Healings of Injury and Other Phenomena Pronounced Miraculous by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints From in the Years 1983-2004

Abstract

The legislation developed by John Paul II does not state specifically how many miracles are needed for one's beatification and canonization. However, it is required that there be one miracle for beatification and one more for canonization. In the case of martyrs, the legislation allows a dispensation.

This article describes instances other than healings of injury or diseases that were considered miraculous in the period between 1983 and 2004. The number of these cases is constantly growing and an analysis of them furnishes very interesting reading.

The injuries were usually caused by unfortunate accidents occurring in one's workplace or car accidents; some of them involved playing children, and some happened as a result of unusual chance occurrences. They include injuries to various body parts and to varying degrees. In the statements produced by the Congregation between 1983 and 2004, we can find descriptions of injuries to the skull and the brain, eyes, spine, upper and lower limbs, various types of crushing, as well as electrocution injuries caused by lightening. During the investigation period, a board of experts declared 5 instances of survival of drowning to be scientifically inexplicable.

Other such occurrences pronounced miraculous are decidedly fewer than healings of injuries. They include: a miraculous rescue in the mountains, the drying of a particular painting created in oil paints in a very short time (4.5 hours), a miraculous rescue from a train accident, spontaneous shutting of the hatch in a submerging submarine, the survival of a 6-month-old girl after hitting asphalt from a height of 12 metres, and the survival of a 4-year-old boy who was run over by a tractor. The article describes the circumstances of these miracles and other phenomena; it also presents the opinions of experts and the deliberations of the committee members.