Some time ago, on the most excellent news program, 60 Minutes, they did a piece about the miracle healings at Lourdes. It proved to be quite a stirring piece, as some of the occurrences seem — well — quite miraculous. ( https://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-sanctuary-of-our-lady-of-lourdes-60-minutes-2022-12-18/ )
By total happenstance, I came across another article concerning Catholic miracles that no one can explain. These stories span centuries and vary in detail. The usual suspects always mention things like the healings at Lourdes or those dead Catholic saints whose interred bodies have not decayed after hundreds of years.
Catholicism is pretty open when it comes to visions and unexplainable occurrences. The things they credit to the faith’s higher power. They even have a whole department dedicated to investigating these things. They are a Vatican-appointed group. It is called the Miracle Commission. Each year, they sift through hundreds or even thousands of miraculous claims. Typically, the commissions are composed of theologians and scientific experts.
And when something has proof of being fantastical, or when the phenomenal cannot be explained, they deem it a miracle.
Whether you are a Catholic or a neutral party, these miracles will surely provoke some curiosity.
One such story is the Miracle of the Sun. In May 1917, some kids were walking home. Reportedly, they encountered an apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal. That Holy Mary told the children she planned to appear on the 13th day in six months. Well, those kids were spilling over.
Word spread about the visit from Mary. As such, people gathered in hopes of seeing the Virgin Mary. And on October 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared. But only the children could see her.
As the story goes, it was pouring down rain that day. So the good Mary presented the 70,000 in attendance with a gift of a silver sun to clear the stormy skies.
This account was given:
“The silver sun… was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds. A cry went up from every mouth, and the people fell on their knees on the muddy ground. The light turned a beautiful blue as if it had come through the stained-glass windows of a cathedral and spread itself over the people who knelt with outstretched hands. The blue faded slowly, and then the light seemed to pass through yellow glass. People wept and prayed with uncovered heads in the presence of the miracle they had awaited. The seconds seemed like hours, so vivid were they.”
Nonbelievers and believers alike provided eyewitness accounts for daily newspapers across Portugal, corroborating the wonder of this sun.
There have been other things—the one I mentioned before about the Saints that never decay. The church investigated several that did not rot.
A few examples: St. Zita received a complete examination via an intra-body camera by scientists. No evidence of preservation methods was found on or in St. Zita’s corpse. But she was perfectly preserved. A few of the many others include St. Ubald of Gubbio, Blessed Margaret of Savoy, and St. Savina Petrilli. All fresh as daisies.
Some other unexplainable events include Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady Of Zeitoun, the weeping statue of Our Lady of All Nations in Akita, the Miracle Of Lanciano, and hundreds more.
I can neither confirm nor deny these cases, these happenings, these accounts. But having grown up in the Catholic Church, we were given a fair dose of hearing about such things.
People believe what they will believe. And all of us are different. Our beliefs are based on our experiences. Because of this, our life events build as we go, and all of it adds up to the way we are right at this minute. How we think. What we believe.
And that is a huge and complicated part of our world.
Eight billion people. And each person, with their own set of beliefs. And miracles all around us if we look.
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“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”
― Philip K. Dick, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon
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“The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
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“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”
― J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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The miracles. They are everywhere. Or so we might believe.
