian shrine, at the foothills of the Pyrenees, there have been many amazing wonders since 1858, when the Virgin appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. There are hundreds and thousands of God’s ‘graces’ which occur in this place through the intercession of Mary. But out of all of these graces, only about 70 have actually been declared by the Church as a genuine miracle.
The Church is very strict in this matter and rightly so. It involves ‘testing’ an explicit intervention of God in history, an event which is sensational, incredible and inconceivable for the human mind. The difficulties which those who do not believe express are understandable. But miracles continue to happen.

God’s intervention

Before concluding the process of beatification or canonisation, the Church demands a miracle. It is interesting to consider why the Church requires this. In the long process of beatification, the judges examine the life of the candidate who is to be sanctified. When they are certain that this person has lived heroically, practising Christian virtue, they present their conclusions to the Pope who, in the Church’s name, has to proceed with the proclamation of sanctity. However, considering that this is such a delicate matter, the Church is careful not to commit any errors and thus ‘asks’ for God’s intervention, that God ‘proves’ that the conclusions reached by the judges are correct, through a miracle. The miracle is, thus, a type of seal of approval that God, Himself affixes onto these documents, confirming that the contents are truthful.
It must be highlighted that the miracle demanded by the Church is not ‘declared’ by the ecclesiastical authority. The final and fundamental judgement on the nature of the fact is a scientific one. Miracles usually involve a healing, and the Church entrusts their examination to a medical commission which consists of internationally renowned scientists who are not all believers. If they draw the conclusion that this is an ‘inexplicable’ miracle from a scientific point of view, then the Church intervenes with other procedures. A commission of theologians re-examines the case to see if the inexplicable nature of the miracle is due to paranormal phenomena or diabolical intervention. Only if there are unmistakable signs of God’s intervention can the conclusion be reached that this is indeed a real miracle.

John Paul II

We know that the present Pontiff, John Paul II, over the course of his 23 years as Pope, has declared approximately 1000 blessed and 500 saints. This means that ‘Science’ has discovered at least 1500 cases of an inexplicable healing, maintained by the Church to be authentic miracles. Thus, in the last few years there have been at least 1500 interventions by God over the history of mankind.
Theologians explain that a miracle is a sign that God speaks to man. According to the Gospel, there were numerous miracles during the life of Jesus because he wanted people to understand that He was the son of God. They continue to happen over the course of the history of the Church as evidence of God’s love and tenderness as he intervenes personally to help and make people understand that He is also near His children.
Over the course of my long career as a journalist, I have met many people who have experienced a true miracle as recognised by the Church, following the processes I have just described. I have eaten, chatted and walked with these people and while thinking about how much they’ve obtained and at the event which has occurred within their bodies, I felt as if I were walking with God.

Maria Emilia and Vittorio

I remember in Leira, Portugal, the time I met Maria Emilia Santos, miraculously saved through the intercession of Francesco and Giacinta, the two little shepherds of Fatima. She was as small and delicate as a bird. She had been paralysed for 22 years. Her spinal column had calcified and she was unable to make any movement. She had been treated using all possible means and had spent eight years recovering in hospital and then discharged as ‘incurable’. On the night of 20 February 1989, the anniversary of the death of Giacinta, Emilia prayed intensely to the little seer, asking for her help. At a certain moment she heard a voice inside of her say Get up, you can do it. She stood up completely healed. Reminiscing about that night, Maria Emila’s face is radiant and her eyes glisten with tears.
When I go to the mountains in the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, in the north of Italy, I always stop in a little village called Scurelle, near Trento, to visit Vittorio Micheli. He is a friendly, well-built man who at 60 years of age surprises everyone with his love of the mountains. He is an ex-member of the Italian Alpine troops, a retired brick layer and a man of few words, but his story of what he has experienced is always moving. In 1962, while he was a soldier, he was struck with a malignant tumour in his hip bone. His pelvis and the top part of his left thigh bone were all eaten away. His leg remained attached to his body by his skin alone and it dangled like a sausage. The tumour was incurable and the doctors had given him a few months to live. It was his mother who convinced him to go to Lourdes, but he really didn’t believe there was any hope of a cure. At Lourdes however, not only did he get completely healed, but an incredible event occurred within his body; the spontaneous regeneration of his pelvis and thigh bone. Forty years later, Micheli is still a phenomenon who amazes doctors. Often, even atheists are prepared to admit that, at times, inexplicable healing can occur, but only those linked to the malfunctioning of the nervous system however. Here, however, they find themselves confronted by the complete and instantaneous disappearance of an irreparable illness and the ‘re-growth’ of organic material, a phenomenon unjustified by medical science.

Sister Catherine and Consiglia

A person who I always meet with great excitement is Sister Catherine Capitani, a religious from the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity, who is 56 years old. After she joined the Congregation, in 1962, she began to suffer from various serious complaints. She spent four years moving from one hospital to another and she underwent several surgical operations, all of which failed to solve her problems. In May 1966, she was at death’s door. The doctors expected her death at any minute. The other sisters prayed to Pope John XXIII, asking for grace. On 25 May of the same year, at about 2.30 p.m., Sister Catherine was in agony. She dreamt of Pope John XXIII and she woke up completely healed. Sister Catherine is thus another ‘living miracle.’ The various operations she had undergone had resulted in her being without a stomach, pancreas or spleen. Doctors recommend that she lead a quiet and restful existence, observing a strict diet. Sister Catherine on the other hand, is the very model of dynamism. She carries out her mission aiding the sick in various hospitals with total dedication, working often 15 to 18 hours a day. She has kept up this relentless rhythm for 35 years and nobody is able to explain how she manages.
In Salerno, on the beautiful Amalfi coast, in the south of Italy, lives Consiglia De Martino who is a 52 year old housewife with three children. At the end of October 1996, she was struck with a very rare and serious illness. She suddenly felt as if she was suffocating, her neck was swollen and a huge swelling, as big as an orange appeared on her left collarbone. She was immediately rushed to hospital to undergo various tests, including the TAC. The doctors discovered the traumatic breaking of the thoracic duct with the subsequent leakage of lymphatic liquid into mediastinal and peritoneal cavities. An operation was necessary to close up the fracture, otherwise the woman would die. The operation was fixed for 2 November. During the night, Consiglia prayed to Padre Pio to whom she had been devoted for some time. At a certain moment, she smelt a strong perfume and said to herself, Padre Pio is near, he will protect me during the operation, and she fell asleep. She dreamt that Padre Pio said to her, Don’t worry, I’ll operate on you and he placed his stigmatised hand on the woman’s neck. When Consiglia woke up the next day, she was completely healed. Instead of operating on her, the doctors observed instead that the fracture of the thoracic duct had disappeared, as if it had never existed.

Elisa and Delizia

In Sicily, there are two living witnesses to the power of God. Elisa Aloi who is 70 years old lives in Messina. When she was 17, she was struck by tuberculosis of the bones which covered her body in festering fistules. All possible cures were tried and she stayed in various hospitals. She was finally sent home as incurable and stayed in bed, immobile, for 11 years. In 1957, she went on a pilgrimage to Lourdes but nothing happened. She went back the following year and returned home completely cured. Elisa Aloi recounts her tale movingly I received two miracles in Lourdes. The doctors had told me that because of my illness, I would be unable to have children. But the Virgin had disproved the doctors. I married and have had four children; two girls and two boys who are all healthy and well.
The other miraculously healed person lives in Paternò, in the province of Catania, in Sicily . She is Delizia Cirolli, a 36 year old married nurse. In 1976, when she was 11 years old, she was struck by a bony tumour on her right shinbone. Cruel destiny meant that she would face an early death. In an attempt to prevent the tumour from spreading, the doctors recommended that the leg be amputated. Delizia’s father decided to take his daughter to Lourdes, a journey which took place in August 1976, but nothing happened. The little girl returned home in the same state. Her parents continued to pray however and one December morning in 1976, Delizia felt the desire to get out of bed. She got up and began to walk as if she’d never been ill. Medical examinations revealed that there was no more trace of the tumour.

Monika and Matteo

A miracle has recently been attributed to the intercession of Mother Theresa and it is this miracle which will conclude her case for beatification. It concerns a young Indian woman, Monika Bestra who is 30 years old, an Animist by faith, and lives in Calcutta, the city where Mother Theresa lived and died on 5 September 1997. Monika was suffering from an intestinal tumour and ‘done for’ according to doctors. During her illness, she was helped by the Missionaries of Charity, the Missionary of Sisters founded by Mother Theresa. One of them gave Monika a little medallion with the image of the Virgin Mary which had belonged to Mother Theresa when she was alive. For the whole night long, Monika held the medallion close to her stomach. In the morning, she woke up completely cured.
Matteo Pio Colella is a nine year old boy who lives in San Giovanni Rotondo, in Puglia, in the ‘heel’ of Italy, where Blessed Padre Pio is buried. Matteo’s parents have always been devoted to Padre Pio. His father is a doctor and works in the hospital whose construction planned through Padre Pio in the 1950s. On the evening of 20 January 2000, young Matteo was very ill with a high fever. He was taken to Padre Pio’s hospital but his conditions worsened unexpectedly and he showed the unmistakable symptoms of meningitis. He was immediately taken to the intensive care ward and he underwent the most modern of treatments with no success. On the morning of 21 January, the doctors said that he had no hope of survival. All of Matteo’s bodily functions had been jeopardised, he was in a coma and his heart only continued beating thanks to a machine. He was also suffering from pulmonary edema.
In the face of the doctors’ impotence, Matteo’s parents desperately clung to Padre Pio. They gathered in his convent and together with some religious, friends, relatives and Matteo’s school friends, began to pray to Blessed Padre Pio for the recovery of their son. They waited 12 days, and Padre Pio did not disappoint them. Matteo suddenly awoke from his coma as if he’d just been sleeping the entire time. He appeared healthy and well and there was no trace of his illness. Over the next few days, even careful medical examinations confirmed that he was completely healed and that the dramatic events, including a cardiac arrest and pulmonary edema, had resulted in no cerebral lesions. Matteo told his parents, While I was sleeping, I saw an old man by my bed with a white beard who looked like Padre Pio, and he said to me, Don’t worry, you’ll get better soon.
Thus, here are some modern miracles. It is pointless to repeat that each healing has been verified following long ‘scientific’ procedures. In each case, the disease was certain, certified by meticulous medical examinations of the patients carried out using the most sophisticated and modern equipment. It must be added that the healing has always been under the watchful eye of the doctors, in a hospital environment. As mentioned earlier, at least 1500 similar cases of a healing have been approved in the last 25 years, that is, those necessary for the beatification and canonisation proclaimed by Pope John Paul II. This means that miracles do happen: God’s loving dialogue with man, through miraculous signs is more intense and alive than ever before.