Do Miracles Still Occur?

Do Miracles Still Occur?Most people will tell you they stopped when the last Apostle died.

Whats a Miracle?CCC Glossary - Miracle:A sign or wonder, such as a healing or a control of nature, which can only be attributed to divine power.

Why Did Jesus Perform Miracles?CCC 548The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent Him. They invite belief in Him. To those who turn to Him in faith, He grants what they ask.So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does His Father's works; they bear witness that He is the Son of God.But his miracles can also be occasions for "offense";they are not intended to satisfy people's curiosity or desire for magic.

Protestant ReformersAttempted to discredit the countless miracles that had been given in confirmation of the Catholic faith, the original Protestant Reformers utterly rejected the notion that miracles had continued beyond the apostolic age.

4Nihil Obstat: Bernadeane Carr, STL Imprimatur: Robert H Brom, Bishop of San Diego 10 August 2004

Pentecostal Movement The Pentecostal movement began in Protestantism in the early 1900s.Its emphasis on miraculous healing became a problem for other Protestant denominationsThat needed to find ways to try to explain why such miracles had vanished for so long.

Church FathersThe early Church Fathers tell us that miracles have always been found in the Catholic Church.

FatimaLourdesMarian Apparitions

Christian writers themselvesDescribe how the educated and sophisticated have been won over by logics inability to explain miracles and Miracles also converted the uneducated, by a sort of stupefaction or terror before the greatness of Gods power.

St. Polycarp (69-155)He was to be burned to death for opposing the Gnosticism (people that believed that Jesus wasnt divine and they also said they held secret information).But the flames wouldnt burn him.

An Eyewitness Account tells usThe flame blazed forth in great fury, we to whom it was given to witness it beheld a great miracle.(We) have been preserved that we might report to others what then took place.For the fire, shaping itself into the form of an arch,Like the sail of a ship when filled with the wind, encompassed by a circle the body of the martyr.The executioner was ordered to stab Polycarp.There came forth a dove, a great quantity of blood that extinguished the flames.

All The Original Apostles Were Dead in 155 A.D.The report was from eyewitnesses to the Martyrdom.Clearly this was a miracle.His protection from the flames clearly came from God.Even after having been stabbed a dove came out of the wound, again demonstrating the power of God.

Narcissus 312 AD tells us thatAt the Paschal Vigil the oil lamps burned out.Narcissus directed those who attended to the lights to draw water and bring it to him.. . . he prayed over the water.He commanded them to pour the water into the lamps.By the miraculous power of God the water was converted into oil, thus the vigil was allowed to continue.

St. Basil the Great (329-379)Tells us of a man he knew called Gregory the WonderworkerWho had power over demons.He commanded a river to change its course, and it did.He caused a lake to dry up.Moreover his predictions of things to come were such as in no way to fall short of the great prophets.

St. Ambrose of Milan (340-397)In a letter to his sister he tells her of a miracle (388).He found some bodies of holy martyrs.While moving these relics to the church a blind man touched them and was cured.

St. Jerome (347-419)St. Jerome tells us of St. Hilarion A mother had 3 sick children and went to Hilarion and begged that he pray over her children.He prayed, and made the sign of the cross over the children and within an hour they were back to normal.

Our Lady of Lourdes (1858 to the present day)There is no natural cause capable of producing the cures witnessed at Lourdes, France.Such cures can only be traced back to the miraculous hand of God working in our present day.

At St. Annes in CanadaCrippled people bring their crutches and wheelchairs to the shrines of Saints who've interceded in their healing, Certain shrines have become known for being places where Saintly intercession is especially powerfulThe picture at right shows an almost sculptured collection of crutches at St. Anne's shrine in Quebec.

Our Original Question Was:Do miracles still occur?Sure they do.Why?For the same reason Jesus performed miracles while He was here on earth.Miracles strengthen our faith.Miracles prove the existence of God in our present lives.In His own words, Lv. 26:12 Ever present in your midst, I will be your God, and you will be my people