Modern-day miracles
Independent on Sunday, The, Jan 7, 2007 by Adam Jacques
What happened in and around the small village of Medjugorje(Bosnia), in 1982 has no simple explanation. Two local teenagers claimed to be visited by the Virgin Mary and unleashed a torrent of further visions witnessed by four more teenagers. Tests ruled out any known medical conditions or drugs use, and several vehement critics were won over when witnessing the young visionaries in their frequent trance-like states. It has turned the small village in to the largest site of confession in the world, while the late Pope John Paul II reportedly spoke of his desire to visit. Sharyn Mackay After a visit to her local hospital in 2003, Mackay was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney. The tumour was removed, but soon grew back and spread to her lungs. After being given a year to live, Mackay decided to visit a church that performed healing services. On entering the church, Mackay recalls feeling an "enormous heat" and the cancer leaving her body. Amazingly, subsequent test results found no traces of the cancer. Her story is now part of the national curriculum, and called a modern-day miracle.
St Alexander of Svira In 1998, the Russian Orthodox Church announced that it had found the remains of the 16th-century saint. Tests confirmed the body was from the same tribe to which St Alexander belonged. Further doubt - along with further testing - was cast aside when an abbot saw a liquid exuding from the Saint's mummified toes. The head of the Orthodox Church declared the phenomenon a miracle. Jean-Pierre Bely Like many of the 5 million catholic pilgrims who make the journey to Lourdes each year, wheelchair- bound MS sufferer Jean-Pierre Bely arrived hoping for some respite from his chronic condition. After ignoring voices telling him to "get up and walk", he went home a few hours later and, to the astonishment of his wife and two children, started walking around the house. In 1999, after a 12-year medical investigation by the Catholic Church, it became the first formally recognised miracle for over 22 years. Audrey Santo Santo, 22, is the most famous faith healer in the Christian world. Left in a vegetative state after a swimming accident as a child, her supporters claim that she is responsible for a series of extraordinary miracles. However, sceptics may question why one test on oil weeping from a statue contained 20 per cent chicken fat . Copyright 2007 Independent Newspapers UK Limited |
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