Miracles

Dadof8

We all have personal stories that border on the miraculous, let’s share them. I've always thought of miracles not as the sustenance of our daily faith life but more as the frosting on the cake. Since I'm not getting much cake or frosting these days how about some spiritual frosting. I'd prefer personal stories or stories of things that happened to people you know, but if you have a good reliable friend of a friend story go for it, here’s mine.

"How many were behind us?"
"Huh."
Julie had a slight tremor in her voice, but her face glowed with awe and wonder.
"In your dream, how many were behind us!"
At twenty eight, Julie and I were older then most of our friends when we got married and we wanted to start a family right away. Two early miscarriages followed by a year of infertility had us on our knees praying that God would bless us with children. Then one night I had a very vivid dream. We were walking down a beach with two children in front of us. I had a baby in my left arm. Julie and I were holding the hands of a child between us and Julie had another child on her right. I turned around to look behind us only to see more kids!
When I woke up and told Julie of my dream, she was quiet for a moment then asked "how many were behind us?"
"All I know honey is that there were more behind us than in front!"
It had been fifteen years since I shared my dream with her but with seven kids tucked in their beds we watched the image on the home pregnancy test announce that we were expecting our eighth child, Julie was interested in a more definitive answer to her question. "I want to know EXACTLY how many were behind us."

Thomasm198

Well my own personal story is this:

I was one motorcycle patrol one day (11th December 2001 to be precise). I got a call and was responding to it with lights and siren blaring. I can't remember what happened but while doing about 70mph or 80mph, I parted company with the motorcycle. I was thrown over the handlebars and landed on the road in front of the motorbike.

I hit the ground hard, landing on my back. As my body was bouncing from the impact, the motorbike caught up with me. The bike hit me in the back of the head. It hit me with enough force to split my helmet open. The impact forced my head forward onto my chest with enough of an impact that I managed to break my sternum (the main breast bone) with my chin.

By all rights, this impact on the back of my head was so hard that there is no explanation at all that for why I didn't snap my neck in the crash.

In all honesty, I attribute the fact that I'm still walking to one factor. Tucked into my wallet, I always carry with me:-
- a Miraculous Medal,
- a Lourdes medal
- a Saint Martin de Porres medal, and,
- a Saint Anthony's Blessing (a small card with a prayer printed on it).

I'll quote the words of the prayer here:

May the Lord bless you and take you into His keeping; may He show you His countenace and take pity on you; may He turn His eyes towards you and give you His peace.

On the reverse of the card is the following:

Those who carry this about them with faith will receive many graces. It is a PRESERVATIVE in child bearing, thunder and lightening, sudden death, falling, sickness, dangers at sea, and many other dangers.

Edited to add: I also used to have a medal of Saint Michael the Archangel (the patron Saint of police and military) but I lost it.

Dadof8

Thanks for the great story Thomas, glad you're still with us. When one of my daughters got home from passing her driving test to get her drivers license she said "Want to know how I passed?" She then emptied about 8 to 10 miraculous medals our of her pocket, she had gone through the house that afternoon and collected all she could find "just in case" she needed some help.

macpatti

I wear my miraculous medallion all the time! I was even fortunate enough to purchase it in France where the stiking of the medal happened. Thank you for sharing your stories.

I find it fascinating how many times I hear people say, "If there is a God, why doesn't He come down and perform miracles"? First of all, that's been done. Jesus performed many miracles, and there were plenty of eye witness accounts of these miracles. Why should God have to keep "coming down" Himself? I also reply by saying that miracles are still performed every day, with God working through humans. Look at all the amazing advances in science and technology that we have which save lives. Look at the physicians' skill and determination to cure and save people's lives. Are those not miracles?

Dadof8

I agree, I think it takes more faith to believe that miracles don't happen than to accept that they do everyday. Here's my motorcycle story. I was riding home one night just after dusk on a hilly country road when the thought popped into mind that I could be really messed up if I were to hit a deer while riding. I backed off on the throttle and stood up on my foot pegs as I crested the next hill and watched as two deer slowly crossed the road in front of me. Miracles aren't just the really big raised from the dead, or healed of some incurable suffering, they are often those things that could be passed off a coincidence unless they happen to you and you alone my be the only one to know how miraculous the coincidence really was.

Mymag

Miracles aren't just the really big raised from the dead, or healed of some incurable suffering, they are often those things that could be passed off a coincidence

yup. when i was little, i hated buckling my seat belt because i was kindof rebellious. i'd forget to, and then when people would remind me, i'd get frustrated because i didn't like being told what to do. my family would usually nag at me until i did it, though. so one day, we were going to the zoo, and i decided to be a real snot and yelled at everyone until they buckled up, just to get them back. on the way, we got in a car accident, but everyone was fine cuz we'd all buckled our seat belts.

Dadof8

Our Priest tell a story about the first parish he was assigned to after his ordination. It was an intercity parish in a rough neighborhood was a lot of gang activity. Over time he was able to establish a friendship with one of the gang leaders and the gang’s members. They came to him one day and wanted to make him an honorary member. The initiation ceremony was that he would have to smoke some dope with them. They gave him the option of doing it voluntarily or they would hold him down hold his nose closed and tape his mouth shut so that he would only be able to inhale through a small opening that would be plugged with a joint. Our Priest has a black belt in some form of martial arts but I not sure which. He could have fought them but probably would not have escaped and the assured him that they were read, willing and able to impose their will which ever action he decided to take. Father said a quick prayer and got a quick answer. It went something like this.

Father: Jesus HELP. What do I do?
Jesus: Ask them if they have ever had an encounter with a Guardian Angel.
Father: Ya, right that going to scare them, they just start laughing and saying, ooooooooo we’re scared. Really what do I do?
Jesus:
Father: I need HELP.
Jesus:
Father: OK here goes.

Father to the gang leader, “Have you ever had a personal encounter with a Guardian Angel?”
Gang leader, “Ooooooooo we’re really scared”.

At this point they pinned him to the ground held his nose and taped his mouth. Just as the leader was about to put the joint in Fathers mouth the group holding him down looked up, jumped up are ran from the building. The leader turned around to see what they were looking and screamed and followed suit. Father said they avoided him like the plague for the next couple of day but he was finally able to corner the leader and ask what happened, Father had seen nothing. The leader said, “It was your Guardian Angel man.” Father asked what he looked like, “He was an eight foot Rambo with wings and a sword and he was not happy”

couponfun

My mom's got one (though sometimes she tells me she regrets having it happen, but I'll share anyways)

My mom was told she had uterine cancer in the 70s. She had been trying to get pregnant for about 1 1/2 years, praying to the Virgin, and then the docs said they found tumors and that she would have to have chemo. She had some sort of chemo, but the tumors didn't change...at least they didn't grow. Then at a checkup they found another growth and they said that she needed to have a hysterectomy to save her life.

The morning of the surgery in the pre-op they do a scan and noticed something about the newer tumor. It wasn't a tumor. It was a baby that looked to be in the very early stages (think she said 6-7 weeks). She was told to abort because there was no way she'd carry to term, that the baby would be crushed between the other tumors. She said no. Nine months or so later, the tumors ruptured during childbirth but she refused a C-section.

The baby she gave birth to was me.

Dadof8

Years ago a women in our church was in the same situation as your mother, less than a year after her daughter was born the mother died of cancer. Last year the daughter and one of my daughters were college roommates. I can’t look at the daughter without thinking of the sacrifice her mother and yours were willing to make for the life of their child. You are a miracle!

grassette

When my son was a lad, he broke his arm playing soccer. He was put in a cast, and when the cast was removed, his hand was shaped like a claw. Nerve damage because the cast had been too tight. For six weeks I did the round of doctors to see what could be done. The doctors were extremely concerned that this might be permanent. I told my mother, and she had a novena of masses said for his healing. During those nine days, his hand straightened out. When I took him to the doctor, he exclaimed in astonishment: "What happened?" Then he followed up with: "We are not going to questions those results!"

This was my mother's faith that brought about the miracle. Mine was not that strong. We are so blessed!

BestCindyICanBe

This story that I am writing isn't really a miracle but to me it was a sign from God that I was doing his will:

On January 12th of 2011 a friend of mine (Lisa) was fatally shot in the back of her head by her husband. He called the police and was arrested shortly after. Her funeral was a couple of weeks later. After her funeral I talked to our parish priest (Father Gary) and told him that I felt that I needed to have a Mass said for the husband. Father Gary said that it would be good not only for Pete (the husband) but for the whole parish to see that we are praying for Pete. Pete can only receive postcards in the jail so I printed up a postcard with the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on one side and on the other side I wrote him a note and told him when we were saying a Mass for him. One week later I was on Facebook and over to the right it used to say so so likes whatever (it doesn't do that anymore). On this particular day it said Lisa likes Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It still gives me chills to think about it. God was telling me that I had done the right thing.

Thomasm198

Miracles aren't just the really big raised from the dead, or healed of some incurable suffering, they are often those things that could be passed off a coincidence

yup. when i was little, i hated buckling my seat belt because i was kindof rebellious. i'd forget to, and then when people would remind me, i'd get frustrated because i didn't like being told what to do. my family would usually nag at me until i did it, though. so one day, we were going to the zoo, and i decided to be a real snot and yelled at everyone until they buckled up, just to get them back. on the way, we got in a car accident, but everyone was fine cuz we'd all buckled our seat belts.

My uncle had a similar experience once. He never used to wear a seatbelt. One morning he got into his car and without thinking, he did something he had never did before, he put on his seatbelt.

As he was driving along, his car hit a patch of black ice (a patch of ice that isn't visible because it merges with the colour of the road surface). He lost control of the car. It spun out of control and landed on its roof in a field. My uncle walked away unscathed from the crash. If he hadn't been wearing his seatbelt he would have been thrown from the car.

Dadof8

One of the bride’s maids in our wedding was given a ring by her mother. The two of them had picked it out for her mother when the daughter was a young girl and when the daughter headed off to college mom gave her the ring. It wasn’t an expensive ring but had sentimental value. Sometime early in her senior year she lost the ring; she spent a couple days looking for it then prayed that God would help her find it. She felt like she shouldn’t worry about it that she would get it back. She stopped worrying but would continue looking off and on. At the end of her school year he graduated and was moving back to her hometown to look for a job. As she pulled out of town she said a prayer along the lines of “Lord you said you would return the ring, I don’t know how you’re going to pull it off but I trust you and I’m not worrying about it”. When she went to her sisters for Thanksgiving the following fall her sister gave her the ring and a letter that said: “I found this ring a while ago and when I picked it up this address popped into my mind. I didn’t think much about it and put the ring in my dresser drawer. Every once in a while I would look at the ring and I’d get this same address pop into my mind. I don’t know who you are or why I’m doing this but I’m a servant of the Lord and I think He wants be to mail the ring here. I hope you enjoy the ring and that this make so sense to you. God Bless, Anonymous”.

macpatti

This story that I am writing isn't really a miracle but to me it was a sign from God that I was doing his will:

On January 12th of 2011 a friend of mine (Lisa) was fatally shot in the back of her head by her husband. He called the police and was arrested shortly after. Her funeral was a couple of weeks later. After her funeral I talked to our parish priest (Father Gary) and told him that I felt that I needed to have a Mass said for the husband. Father Gary said that it would be good not only for Pete (the husband) but for the whole parish to see that we are praying for Pete. Pete can only receive postcards in the jail so I printed up a postcard with the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on one side and on the other side I wrote him a note and told him when we were saying a Mass for him. One week later I was on Facebook and over to the right it used to say so so likes whatever (it doesn't do that anymore). On this particular day it said Lisa likes Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It still gives me chills to think about it. God was telling me that I had done the right thing.

Wow. I love that. :-)

macpatti

One of the bride’s maids in our wedding was given a ring by her mother. The two of them had picked it out for her mother when the daughter was a young girl and when the daughter headed off to college mom gave her the ring. It wasn’t an expensive ring but had sentimental value. Sometime early in her senior year she lost the ring; she spent a couple days looking for it then prayed that God would help her find it. She felt like she shouldn’t worry about it that she would get it back. She stopped worrying but would continue looking off and on. At the end of her school year he graduated and was moving back to her hometown to look for a job. As she pulled out of town she said a prayer along the lines of “Lord you said you would return the ring, I don’t know how you’re going to pull it off but I trust you and I’m not worrying about it”. When she went to her sisters for Thanksgiving the following fall her sister gave her the ring and a letter that said: “I found this ring a while ago and when I picked it up this address popped into my mind. I didn’t think much about it and put the ring in my dresser drawer. Every once in a while I would look at the ring and I’d get this same address pop into my mind. I don’t know who you are or why I’m doing this but I’m a servant of the Lord and I think He wants be to mail the ring here. I hope you enjoy the ring and that this make so sense to you. God Bless, Anonymous”.

Amazing!

Dadof8

I belong to a personal parish. A personal parish can be formed by the Bishop if a large number of people in an area share a common charism. Back when the US was experiencing a large number of immigrants from various parts of Europe personal parishes were often formed based on ethnicity when a group wanted to try to maintain cultural customs and traditions. In our case we had a large number of Charismatic Catholics in our area and the bishop gave us permission and blessing to form our own parish. Within the rubrics of the Mass we often pray out loud and/or in tongues during communal prayer time. One week we had a visiting priest who often says Mass for us when our regular priest is not available. This week when we were praying “in the Spirit” he posed a question to God that went something like “God I know these people are some of the most devout people I’ve met but I’m not sure about this speaking in tongues stuff, is it real?” As soon as the priest finished his thought he heard the old, fat, white deacon standing next to him praising God in the native dialect of the African village he had grown up in as a boy.

Fr. Charles is now convinced that it’s real.

macpatti

I belong to a personal parish. A personal parish can be formed by the Bishop if a large number of people in an area share a common charism. Back when the US was experiencing a large number of immigrants from various parts of Europe personal parishes were often formed based on ethnicity when a group wanted to try to maintain cultural customs and traditions. In our case we had a large number of Charismatic Catholics in our area and the bishop gave us permission and blessing to form our own parish. Within the rubrics of the Mass we often pray out loud and/or in tongues during communal prayer time. One week we had a visiting priest who often says Mass for us when our regular priest is not available. This week when we were praying “in the Spirit” he posed a question to God that went something like “God I know these people are some of the most devout people I’ve met but I’m not sure about this speaking in tongues stuff, is it real?” As soon as the priest finished his thought he heard the old, fat, white deacon standing next to him praising God in the native dialect of the African village he had grown up in as a boy.

Fr. Charles is now convinced that it’s real.

I have no personal experience with the Charismatic Catholic movement. My husband is a convert from the UPC and has mixed feelings on speaking in tongues.

busywaterbending

personally, I find posting heresay about the "miracles" that have happened to other people a bit of an uncomfortable topic.

I truely believe a miracle is a miracle only when the Church approves of it and says we can call it a miracle. As for a personal testimony of a good occurance that I believe God has blessed, of course I know that happens everyday! In our family, we had a very devout and wonderful Franciscan priest. He was an inquisitor, and one of the team members who approved of Fatima. According to my family, when he would visit them, often times a gold ball of light would alight in the tree outside his room where he was "sleeping". They all say that he is a saint now, and share wonderful stories of his sanctity in his lifetime. It gave the family great peace and love to see the golden balls of light that would visit him when he prayed.

Dadof8

personally, I find posting heresay about the "miracles" that have happened to other people a bit of an uncomfortable topic.

I truely believe a miracle is a miracle only when the Church approves of it and says we can call it a miracle. As for a personal testimony of a good occurance that I believe God has blessed, of course I know that happens everyday! In our family, we had a very devout and wonderful Franciscan priest. He was an inquisitor, and one of the team members who approved of Fatima. According to my family, when he would visit them, often times a gold ball of light would alight in the tree outside his room where he was "sleeping". They all say that he is a saint now, and share wonderful stories of his sanctity in his lifetime. It gave the family great peace and love to see the golden balls of light that would visit him when he prayed.

Are you uncomfortable telling inspirational stories about Godly men and women you have known who have not yet been canonized by the Church? I think it's fairly clear that there are events that occur on a daily basis that are outside the realm of human understanding this is the context of my use of the word "Miracle" only because I'm not smart enough to have a better word for it. I personally have a lot of hope that there are more saints in heaven then only those who have survived the rigger of the canonization process.