By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM
Part 3
In the last article I mentioned the amazing miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius. A little more about it, before we move on to other beautiful facts regarding the marvel of the Catholic Church.
The phenomenon has been the object of public viewing since 1389 — but there is a catch: Sometimes it does not happen, and when it does not happen, a catastrophe does happen to the city of Naples instead! So, before every volcanic eruption or earthquake, good old St. Januarius warned them of impending disaster. Impressive! Hence you find thousands of Neapolitans at the cathedral, believers and nonbelievers, to see if the miracle will take place!
To those who think it is “fake,” an interesting testimony was given by a non-Catholic visitor from England who simply stated that the Roman Catholic Church, being such a worldwide and well-established historical entity, would not be so silly as to stake her reputation over a “petty fraud.” But folks, do not just take his or my word for it: Go to Naples to see it for yourselves; it’s well worth the expense of the trip.
Similar miracles happen also with the relics of the blood of St. Patricia and St. Pantaleon. As a matter of fact, I have also witnessed the liquefaction of St. Pantaleon’s blood, in Madrid, at the Monastery of the Incarnation. Every year, on his feast day, July 27, the blood liquefies. But, unlike St. Januarius’ blood, when it remains longer than a day, it’s bad news for Spain. And history records just that. I was there to see it liquefy at the time of political disturbances in Spain.
St. Clelia Barbieri’s miracle is unique: Her voice has been heard in the sisters’ convent, singing chants and hymns with them. . . . The first time her voice was heard was on July 13, 1871, the first anniversary of her death. The witnesses gave sworn testimonies to the ecclesiastical tribunal that they had distinctly heard her on different occasions. You know that cloistered nuns will not jeopardize their eternal salvation by taking God’s name in vain just for the fun of fooling people by a prank.
The Shroud of Turin is another remarkable relic of the Catholic Church. Its adversaries have tried their utmost to prove it is fake, but without success. The tri-dimensional picture depicted in it completely defies science. Its anatomic accuracy, the perfect consistency with the details of the crucifixion, the Jewish features — everything corroborates the presence of the Body of Christ.
To believe that a medieval man could perform such a scientific prodigy requires a lot more faith than the average Catholic needs to accept its veracity! Then we would have another miracle: The Middle Ages produced a scientific reality superior to the 21st century….
The picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico also defies any atheistic mind. This item requires a closer inspection. The image, imprinted on the tilma of a 16th-century peasant, led millions of Indians in Mexico to convert to the Catholic faith. The results of research by engineer José Aste Tonsmann of the Mexican Center of Guadalupan Studies during a conference at Pontifical Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum were impressive.
For over 20 years, Aste Tonsmann has studied the image of the Virgin left on the rough maguey-fiber fabric of Juan Diego’s tilma. What intrigued Aste Tonsmann most were the eyes of the Virgin.
Though the dimensions are microscopic, the iris and the pupils of the image’s eyes have imprinted on them a highly detailed picture of at least 13 people. The same people are present in both the left and right eyes, in different proportions, as would happen when human eyes reflect the objects before them.
The reflection transmitted by the eyes of the Virgin of Guadalupe is the scene on December 9, 1531, during which Juan Diego showed his tilma, with the image, to Bishop Juan de Zumarraga and others present in the room. Aste Tonsmann used a digital process used by satellites and space probes in transmitting visual information and insisted that the basic image “has not been painted by human hand.”
As early as the 18th century, scientists showed that it was impossible to paint such an image in a fabric of that texture. The ayate fibers used by the Indians, in fact, deteriorate after 20 years. Yet, the image and the fabric on which it is imprinted have lasted almost 470 years.
Richard Kuhn, the 1938 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, found that the image did not have natural animal or mineral colorings. Given that there were no synthetic colorings in 1531, the image is inexplicable.
In 1979, Americans Philip Callahan and Jody B. Smith studied the image with infrared rays and discovered to their surprise that there was no trace of paint and that the fabric had not been treated with any kind of technique.
It is impossible to explain this image and its consistency — on a fabric that has not been treated! Moreover, despite the fact there is no paint, the colors maintain their luminosity and brilliance!
Callahan and Smith showed how the image changes in color slightly according to the angle of viewing, a phenomenon that is known by the word iridescence, a technique that cannot be reproduced by human hands. In 1979, they magnified the iris of the Virgin’s eyes 2,500 times and, through mathematical and optical procedures, were able to identify all the people imprinted in the eyes: The eyes reflect the witnesses of the Guadalupan miracle the moment Juan Diego unfurled his tilma before the bishop.
In the eyes it is possible to discern a seated Indian, who is looking up to the heavens; the profile of a balding, elderly man with a white beard, much like the portrait of Bishop Zumarraga painted by Miguel Cabrera to depict the miracle; and a younger man, in all probability interpreter Juan Gonzalez.
To finish, a eucharistic miracle: In Lancing, Italy, a consecrated Host developed what appeared to be human flesh. This took place 1,300 years ago. In 1970, the Holy See ordered scientific investigation, which concluded that it is the tissue of a human heart, from a male, and the blood is truly human blood, freshly shed — type AB. It has been kept fresh without preservatives for over 1,200 years. You had to see the puzzled faces of the scientists who investigated it!
There are many other miracles, but these are enough to whet your appetites, folks. Make sure you go to the library or online and read more about them, and join the voices of Heaven, saying, “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations”! (Apoc. 15:3).
Next article: Miraculous Apparitions of Mary.
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(Raymond de Souza is an EWTN program host; regional coordinator for Portuguese-speaking countries for Human Life International [HLI]; president of the Sacred Heart Institute, and a member of the Sovereign, Military, and Hospitaller Order of the Knights of Malta. His website is: www.RaymonddeSouza.com.)
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