Miracles as Proof that Catholicism is From God

Mr Plese will be writing a series of articles on miracles and how they support Catholic doctrine. I shall share them all as they are published.

From One Peter Five

By Matthew Plese, TOP

Yet the signs of my apostleship have been wrought on you, in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds (2 Corinthians 12:12).

New Series on the Miracles of the Catholic Church

This article is the first of a 10-part series that will explore miracles as proof of the truths of Catholic doctrine. The series cover the following topics:

1. What Are Miracles and What They Are Not
2. Miracles in the Scriptures (Old and New)
3. Miracles Worked by the Saints Throughout the Centuries Part 1
4. Miracles Worked by the Saints Throughout the Centuries Part 2
5. The Stigmata
6. The Incorruptibles
7. The Miracles of the Holy Rosary
8. The Apparitions of Our Blessed Mother
9. The Raising of the Dead
10. Eucharistic Miracles

Drawing from both the wisdom of intellectual giants like Monsignor Joseph Fenton, the catechisms, and objective third party scientists, there can be no doubt that God confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt the truths of Catholic doctrine through miracles. Since miracles can only come from God and not from natural causes, and since God will never confirm a falsehood, legitimate miracles are the validation of a truth by God Himself.

But first, before diving into the particulars, it is important to understand what miracles are and what they are not, since false apparitions, false claims of crying statues, and soothsayers have clouded the beauty of miracles by their deceptiveness.

The Use of Reason & Miracles

As the book My Catholic Faith succinctly summarizes: “Divine Revelation comes down to us by two means: through Holy Scripture, written down under divine inspiration, and through Tradition, handed down orally from Apostolic times.” Those are the two means of divine revelation we have to know the Faith, but we have tools to help us further understand the Faith that has been revealed by God. One of those tools is our ability as human beings to reason. Some things can be known by reason alone. For example, it can be known by reason alone that God exists. This is affirmed explicitly at the Council of Trent. As we examine the created world, as we consider the perfection of creation, as we understand that there had to be a First Cause Who started all things, we can use our reason to understand that there must be a divine being. Reason does not inform us who that being is. It just helps us understand that something doesn’t come from nothing. That is our reason working. Reasoning should also be informed by strong, scholastic philosophy.

The other tool at our disposal to bring us to know these truths is the immense generosity of God in His miracles. The miracles of God further prove the divine origin of the Catholic Faith. So, by two such tools, namely the use of reason and of external proofs of miracles, we can come to believe what the Church teaches.

The Countless Miracles as Proof of the Catholic Faith

The Catholic Church is the great bastion of miracles. We have numerous miracles testifying to the authenticity of the Catholic Faith:

• The stigmata. Dozens of saints have had the visible marks of Christ on their body.
• Eucharistic miracles. We have dozens of miracles, some of which have been scientifically examined, testifying to the truth that the Eucharistic Host is actually Christ’s flesh and blood.
• Incorruptible saints. We also have over 150 incorruptible saints whose incorruptibly defies all of science.
• Miracles of the Saints. The Miracle of the Sun at Fatima was witnessed by over 70,000 people. The blood of St. Januarius frequently liquefies each year. People are being healed of incurable diseases in the waters of Lourdes to this day. And we have many miracles of the Rosary including the Miracle at Hiroshima.

Do we have reported Eucharistic miracles in Lutheran churches or Anglican ones? No. Yet in the Catholic Church we do.

The true Church ought to be resplendent with miracles and only the Catholic Church has been shown to be accompanied with repeated first-class miracles. And when miracles are examined by modern science, they still find them unexplainable. God, in His goodness and generosity, showers us with proofs of the accuracy of the Catholic Church’s doctrines. And this too is why Satan is not attacking Lutherans, or Baptists, or Muslims. He is attacking the Catholic priesthood; he is infiltrating our seminaries and seeking to destroy the Church. And Satan does this because in the Catholic Church is the truth. Why would he waste his time attacking those souls who are already under his rule?

What Miracles Are – and What They Are Not

In a sermon on the miracle of the multiplication of loaves as recorded in the Gospel according to St. John, St. Augustine writes:

The miracles performed by our Lord Jesus Christ are certainly divine deeds, calling the human mind to an understanding of God through visible things. God is not such a Being as can be seen with the eye. Moreover, His wondrous workings, by which the whole world is ruled, all creation ordered, are taken as commonplace because of their frequency. For example, almost no one bothers to notice God’s marvelous and amazing work in any grain of seed. Hence in His mercy God has reserved certain of His works to be performed at apt moments. These works go beyond nature’s usual ordered progression; and the sign of them gives pause to those for whom the daily marvels have become commonplace, not because these deeds are any greater, but because they are unusual (Tractate XXIV).

While man may certainly be in awe of the power of God to create countless galaxies billions of light years away while also creating no two snowflakes alike, these natural wonders do not fit the exact definition of miracles as understood in the context of apologetics. Father John Hardon defines a miracle as follows: “A sensibly perceptible effect, surpassing at least the powers of visible nature, produced by God to witness to some truth or testify to someone’s sanctity.”

The Four Categories of Miracles

Miracles can be separated into four categories: bodily miracles, intellectual miracles (e.g., prophecies), moral miracles, and social miracles. All of these miracles unreservedly are found in the Catholic Church and can prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the Catholic Church alone is the one true Church. Regarding social miracles in particular, the Church is herself the social miracle par excellence.

The Five Criteria Demonstrating the Church as a Social Miracle

The fathers of the First Vatican Council pointed out five characteristics which demonstrate that the Catholic Church is a true social miracle:

1. Her admirable propagation
2. Her exalted holiness
3. Her marvelous and unlimited fruitfulness in all good things
4. Her catholic unity
5. Her unconquered stability

The Church has spread to all corners of the world through the preaching and sacrifices of the Apostles and their successors even though they were not educated men; nevertheless, they achieved success that in earthly standards seems impossible. And all of this would continue under the leadership of simple men who before Pentecost had fled the Cross and hid in fear. Their transformation and eventual martyrdoms are true social miracles.

Secondly, despite the sinfulness of her members, the Church continues to worship God in His established means of worship (i.e., the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass) and through the Sacraments which He instituted for our salvation. Beyond the holiness of divine worship, the Church is still the mother of many souls who have reached Heaven and whose presence in Heaven is attested to by miracles beyond human abilities. These miracles of the saints further corroborate the holiness of the Church beyond any natural level whatsoever.

Likewise, the Catholic Church played a pioneering role in the establishment and management of hospitals. Monastic orders, such as the Benedictines and Franciscans, built and operated hospitals to care for the sick and injured. The Church has been a major contributor to education, operating countless schools, colleges, and universities worldwide. This commitment to education has helped millions access knowledge and skills. Catholic institutions also have historically provided care and support for orphaned and abandoned children, giving them a stable environment and educational opportunities. During various disease outbreaks, including plagues, the Church often played a vital role in tending to the afflicted, offering medical care, and providing comfort to those in need, often when civil leaders abandoned the people. And the Catholic Church has a longstanding tradition of charitable giving, providing food, clothing, shelter, and other material assistance to the impoverished, both on a local and global scale.

All of this provides further evidence of the Church as a true social miracle as Father Fenton explains in Laying the Foundation: A Handbook of Catholic Apologetics and Fundamental Theology:

The Church is not a social miracle merely because it is a philanthropic organization, nor for that matter, merely because its activities are purely beneficial. It is outstanding, a source of wonder in the created universe because its activity for good is totally unrestricted. It was beneficial to the Romans and the Persians. It is beneficial today in America and in China. Wherever it exists it manifestly adapts itself to the temper, to the requirements, and to the capacities of the peoples who rejoice in its presence. A society within the natural compass of human achievement can obviously be of benefit to some peoples at some times. Only the Catholic Church, among the visible organizations laboring in the world in which we live, has proven an unmixed blessing to the men of all lands and of all ages.

Father Fenton also adds an explanation as to why this criterion is fulfilled by the Catholic Church:

When we say however that the Church is a manifest social miracle by reason of its catholic unity, we affirm that an organization so constituted is manifestly beyond the natural competence of creatures to form and to continue. Man has always found it quite impossible to set up any sort of a strictly universal kingdom which functioned successfully. Time and again the world has been plagued with would-be conquerors who were avid to bring the entire earth under their sway. And, each time such an individual has appeared, the world has very soon enjoyed the pleasure of seeing his efforts overthrown.

The final criterion is the Church’s ability to continue despite the persecution which has never ceased to attack her. The martyrs have given witness to Christ through the centuries. The Church has been persecuted since the time of St. Peter. Over thirty of the first popes died for the faith. The Church was persecuted during the time of King Henry VIII of England and Queen Elizabeth I. It has been assailed continually by Islam. It was persecuted in Mexico where Father Miguel Agustin Pro was murdered. It was persecuted in the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s where at least 6,832 priests and religious were martyred, including 13 bishops. And they are still murdered in our day too. Yet the Church continues as a true miracle in the social order.

Conclusion

If the Catholic religion is true, then there is nothing more important for our salvation than to believe it and live it. The Catholic Church teaches dogmatically that there is no salvation outside of the Church. And the Church also affirms that those who die in the state of mortal sin go to hell for all eternity. We must not just be Catholic – we must be good Catholics! And we can do so only be staying true to the authentic Catholic Faith, staying close to the Sacraments, praying and answering Heaven’s call for penance, etc.

In our world today, as the Faith is under unprecedented assault, it is our responsibility to defend it and bring about the conversion of non-Christians and the return to the Faith of non-Catholics. It is our duty as Catholics – confirmed soldiers of Christ the King – to do battle on behalf of the True Faith.

Let us always be prepared to give an account of our faith (cf. 1 Peter 3:15), and we can do this by understanding the truth of the Catholic Faith as seen through both intellectual arguments as well as through miracles. By these means, let us be missionaries to all we encounter.

Pictured: Photo by Léonard Cotte on Unsplash