Miracle at Knock - Claim Sent to Vatican

Our Lady of Knock Stained Glass Window

Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

Miracle at Knock claim sent to Vatican - Irish News - Irish Central

Woman with Multiple Sclerosis says she was cured

The following excerpt is from the website of Irish Central:

By PATRICK COOPER, IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

The Vatican will shortly receive a petition to acknowledge the first miracle at Knock after a woman has claimed that a visit to the shrine cured her of multiple sclerosis.

Other miracles have been claimed at Knock but none have actually been forwarded to the Vatican for verification.

The Sunday Times reported that Marian Carroll, now aged 59, says she was cured of multiple sclerosis after a visit to the shrine almost 20 years ago.

The claim is accompanied by several medical evaluations that accept that something remarkable happened to her when she visited Knock.

Mrs Carroll wrote an autobiography ‘I Was Cured at Knock’, in which she describes her recovery from the MS condition that left her unable to walk, blind in one eye and without the control of her bladder.

During the ceremony she felt a weight lift from her and she was able to get up and walk. She has had no symptoms since.

Knock shrine is where an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Joseph, St John the Evangelist and Jesus Christ is said to have occurred in 1879.

Diarmuid Murray, a doctor who runs a practice in the shrine grounds, is gathering the evidence to present the case to the Vatican for approval.

A Medical Miracle: British girl's two newly grown kidneys now do the work of the ones that failed

It's highly unusual for an extra set of kidneys to grow,

but a miracle happened for one British child.

British girl's two newly grown kidneys now do the work of the ones that failed

By Rosemary Black
Daily News Staff Writer

Three years ago, doctors caring for a British girl facing surgery made an amazing discovery: she’d actually grown two new kidneys to replace the failed ones that had caused the health problems she’d suffered since birth.

Surgeons at Sheffield Children’s Hospital in England found that Angel Burton's new kidneys had started doing the work of the diseased ones, according to Sky News Online. The youngster, now 8, is no longer facing kidney failure.

The doctors apparently did not see the new kidneys that were perched above the originals. On scans, which had been done for five years, they appeared as one kidney.

"It’s a real miracle," Claire Burton, Angel’s mother, told Sky News Online. "We’re just so grateful to have Angel back to her happy, healthy self."

The little girl had a rare condition called duplex kidney that causes the organs to be fused in the center. Even rarer, in Angel’s case, was to have both organs be duplex, which means she actually had four kidneys and four ureters.

From the time she was born, Angel’s health got worse. Doctors diagnosed her with bilateral reflux, meaning that urine was leaking into her kidneys and infecting them. Tests showed that the kidneys had been severely affected.

During an operation to craft an artificial valve in October 2007, the extra kidneys were discovered. Nearly three years later, Angel’s looking at a bright future and is on track to recover fully.

Michigan diocese investigates miracle attributed to former Bishop Frederic Baraga

Bishop Frederic Baraga

Photo From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following article connecting former Bishop Frederic Barga to a miracle appeared on the Catholic News Agency:

Michigan diocese investigates miracle attributed to former bishop : Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Marquette, Mich., (CNA/EWTN News). - The Diocese of Marquette is investigating an possible miracle attributed to Servant of God, Bishop Frederic Baraga. The official inquiry will move the cause for Bishop Baraga's canonization forward, which was opened for the prelate in 1952.

In press conference on Wednesday, the current Bishop of Marquette, Alexander K. Sample, announced the recent development, saying, “Since my first days as a seminarian studying for the priesthood, I have had great devotion to Bishop Baraga.”

“As his eleventh successor, I am thrilled at the prospect of a miracle that will advance his cause. With all the priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful of the diocese, I give thanks to God for his, holy, priestly, example,” he added.

Father Ronald Browne, who has been appointed to lead the work of the canonical tribunal, explained the story behind the alleged miracle. “We have a case involving what was thought to be a tumor on a patient's liver that showed up on various tests, including a CT scan and an ultrasound. However, when exploratory surgery was done, there was no tumor to be found,” Fr. Browne said.

The Diocese of Marquette reported that while in the Upper Peninsula, the patient and the patient's family invoked the intercession of Bishop Baraga and placed his stole on the sick person's abdomen. Following the prayers, the patient said that the pain in the abdominal area went away.

The diocese explained that in order for the event to be considered as a miracle, it needs to be affirmed as something that science cannot explain and be attributable to the intercession of the candidate for sainthood.

Once the tribunal has investigated the event – the process is scheduled to begin on March 12 – two physicians must testify regarding the physical condition of the patient before and after the event. After the alleged miracle has been verified, documentation will be sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican, who will then submit the cause to Pope Benedict XVI. The Holy Father will then determine whether or not Bishop Baraga will be beatified.

If the miracle is recognized as authentic, the diocese will need to verify one more miracle in order for the Michigan bishop to be declared a saint.

Bishop Baraga was born in 1797 in Slovenia, and come to the United States as a missionary to the upper Great Lakes region in 1830. Ministering to the Odawa and Ojibwa Native American tribes, the bishop is said to have traveled throughout the 80,000 square mile territory by means of boat, canoe, horse, dog sled and even snowshoe. Often called the “Snowshoe Priest,” he was consecrated a bishop in 1853 and served until his death in 1868. Bishop Baraga is credited with writing a Ojibwa/English dictionary which is still in use today.

Barber in Rome Says Praying to John Paul II Cured Him of a Hernia

The barber shop miracle -Times Online

The photograph and excerpt written by Richard Owen appeared on Times Online:

"I am not a saint, I am a sinner" says Giovanni Vecchio as he snips at a customer's hair in his barber's shop in a side street of a workaday Rome suburb. "But I have known a saint." He pauses, scissors in mid-air. "In fact, I have cut his hair".

If - or when - the late Pope John Paul II is canonised, it will be in part thanks to Mr Vecchio. Over 30 years ago, when the barber's shop he worked in was near the Vatican, a Polish prelate called Karol Wojtyla wandered in, sat down, and had his hair cut. He became a regular customer.

Mr Vecchio had no idea who "Father Karol" was, still less that he was to become "papabile". "He told me once he was bishop of Krakow, but to me they were all priests. I called them all Father".

But the encounter changed his life: last year, when he was entering hospital in great pain for a hernia operation, he saw a black and white photograph of John Paul II as a young man hanging at the entrance, and "our eyes met". Shortly afterwards, he was discharged. The hernia - and the pain - had miraculously disappeared.

The "barber's miracle" does not form part of the case for beatifiying John Paul - expected in October - for which the miracle most likely to be approved involves a French nun cured of Parkinson's disease after praying to John Paul. Nor can it be considered for the second "medically inexplicable cure" required for canonisation, since that must take place after beatification.

It has, however, been recorded by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints as evidence of the reverence and devotion toward John Paul. "To me the canonisation announcement itself is not important" Mr Vecchio says at his salon, "Gianni's". "For me, as for many others, he is already a saint".

"A year ago I developed a serious problem in my back. It got worse and worse, and in the end I saw a neurosurgeon who said I had a herniated disc and would have to have an operation."

He decided to go into hospital at the end of July so he could convalesce during August. "I was in great pain," he says, limping across the floor to show how he could hardly walk. The day before the operation "the surgeon came to see the patients. He looked at my notes and made me press my left knee against his arm as hard as I could, and looked at me with some surprise. He said I would have to have more tests."

After the new tests "the nurse came along and told me that they were sending me home. A woman doctor put up the two test results against the glass, and showed me that there was nothing there. She said to me "I don't believe in miracles, but something has happened". I thanked her, stood up and went home. Ten days later I went down to my home village in Apulia for the holidays, 650 kilometres in the car there and back without a single problem".

After the holiday, "something woke me up at four in the morning. I sat down at the computer, and found the Internet page about the beatification of John Paul II. I'm a barber, I'm not very good at writing, or computers, but I wrote down my experiences the way I've told them to you, and sent it off."

A month later he had a call from Vatican Radio to say his testimony was "convincing" and "reliable". He has since featured on Italian television and in Italian magazines after Pope Benedict XVI, who has put John Paul on the fast-track to sainthood, recognised his predecessor's "heroic virtues", a step before beatification.

Could his remarkable recovery not just be coincidence? Coincidences do happen, he replies, 'but no, all this has happened through John Paul's intercession. I am not religious, but I believe in him". Last November, after watching a documentary about John Paul's election, he resolved to find a photograph of the occasion to add to the mementoes in his shop.

"I went downstairs the next morning, walked out of the door, and there on the pavement, rolled up as if someone had just thrown it away, was a small devotional image of John Paul II as he appeared on the balcony that day in 1978. I found another one just the same on New Year's Eve, and another on a fridge magnet someone had thrown away. Now explain that."

To read the complete story, visit the following link: The Barber Shop Miracle 

67 Miraculous Healings Confirmed in Lourdes

ROME REPORTS TV News Agency - The 67 miracles of Lourdes

The following excerpt is from Rome Reports TV News Agency:

Catherine Latapie was the first person to be miraculously cured at Lourdes. She was healed of paralysis in 1858. And on the same day she was cured, she gave birth to a boy who later became a priest.

Her spectacular cure was a test case that started an era of reported miracles that’s lasted ever since. These claims have increased over the years, and led to the setting up of a “Medical Bureau” at the Marian shrine in 1905. The office studies cases of those who claim to have been miraculously cured.

Doctor Says Many Are Cured in Lourdes

The following excerpt from Zenit is about the miracles in Lourdes:

ZENIT - Doctor Says Many Are Cured in Lourdes

Invites Physicians to Attend Congress for Their Own Healing

LOURDES, France, FEB. 8, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The former head of the Lourdes Medical Bureau is affirming that all people can receive a cure at Our Lady's shrine if they pray and hope for it with perseverance.

Doctor Patrick Theillier, who retired from leadership of the bureau last year, stated this in an interview with France Catholique.

The cure, he explained, "might not be as spectacular as to be considered a miracle."

However, the physician added, it can affect "in a profound and lasting way the person who experiences it, in all his being, body, soul and spirit."

Doctor Theillier affirmed that "these cures are truly innumerable."

The bureau is a medical organization run by doctors that operates within the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, which, among other things, is responsible for the medical investigation of cures associated with the shrine.

The doctor noted that there are, of course, miraculous cures as well in Lourdes, and 67 have been officially recognized as such.

He affirmed that these miracles are sometimes "necessary," such as at the beginning of the Church. "For faith to increase, it must be supported by miracles," Doctor Theillier said.

Moral sufferings

Yet today, he continued, perhaps more than a century ago, we have a need "to be relieved from moral sufferings and the wounds of life, of a psychological-spiritual order, which goes beyond medicine."

"Here is where Lourdes responds to a very present need, which undoubtedly corresponds more to its original message," the physician stated.

He asserted that these types of "miracles" are "much greater" than the bodily cures, as souls are "regenerated." These miracles, he said, can take place if you desire them, hope with faith, and pray to God.

"Extraordinary physical cures have become rare," Doctor Theillier observed, given that "God acts in the first place through human mediation, through medicine and doctors."

This year, Lourdes will be the site of the international congress for the World Federation for the Catholic Medical Associations. The theme for this May 6-7 event will be "Medicine and Faith."

To read the complete article, please visit the following link: Doctor Says Many are Cured in Lourdes

For More Information: World Congress FIAMC Lourdes 2010

***

Here is some additional backgound information regarding the miracles in Lourdes: 

Saint Bernadette (born Maria-Bernada Sobirós) had reported 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary during Febrauary to July of 1858 in Lourdes, France.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

As Bernadette later reported to her family and to church and civil investigators, at the ninth visitation the lady told Bernadette to drink from the spring that flowed under the rock, and eat the plants that grew freely there. Although there was no known spring, and the ground was muddy, Bernadette saw the lady pointing with her finger to the spot, and said later she assumed the lady meant that the spring was underground. She did as she was told by first digging a muddy patch with her bare hands and then attempting to drink the brackish drops.She tried three times, failing each time. On the fourth try, the droplets were clearer and she drank them. She then ate some of the plants. When finally she turned to the crowd, her face was smeared with mud and no spring had been revealed. Understandably, this caused skepticism among onlookers. In the next few days, however, a spring began to flow from the muddy patch first dug by Bernadette. Some devout people followed her example by drinking and washing in the water, which was soon reported to have healing properties.

***

I believe a gospel connection can be made to Our Lady's message given to Saint Bernadette regarding the spring water at Lourdes and its subsequent healing properties. 

In John 9:1-11 it states, As he (Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" Some claimed that he was.

Others said, "No, he only looks like him."

But he himself insisted, "I am the man."

"How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded.

He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."

The scripture clearly defines the role of God working through signs and wonders.  The Virgin Mary was sent to Bernadette to help continue the Lord's work on earth through graces of salvation and healing.  People from all over the world travel to the shrine and visit the Grotto of Lourdes to wash in the water while praying for God's healing. 

Regarding miraculous cures, Dr. Theillier clearly stated that "67 have been officially recognized" in Lourdes. 

The Anointing of the Sick

Scripture - James 5:13-16

Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the presbyters of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

For inspirational news of God's healing grace touching people's lives including a variety of devotional prayers for daily use, please visit the following link: Christian-Miracles.com

The stained glass windows were photographed in various Catholic churches throughout the state of New Jersey.

Photograph Copyright 2010 Loci B. Lenar

George Abbott Miraculously Healed of Liver Cancer

The amazing story of George Abbott being miraculously healed of liver cancer can be found on CBN.com.

After being diagnosed with gall bladder cancer, the tumor was removed by surgery.  However, during the operation the surgeon found the cancer had spread to George's liver bed.  The prognosis was poor. 

Then later a miracle happened, through the power of prayer, he was healed by God of liver cancer.


The following excerpt is by Rod Thomas of the Christian Broadcasting Network:

“Well, they found gallbladder cancer,” George said. “This is a very rare form of cancer.”

Doctors performed emergency surgery to remove the cancerous gall bladder; but there was more bad news.

“When they did the surgery, the cancer had gone down into the liver bed,” George said. “And that, as you well know, basically the prognosis is that you’re not going to live very long.”

Their family doctor, Dr. McQueen, who is also their friend, feared the worst.

“His prognosis was poor,” Dr. McQueen said. “With the stage of the cancer being advanced, once it had metastasized to another organ, he is classified as advanced stage carcinoma. For George, his treatment options were limited. Not only were those options limited, the ones that were available to him, in many cases, will take your life.”

Facing almost certain death, George got a second opinion.

“Same diagnosis, same prognosis,” George said. “The only difference was that this doctor was a little more positive and he said to me, ‘we’re going to operate.’”

“He also said, ‘okay, this is in the upper part of the liver; but if I open him up and I find any cancer anywhere else in the liver, I’m just going to close him back up because then there’ll be nothing we can do,’” Cheryl said. “I just thought, ‘I cannot lose my husband.’”

At the surgeon’s recommendation, George did not undergo chemotherapy or take any medication before surgery. Ultimately, he knew his fate was in God’s hands.

“I know that God heals,” George said. “But I’m also a realist and I know that the Bible says, ‘it’s appointed once to die, and then the judgment.’ So, I was ready to accept this - that if this is the time that God wanted to take me home, I was ready for that.”

As the surgery date approached, Cheryl prayed for God’s help.

“Our church got together and had a prayer meeting and one of the ladies in the church or maybe more than one, called The 700 Club and asked for prayer for George,” Cheryl said.

As surgeons performed the procedure, Cheryl got a phone call.

“I got off the phone and I just started crying. ‘The doctor said that his liver is perfectly normal; that there was no sign of cancer whatsoever.’ So we were just hugging each other and crying,” she said.

“The doctor said it looked like a normal, healthy liver. God had taken [the cancer], and I don’t know how He did it. I don’t know whether He just made the cancer go away. I don’t know if He gave me a new liver. It doesn’t matter to me. All I know is God is a God of miracles and he healed me,” George said.

“They believe in prayer and they trust in the sovereignty of God,” Dr. McQueen said. “There is no medical treatment or explanation for that type of result - absolutely miraculous!”

For the past two years, routine tests have shown the same result – no cancer!

“God really did heal,” Cheryl said. “I mean, when God does something, He does it right.”

“Some people today say, ‘well, miracles went out with the apostles.’ Well, I’m here to tell you that miracles did not go out with the apostles, that God is a God of miracles and He is a healer today,” George said. “He gave me a miracle - the miracle of life.”

Julie Papievis: To Heaven and Back

Julie Papievis: To Heaven and Back - CBN

The inspiring story of Julie Papievis and her miraculous recovery from a car accident that caused a serious brain stem injury is a wonderful reflection of God working through the power of prayer.  The initial brain scan showed no brain activity while she was hospitalized.  Her family and church joined together and prayed for a miracle.

The treating neurosurgen, Dr. John Shea, did not expect her to wake up and gave her only a 4% chance of surviving the injuries.

Julie was in a coma for 6 weeks; however, before awakening, she was given a glimpse of heaven.  Dr. Shea said it was a miraculous event that she survived and recovered from the brain stem injury.

To hear Julie's story, please view the inspirational video produced by the Christian Broadcasting Network.

What does scripture say about prayer?  Jesus said in Mark 11:24, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Please don't underestimate the power of prayer, especially when circumstances appear to be hopeless.   Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20, "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

God is a performer of miracles, "So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help."
-Hebrews 4:16

Christian-Miracles.com

MacKillop to become Australia's First Saint

MacKillop to become Australia's first saint - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The following excerpt is from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

Australia will have its first Roman Catholic saint after Pope Benedict approved a decree recognising a second miracle attributed to the intercession of Mother Mary MacKillop.

The approval means Blessed Mary is likely to be formally declared a saint at a canonisation ceremony next year.

Blessed Mary (1842-1909), who founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph, is revered by Catholics for her work, especially with needy children, former female prisoners and prostitutes.

She was beatified by pope John Paul II in 1995.

The miracle approved on Saturday involved the healing of a person who had cancer and was cured after praying to Blessed Mary.

Sister Anne Derwin from the Sisters of Saint Joseph says many have been inspired by Blessed Mary's work in education and with the poor.

"It's not only the sisters, but many other people, men and women, who love the way Mary MacKillop lived her life," she said.

"They try and live in that spirit too, and do great things for people."

Sister Derwin says the Pope's decision is a significant event for the church in Australia.

"Mary herself wouldn't have expected this sort of limelight, but it makes us feel excited that the gift she was given for the church, for the world, is being recognised as valuable," Sister Derwin said.

"And that was a gift to focus on those most in need in our society."

Mary MacKillop was born in Melbourne, worked throughout South Australia and died in North Sydney.

She co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1866 but was excommunicated from the Church at one stage for allegedly disobeying authorities.

However she continued to spend her life caring for those less fortunate.

The Miraculous Healing of Ethan Stacy

The following inspirational story of God's miraculous healing of Ethan Stacy's leukemia appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network:

CBN.com - By the time Ethan’s parents took the long painful walk through the cemetery to see the place where they would bury their son, Ethan Stacy was within days of death.

Ethan was already under the care of a hospice nurse. His body was rapidly shutting down.

According to Dr. Melissa Rhodes, Ethan had AML, an aggressive type of leukemia. She serves in the oncology unit at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., where she was one of Ethan’s physicians.

“Children who are actually born with leukemia don’t usually do very well,” Dr. Rhodes says. “The best that we could offer was to put Ethan through difficult chemotherapy and still not know that he would make it through.”

In fact, chemotherapy is so toxic for newborns that doctors gave Ethan’s parents the option not to treat their son. After two weeks in the hospital, Chad and Mandy made the painful decision to take their son home.

 “The chemo could kill him,” Chad says. “There are all kinds of risks.”

“We came home and I remember lying in bed and praying,” Mandy says. “We said, ‘God, give us an answer’. We both woke up the next morning and both said, ‘Nope, we’re not going to put him through it’.”

Most doctors at Vanderbilt supported that decision. “We figured if Ethan truly had the kind of leukemia that we felt he had, then even with full treatment he may not do well,” says Dr. Rhodes. “For that reason we felt it was right to honor the family’s decision.”

After only a few days at home, Ethan’s baby acne, which is common in newborns, had become infected. So they went back to the hospital. That’s when the tumors began to show up…

“We noticed a lump in his calf,” says Mandy. “We paged the doctor, and they told us that it could be a blood clot or a build up of the leukemia cells, which is called chloroma.”

Tumors started popping up in other places such as Ethan’s feet, hands, and his forearm.

“Leukemia itself means cancer of the blood; it’s a blood disease,” explains Dr. Rhodes. “But in this particular kind of leukemia it can also go out into the tissues. That’s what we believe was happening with Ethan. He actually had leukemia in his skin, in his hands, his feet, and his legs, as well as in his liver and spleen which is more common. So he was showing that he had a very advanced disease at that point.”

Ethan was now about three weeks old, and his condition really started to decline. He stopped eating and began to experience sleep apnea.

“The nurse told me that he might develop what’s called sepsis, which would be a total body infection, and that he would go peacefully or he might hemorrhage,” Mandy recalls. “I would see blood in his diaper or maybe coming out of his ears. I was so scared to open up his diaper to even change it.”

When the hospice nurse arrived, Chad and Mandy knew they were near the end but Chad, Mandy and their friends continued to pray… believing God for the impossible.

“I remember rocking him and singing, ‘Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. I want to see you’,” Mandy says. “I knew that if I just focused my mind on Christ that’s the only way that I could make it through.”

The night that Ethan faced his greatest medical crisis, something happened. “Mandy late that night started feeding, and he started taking his bottle a little bit at a time,” Chad says.

The next day, Ethan was a little stronger… But was he having one final rebound before death?

 Mandy says, “I remember sitting at the kitchen table and saying, ‘I believe God’s healing him. I can see God working.’ Then he just gradually started getting better. And over the next week, we were back up to six ounces of formula every three hours.”

Over the next two weeks, Ethan improved! And when Mandy took him back to Vanderbilt to check his blood counts? “His platelets level was like 415,000 -- in normal range, where it had been 39,000 at his lowest point.”

This stumped Dr. Rhodes and her colleagues. “Ethan had gotten about as sick as a baby could possibly get and then spontaneously got better. So we wanted to look. We did the bone marrow test, which showed no evidence of leukemia. The tumors gradually went down over a period of probably a week or so. It was just remarkable to witness it.”

Chad and Mandy knew they had witnessed a miracle when they repeated the bone marrow biopsy in July with the same results.

Today, Ethan Stacy is a strapping two-year-old, who loves playing with his dad and big sister Kaylee. It goes without saying that the Stacys are thankful.

"The prayers of my friends and church members meant everything to me,” Chad says.

Mandy agrees. “It’s just awesome that we have a God like that… I just can’t get over the miracles. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for him because I know it’s going to be big.”

To view the inspiring story on video, please visit the following link: Stacy Family Witnesses a Miracle in Their Son

Vatican probe next after Diocese of Metuchen reviews possible miracle

Mother Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory

(Diocese of Metuchen)

Vatican probe next after Diocese of Metuchen reviews possible miracle / mycentraljersey.com
 
The following article from MyCentralJersey.com is written by Jeff Grant:
 
PISCATAWAY — The path to possible sainthood for a Carmelite nun whose case was investigated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen now heads to the Vatican.

A 20-minute ceremony inside the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center at diocesan headquarters formally concluded the local inquiry Monday. The case involving Mother Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory next will be reviewed by the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

"I'm pleased that the investigation was completed within four months," said Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski. "We were honored to be asked by the Vatican to investigate the possible miracle," Bootkoski added.

The case in question involves a family in the general diocesan area who has not been identified for reasons of privacy, according to diocesan spokeswoman Joanne Ward. The diocese includes parishes in Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties.

The family had prayed to McCrory — the foundress of The Carmelite Sisters For the Aged and Infirm in Germantown, N.Y. — to intercede with God after their unborn child was diagnosed with a genetic abnormality. When the baby was born, the defect was not present in the degree that it had been expected. The miracle and the birth occurred in the Diocese of Oakland, Calif., although few other details, including the date of the birth as well as when the family first prayed, were unavailable Monday.

McCrory was considered a woman of great faith, and spent her life caring for the elderly and ailing in long-term care facilities operated by the order, which runs 17 facilities around the country. She died in 1984 at age 91.

The diocese's review of the case, begun in May, involved interviews with doctors and other witnesses, including people who knew the medical facts of the case and people who prayed for the miracle, according to Lori Albanese, chancellor of the diocese and notary of the investigation. A total of 10 to 15 individuals were interviewed in all, Albanese said.

"We were very pleased with the quality of testimony," she said. "The witnesses were very accessible."

Investigator for Vatican Finds Evidence of Miracle in Chase Kear's Survival

Investigator for Vatican finds enough to continue - Featured Story - Wichita Eagle

(Chase Kear's remarkabe recovery is being attributed to intercessory prayer made to Father Emil Kapaun. Father Kapaun is being considered for sainthood by the Vatican.)

The following excerpt is by Roy Wenzl of the Wichita Eagle:

The Vatican found enough evidence of a miracle in the survival of Chase Kear of Colwich that it intends to keep studying his survival, with an eye toward declaring it an official miracle, church officials say.

Declaring it a miracle would help determine whether Father Emil Kapaun of Pilsen will be canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church.

Andrea Ambrosi, a lawyer and investigator for the Vatican, visited family members and doctors for two Wichita-area families on Friday who believe the survival of their children during nearly lethal medical crises recently should qualify as miracles.

One of them involved Chase Kear, a 20-year-old Colwich athlete severely injured in October.

The Rev. John Hotze, judicial vicar for the Wichita diocese, is not allowed to say who or what families are being investigated for miracles. But he said there was one other "alleged miracle" in the Wichita area that Ambrosi studied during his time here.

With both families, Hotze said, Ambrosi met with the doctors involved and studied medical reports and X-rays.

"Afterward, the Vatican investigator said that in years of investigating miracles, he had never seen doctors who made such a compelling case for miracles occurring," Hotze said.

If the miracle is proven, it will significantly advance the chances that the church will declare Kapaun a saint, decades after he died a hero in a North Korean prison camp in 1951. The church requires miracles to elevate a person to sainthood.

Hotze has investigated Kapaun's proposed sainthood for eight years, which is only a fraction of the time the church has been considering whether to elevate Kapaun to sainthood.

American soldiers came out of prisoner-of-war camps in 1953 with incredible stories about Kapaun's heroism and faith. They said that in the fierce winter of 1950 and 1951, when 1,200 out of 3,000 American prisoners starved to death or died of illness in Camp 5 along the Yalu River, Kapaun kept hundreds of survivors alive by stealing food and by force of will.

Kapaun was assigned to the U.S. Army's Eighth Cavalry regiment, which was surrounded and overrun by the Chinese army in North Korea in October and November 1950. He stayed behind with the wounded when the Army retreated. He allowed his own capture, then risked death by preventing Chinese executions of wounded Americans too injured to walk.

To read complete story, please visit the following link: Chase Kear Miracle

Metuchen Roman Catholic Diocese investigates possible miracle - NJ.com

by Jeff Diamant/The Star-Ledger

The following excerpt is from the article which appeared on NJ.com:

METUCHEN -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen is helping oversee a church investigation into whether a nun being considered for sainthood caused a miracle.

The case involves Mother Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory, who died in 1984 at age 91 and was foundress of the Carmelite Sisters For The Aged And Infirm.

A married couple in New Jersey whose unborn baby was diagnosed with a genetic disorder is claiming prayers to McCrory helped their child, who was born far healthier than expected, said Mother Mark Louis Randall, superior general of the Carmelite order, based in Germantown, N.Y.

She said another member of the order, who is related to the couple, had suggested they pray to McCrory.

Citing privacy reasons, church officials would not identify the family making the miracle claim, except to say the parents live within the boundaries of the Metuchen Diocese, which includes Middlesex, Hunterdon, Warren and Somerset counties. They also would not say when the child was born.

To be canonized, a person must be credited after death with interceding in two miracles. People credited with interceding with one are beatified and given the title "Blessed."

McCrory, born in Ireland in 1891, joined an order called the Little Sisters of the Poor in 1910. She later founded the Carmelite Sisters For The Aged And Infirm, in 1929, in New York. That order now has 198 sisters in seven states and Ireland.

To read complete story, please visit the following link: Mother Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory

Deacon Healed Through Cardinal Newman's Intercession - Catholic Online

Miraculous Healing Through Cardinal Newman's Intercession

The following excerpt is from an article written by Meghan Noe:

LONDON (UK Catholic Herald) - An American deacon has described in detail how he was cured from a severe spinal condition after praying to Cardinal John Henry Newman. John Sullivan, 70, of Marshfield, Massachusetts, described the healing to American television networks just days after it was reported that Vatican theological consultors had unanimously ruled it a miracle that could pave the way for the beatification of the Victorian convert.

The healing, which was earlier concluded to be inexplicable by medics, now awaits the approval of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood and Pope Benedict XVI before Cardinal Newman can be declared Blessed.

For additional information regarding the story, please visit Catholic Online at the following link: http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=33558

Medical Miracles through Faith

Medical Miracles WSPA

Do you believe in medical miracles? The following excerpt is reprinted from a story written by Carrie Davis from WSPA regarding Bill Pitts, who is living proof that miracles do happen:

According to some people, Bill Pitts shouldn’t be here. He’s walking a life path he never thought possible and he’s been given a second chance to try a passion he’d only ever dreamed about.

Bill Pitts says, “I appreciate every day and I thank God for each day he gives me. I look at life a lot different today than I did in earlier years.“

You see Bill Pitts has stage four colon cancer. Three years ago he stopped all his treatments to live out his last days enjoying time with his family and his art.

Pitts says, “When I first got the news I was devastated. Medically speaking I am not supposed to be here, but here I am.“

According to his doctor, Dr. Steve Courso, Pitts is a medical miracle.

He says, “He was here just last month and he looks great. we can’t see any signs of the cancer in him.“

Dr. Courso says no one can figure out why these miracles happen. They are unexplainable by modern science.

Dr. Courso admits, “I don’t have a medical explanation. I just simply smile and realize God’s presence is in these patients.“

Bill Pitts says, “At some point they have done all they can do and at that point I believe is when God takes over in your life and that is the point I am at right now.“

At Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, Chaplain Carson Rogerson says he’s seen cases like Bill Pitts before. He says he believes the miracles may occur when a persons mind, body and soul all get in line.

Chaplain Rogerson says, “ There is evidence to say a person who has practices of their faith whether it be prayer or meditation or some kind of worship attendance tend to have stronger immune systems. They certainly have a hope that would sustain them in difficult times.“

A study done at Pacific College of Medicine found that people who received prayer were six times less likely to be hospitalized than those who didn’t have someone praying for them.

(In Matthew 21:22, Jesus said, "Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.")

The complete story can be read with a video interview at the following link: http://www.wspa.com/spa/lifestyles/health_med_fit/medical/article/medical_miracles/16792/

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