This Agnostic Scientist Converted After Witnessing a Miracle at Lourdes

Source: ChurchPop

Alexis Carrel was born into a Catholic family in a small town in France in 1873. He attended Mass regularly and went to Catholic schools run by Jesuits. Unfortunately, by the time he went to college he was an agnostic. He completely rejected the Catholic faith and wasn’t even sure if there was a God.

However, he wouldn’t stay that way. And an extraordinary miracle from Lourdes helped lead him back.

As an agnostic, Carrel studied biology and medicine and went on to become a world famous scientist. He developed a way to allow organs to live outside the body, a huge step toward organ transplants, and he developed new techniques for cleaning wounds. Most importantly, though, he invented techniques for suturing large blood vessels, which earned him a Nobel Prize in 1912.

This is why his opinion about alleged miracles at Lourdes mattered so much.

Although the original apparitions at Lourdes had occurred in 1858, people in the early 20th century (as they are today) were still claiming to be cured by the water there. Despite the large number of alleged cures, the French medical establishment was firmly against the possibility that anything supernatural was happening.

Carrel himself was also a strong skeptic. That is, until he met a girl named Marie Bailly.

He was on a train to Lourdes with a doctor friend to see the hysteria for himself in 1902 when he came across Bailly, who apparently had something called tuberculous peritonitis. It was a fatal disease. She was only half-conscious and had a swelled belly. Trying to help, Carrel gave her morphine, but said he didn’t think she’d even survive the rest of the trip to Lourdes. Other doctors on the train came to the same conclusion.

When they arrived, her friends carried her to the grotto, and three pitchers of water from Lourdes was poured on her. With each pour, she said felt a searing pain throughout her body. To the amazement of the doctors present, her belly started to flatten back to a normal size almost immediately and her pulse returned to a normal rate.

By that evening, she was well enough to eat a normal dinner.

The scientist in Carrel didn’t know what to make of it all. He had to admit that everything he knew about medicine made it seem like her cure was indeed miraculous. But he knew that publicly claiming to have witnessed a miracle would ruin his career. So he just stayed quiet about it all. He didn’t even want people to know he had gone to Lourdes.

However, Bailly’s cure quickly became national news. News outlets reported that Carrel had been present, but that he didn’t think there was anything miraculous about what happened. This wasn’t exactly accurate, so he was forced to publish a public reply. In it, he scolded religious believers for generally being too quick to claim something unusual was miraculous, but he also criticized the medical establishment for ruling out the possibility of miracles, saying that Bailly may indeed have been cured miraculously.

This was a public scandal! How could someone so steeped in science and so accomplished in medicine say that Bailly’s cure might have been miraculous? His career in France was over. Unable to work in hospitals any longer, he moved to Canada, and eventually the United States. He joined the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research in New York and spent the rest of his career there. (Marie Bailly, for her part, joined a convent.)

So he had been convinced the woman’s cure could have been miraculous – what did that mean for him spiritually?

He didn’t know what to do with it exactly, since fully admitting to himself that he had witnessed a true miracle at Lourdes would require him to rethink his religious beliefs (or lack thereof).

It took him 25 years of working it out in his heart and mind, but finally, in 1939, he decided to meet with a Catholic priest in order to seriously consider returning to the Church. They became friends, and three years later he announced, “I believe in the existence of God, in the immortality of the soul, in Revelation and in all the Catholic Church teaches.”

And just two years after that, he died. But not without receiving Last Rites on his deathbed.

God had brought him back just in time.

Pray for Alexis Carrel, may he rest in peace!

Pope advances sainthood causes of Lutheran convert, U.S. missionary in Vietnam -Catholic Courier

By Junno Arocho Esteves (Catholic Courier)
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of a Lutheran convert who established a branch of the Bridgettine order in her country and a U.S. missionary who died while ministering to the wounded in Vietnam.

During a Dec. 14 meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, the pope signed a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Mary Elizabeth Hesselblad, who refounded the Order of the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget, better known as the Bridgettines.

Born in Sweden in 1870 and baptized into the Reform Church, she immigrated to the United States in 1886 to earn money for her family back home.

After working as a nurse, she converted to Catholicism in 1902. Moving to Rome, she dedicated her life and her religious order to prayer and work for the attainment of Christian unity. St. John Paul II beatified her in Rome in 2000.

The pope also signed decrees recognizing the miracles needed for the beatifications of:

-- Father Ladislao Bukowinski, a Ukrainian priest who died in Kazakhstan in 1974.

-- Sister Maria Celeste Crostarosa, an Italian nun who founded the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer in the 18th century.

-- Sister Mary of Jesus Santocanale, an Italian nun born in 1852, who founded the Congregation of the Capuchin Sisters of the Immaculate of Lourdes.

-- Itala Mela, an Italian laywoman and Benedictine Oblate who died in 1957.

The pope also recognized the heroic virtues of four women and eight men, including New Hampshire native Brother William Gagnon -- a member of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God. Brother Gagnon tended to the sick and wounded during the Vietnam War, before falling ill and dying in Ho Chi Minh City in 1972.

The pope also recognized the heroic virtues of Teresio Olivelli, an Italian layman who spoke out against fascism and Nazism before being arrested and imprisoned. Olivelli died trying to protect a fellow prisoner in a German concentration camp in 1945.

The Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires

Ambassador says Padre Pio miraculously cured his son

St. Padre Pio, pray for us.

A miraculous escape for the little girl the Pope blessed

Power of prayer ... Peter and Sue Hill with their daughter Claire. Photo: Dallas Kilponen

The Sydney Morning Paper - PETER HILL'S life has been peppered with signs.

Years ago, all four tyres blew out one after the other when he suggested to his future wife in the car that God created all things and therefore must be responsible for evil.

More recently, Pope Benedict XVI kissed his baby daughter, Claire, at Randwick in Sydney while in the midst of a throng of devotees.

Claire being blessed by Pope Benedict XVI at Randwick in 2008. Photo: Getty Images

India: Darjeeling’s ‘miracle’ draws thousands

By Julian S Das, Sonada
UCANews

Photo of the "bleeding crucifix" in Sonada

A bishop in eastern India says the “first miracle” in his diocese has strengthened his people’s faith and attracted people of other religions.

“Our people are overjoyed at the first public miracle,” Bishop Stephen Lepcha of Darjeeling told ucanews.com on Nov. 26. “This has strengthened the faith of the people,” he added.

The bishop said the “miracle” occurred Nov. 20 when a priest and two couples preached a retreat for some novices of Claritian congregation at Dirnberger Niketan, Sonada, in West Bengal state.

A crucifix began to bleed when a woman preacher, a recent convert from Islam, prayed in her room in the morning. “Soon other crucifixes, rosaries and a big statue of Mary in the house began to bleed,” the prelate narrated.

Bishop Lepcha said he visited the place the next day and saw the crucifix and the Marian statue. He also met Mary, the Muslim who became a Catholic on Aug. 7.

The prelate quoted the woman from Kerala, southern India, as saying the Blessed Virgin had separate messages for the bishop, priests and people.

33 Chilean Miners Rescued: Faith Made them Strong

Miners as Metaphor: Hope Rescued from the Mine in Chile, World Invited to Begin Again

SAN JOSE MINE, Chile (Catholic Online) - Like the rest of the world I awakened with the plight of 33 miners in Chile immediately coming to my mind. I had drifted off to sleep last night praying for the success of the rescue mission which had already begun.

Throughout the evening, as time zones allowed, people of every nation watched, almost as sentries. Then, with the fresh light of dawn, I awakened to the colorful collage of safety jacket orange and celebrative flags illuminated by the sundrenched backdrop of the Chilean desert. Hope sprung forth from that dark mine and lit up the whole world.

The entire event seemed almost surreal.

It was as though it were all planned to inspire a global community enmeshed in cynicism, despair and fatigue. These 33 miners, trapped in the womb of the earth since August 5, 2010, began to emerge, one by one, before the eyes of one billion people throughout the world.

The best of humanity contending with what has seemed for so many as the worst of times; and goodness, faith, hope, love, virtue, human ingenuity and collaboration won the day. The events in the Chilean desert have already had an extraordinary impact.

Yet, the rescue - and its aftermath - has only just begun. These miners and their stories of courage, faith and perseverance will become the source of much needed reporting, prose and poetry - right in the nick of time.

It is as if we were all born again as that rescue tube brought them, one by one, to the surface to embrace their wives, children, neighbors and countrymen. The light of promise lit up the darkness of despair. Hope emerged from that mineshaft in Chile and the whole world seems renewed.

President Pinera of Chile told the more than 1,000 reporters gathered from the International Press "Chileans and the entire world are not going to forget this night.. When Chile unites, and it always happens in adversity, we are capable of big things." He was wearing the red jacket which he wore just after his Nation survived the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in February.

Standing next to him was Bolivian President Evo Morales. The youngest of the miners rescued is a Bolivian, 23 year old Carlos Mamani. The political relationship between these two Nations has already changed as a direct result of their response of solidarity in the face of adversity; a lesson for other Nations to follow. Solidarity is the path to peace.

As the day unfolds, the world will put aside much other news. What, just yesterday, seemed to be of such pressing importance, now dwarfs in light of the amazing lesson on display in the desert of Chile. What really matters in life has overwhelmed everything else. We are joined together, with one another, and we are our brother and sisters keeper.

Around the world, from schoolchildren to Heads of State, to Patriarch and Pope, persistent prayers have been offered on behalf of these miners. Heaven was besieged. In an age where it seemed like men and women had forgotten God, clearly, God has not forgotten us. We, along with all of those miners and their families, have been given a fresh start and an invitation to begin again.

The Chilean desert around the mineshaft has become a place of pilgrimage over the last 69 days, with its makeshift shrines and altars on display for the world to see. Overt signs of faith were naturally woven in with overt signs of brotherly and sisterly solidarity, compassion, affection, warmth and human dignity. Perhaps it will help bring us back to reality.

The miners have become a metaphor. They emerged from the darkness of what could have been a tomb. Instead, it became a womb of rebirth. To borrow the words of the President of Chile and expand them, "we are capable of big things". That is, when we turn back to the source of our greatness and rediscover what matters most.

Miner Mario Sepulveda speaking to the International Press put it so simply, "I was with God and with the devil. And I reached out for God." Now, it is our turn to do the reaching.

Pope Benedict prays for Chilean miners during rescue operation

Vatican Radio - Pope Benedict XVI said on Wednesday he is praying for the ongoing rescue operation in Chile, where the 69-day ordeal of 33 miners is coming to an end. The miners began leaving the mine at midnight local Chilean time. The miners have survived more time trapped underground than anyone on record, and the world was captivated by their endurance and unity as officials carefully planned.

The Holy Father's remarks came while addressing Spanish-speaking pilgrims during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square. The Pope said he “continues with hope to entrust to the goodness of God the miners in the region of Atacama”.The Ambassador from Chile to the Holy See, Fernando Zegers Santa Cruz, says the faith of the miners was important during the ordeal.

“The miners commended the operation to their patron St. Lawrence,” he told Vatican Radio. “The miners ‘downstairs’ and the families ‘upstairs’, they have all put their fortunes in the hands of God,” he said. “It has been a testimony of faith.”

Eucharistic Miracles, Jesus is Really Present

"Take, eat my body and drink my blood and be saved."(John 6:53-57)

I always believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. That's one reason why I have to fast at least an hour before taking the communion or to carefully examine myself if I am worthy enough to take Christ's Holy Body and Blood into my whole being.

Friends, if you are in doubt of Jesus' Real Presence, you might want to confirm your faith again by reading scientific facts on Eucharistic Miracles at The Real Presence.

Cross Seen in the Sky in Russia

Science has it's own way of explaining this phenomenon. It could be Aurora Borealis but who are we to distort what God wants us to know in these days when many of so called "Christians" don't believe in the power of the Cross of Christ but believed in the power of their own founders and established protesting "churches"?

Christians see Our Lady in the lights that appear in the sky above Cairo

Cairo (AsiaNews) – A bird flew over the tower of the Coptic Church in Al-Warrak, a suburban neighbourhood in the Egyptian capital. Then, someone dressed in white and blue robes appeared. For Christians and some Muslims, it was an apparition of Our Lady; for others, it was a hoax created by using laser beams, Middle East online reported.

For several weeks, a silent crowd running in the thousands has been gathering in front of the church at around 3 am, looking up into the sky. When the mysterious light appears over the church tower, they are jolted into a frenzy of astonished cries.

“The first person to spot [. . .] the Virgin Mary was a Muslim neighbour,” said Father Fishay, priest at the al-Warrak parish church. “He took a video and pictures and distributed them to everyone”.

Hassan, the Muslim neighbour, said he was sitting at his local coffee shop when at around 8:30 pm, he saw a strong light coming from the church.

More people on the street began to notice the light and saw a bird circling above the church. At around 2 am, a vision of the Virgin Mary in her white and blue robes appeared.

Local Muslims do not deny the sighting, but claim it was a hoax, created with laser beams.

But for Rami, “It's her, with her blue and white clothes”.

“The church closes its doors in the evening,” Father Fishay said in a measured tone. “We were not there when the image appeared the first time, so we decided to come back the second night and we saw the bird circling the church, then the light.”

Kawkab Munir Shehata, 39, is convinced of what she saw. Indeed, the mother of two says that the Virgin Mary restored the sight she had lost in her left eye.

“It was about 3:40 am,” Kawkab said. “I felt immense pain which lasted about a quarter of an hour. Then I was ecstatic to find out that I could see clearly.” Now, “my left eye is even better than my right one”.

For some, the apparition of the Virgin Mary is a response to an article that appeared in a periodical published by Al-Azhar University that questioned the foundations of Christianity.

“Maybe her appearance is to bring people closer together; maybe it will bring about the end of the state of tensions between Muslims and Christians and an end to extremism. Maybe it'll bring back forgiveness like there once used to be in Egypt,” Father Fishay said.

Maybe it is a sign of hope for Egypt’s Copts, who are 10 per cent of the country’s population, and have lived far too long on the margins of society, often victims of violence.