So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”—John 4:48. This line is typically seen as a reproach from Our Lord Jesus Christ, but perhaps it is a pledge, namely, that we weak human creatures need to see miracles to believe. The following is a brief but powerful compilation of [mostly] modern miracles and saints that gives great evidence to the Catholic Faith. It was put together by my brother’s godfather.
Miraculous, visible proof; events not explainable by science; A miracle is a sensibly perceptible effect, surpassing at least the powers of visible nature, produced by God to witness to some truth or to testify to someone’s sanctity.
Shroud of Turin, a linen cloth about 14 feet long and three feet wide, venerated for centuries by many as the burial cloth of Christ, is of pure linen (flax) woven in a three to one twill pattern. Scientific studies have shown the image of the Shroud was imprinted with a light source of radiation, and that the images are stereoscopic, i. e. three- dimensional. It would require 34 thousand billion watts of (VUV) Vacuum Ultraviolet Light to make the image on the Shroud.
A hundred neatly printed wounds testify to a most unusual separation of the body from the cloth.
Microbotanics (pollen studies) shows that this linen cloth dates back to Palestine 2,000 years ago.
Veronica’s Veil – the relic that shows the face of Christ.
Miraculous Image of Veronica’s Veil, 1849. Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus; Golden Arrow Prayer and Litany of the Holy Face.
Juan Diego’s Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Tepeyac, Mexico; 1531; Our Blessed Mother left for us an image of herself imprinted miraculously on Juan Diego’s tilma, a poor quality cactus cloth which should have deteriorated in 20 years but shows no sign of decay after 489 years later and still defies all explanations of its origin.
There is reason to believe that at Tepeyac Mary came in her glorified body, and her actual physical hands rearranged the roses in Juan Diego’s tilma.
An incredible list of miracles, cures and interventions are attributed to Her. Yearly between 18-20 million pilgrims visit the Basilica, making it Christianity’s most visited sanctuary. A laser that scanned the image found that the colors float three tenths of a millimeter above the fabric without touching it. NASA has stated that the colors of the image are not made from any material found on earth.
The Tilma maintains a constant temperature of 98.6 F. the same as the body of a living person. A stethoscope reveals rhythmic repeating heartbeats at 115 per minute the same as that of a baby in the maternal womb.
When the eye of our Lady is exposed to light, the retina contracts, and when the light is withdrawn, it returns to a dilated state, just as happens with a living eye.
Our Lady’s eyes have been ophthalmologically determined to be alive on the Tilma.
Microscopic analysis of the pupils of Our Lady of Guadalupe reveals what she must have seen in the instant her image appeared; she is surrounded by thirteen people.
Digital enlargements of the Image were made and it was discovered that the reflection of Bishop Juan de Zumarraga looking in astonishment could clearly be seen in the pupil of Our Lady’s eyes.
Dr. Phil Callahan and Prof. Jody Smith, both members of NASA, obtained permission to photograph the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe under infrared light and scan a very high resolution, on May 7, 1979. All who have scientifically examined the image of Our lady over the centuries confess that the properties are absolutely unique and so inexplicable in human terms that the image can only be supernatural.
Her cloak has 46 stars the most brilliant that surround the horizon of the Mexican Valley.
Eucharistic Miracles:
Lanciano, Italy, year 700 – host turned to flesh; wine to visible blood, into 5 pellets, which represented the five wounds of Christ.
A 1970 scientific investigation showed the Flesh is real Flesh. The Blood is real Blood. The Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart (myocardium). The Flesh and Blood belong to the human species. The Flesh and Blood have the same blood type (AB)
Betania, Venezuela, 1991. During a consecration Mass near the Finca Marian Shrine in Betania, the priest broke the host into five sections and consumed one piece himself. Shortly after, one of the remaining pieces began to display a red spot that exuded a red substance. After tests it was confirmed that the red spot was blood of the AB group and determined to be taken from a living heart.
Shrines:
Loreto, House of, Italy; is house where Mary received the Annunciation. (carried by angels in 1291 from Nazareth to Italy).
Lourdes, France, 1858; world famous shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where the Blessed Virgin Mary declared “I am the Immaculate Conception” to St. Bernadette Soubirous; cures are both physical and spiritual.
Fatima, Portugal. Our Lady appeared to three little children as they grazed their sheep along the barren hills of Fatima, and called the world to penance and reparation. Lucia dos Santos (10), and her cousins Francisco Marto (9), and Jacinta Marto (8) saw Our Lady six times from May to October 1917. She said: “I am the Lady of the Rosary”.
On July 13 Our Lady told the children that a miracle would happen on October 13, and the “miracle of the sun” was seen by over 70,000 people, the sun spinning like a disc; the most obvious and colossal miracle of history.
Zeitoun, Egypt – Zeitoun is one of the locations where the Holy Family supposedly stopped on their flight to Egypt. From April 2, 1968 to May 29, 1971 the Virgin Mary appeared weekly on average, on top of St. Mary’s Coptic Church in Zeitoun for all to see. It was a supernatural experience perceived by massive crowds for years. The Blessed Virgin Mary was witnessed by hundreds of thousands of people including Copts, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and even secular Marxists, like the former Egyptian President Abdel Nasser. Photographs exist showing a brightly luminous being, the Blessed Virgin Mary, on top of the Church. Many miraculous healings occurred too. There were also spiritual conversions of Muslims and others to Christianity.
Our Lady of Champion, Wisconsin; formerly called National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, 1859; known as the first Marian apparition site in the United States where the woman Adele Brise saw a vision of the Blessed Virgin and was instructed “to gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation, teach them their catechism, how to sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments”.
Incorrupt bodies of certain saints: certain phenomena – transpiration clear oils and perfumes; heavenly fragrance. body – perfectly supple.
Appearance of light about the bodies and tombs;
Retain their lifelike flexibility, color and freshness, without deliberate intervention, for many years following their death.
St. Charbel Makhlouf, died 1898; body totally incorrupt emits a blood-like fluid.
St. Isidore the Farmer, St. Rita of Cascia, St. Germaine Cousin, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Pascal Baylon, St. Jean-Marie Baptiste Vianney, (Curé of Ars),
Blessed Imelda Lambertini, Patroness of a fervent First Communion, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes, and many others.
“Christ gave us the relics of saints as health-giving springs through which flow blessings and healing”. St. John Damascene.
Conversions:
1842 Alphonse Ratisbonne, a Jew, converted after being given a miraculous medal and being instructed by the Blessed Virgin Mary, and became a priest.
Tre Fontane, Italy, 1947; conversion of Bruno Carnacchiola (was going to shoot the Pope) by “I am the Virgin of Revelation”.
Dr. Roy Schoeman, a Jewish business professor at Harvard, flirting with atheism, yet sought to know God and experienced the most spectacular grace, found himself in the Presence of God. Later the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him and answered his questions and now he is Catholic.
Scott Hahn, a former Presbyterian minister, and his wife Kimberly, converted to being Catholic; he is now an author and professor of biblical theology.
Healings
Four Jesuit priests who survived the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945.
Fr. Hubert Shiffer was in the rectory which was located only eight blocks from ground zero when the atom bomb exploded. More than two hundred experts have subsequently studied him, wondering how he could have survived. He answers by pointing to his Rosary. He says the message of Fatima is linked to the message of Hiroshima: Either we will pray for peace and be spared as Our Lady foretold, or we shall see even the “annihilation of entire nations”.
St. Padre Pio, 1877-1968. He became a Capuchin priest and was known for his devotion to the holy angels. He was the first priest in history to bear the wounds of Christ (stigmata), for 50 years. He possessed a superabundance of charismatic gifts: visions, perfumes, healing, bilocation, reading of hearts and prophecy. He was also one of the Church’s great confessors, spending many hours each day hearing the confessions of people who came to his monastery in San Giovanni Rotondo in southern Italy from all over the world.
Intercessors in Heaven – Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, Saints (saint – a canonized person of the Church having heroic virtue).
Ten Commandments, Bible, Sacraments, Sacramentals, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Real Presence – of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, Benediction, Perpetual Adoration. Holy Mass, Traditional Roman Liturgy; (Mass is the re-presentation of the sacrifice of Jesus to His Father on Mount Calvary, rich in symbols and meaning); Gregorian Chant. Holy water, blessed salt, brown scapular, green scapular, Memorare, Angelus, Rosary, Stations of the Cross, Divine Office.
Miraculous Medal, 1830; Instructed by the Blessed Virgin Mary St. Catherine Laboure gave this medal to the world. This sacramental from heaven that first was simply called the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, began to be known as the Miraculous Medal due to the unprecedented number of miracles, cures, conversions and acts of protection attributed to Our Lady’s intercession for those who wore it.
Inscribed on it: “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
Fr. Patrick Peyton; “The family that prays together stays together”.
Prepared by Jim Kennedy, Sep 2023