From One Peter Five
In this instalment, we consider the raising of the dead back to life.
The stigmata, incorruptible saints, the curing of incurable diseases, the apparitions of Our Lady, the victories beyond human ability due to the Rosary, the saving of Jesuits from the atomic bomb, and countless other miracles have been discussed so far in this series. Yet even with these miracles, some still refuse to believe the divine origin of the Catholic Church and convert to the One True Religion, outside of which no one is saved. After considering so many proofs of God’s existence, His Providence, and the truths of Catholicism, which the miracles bear witness to, we turn to one of the greatest proofs of God. Truly even hardened hearts are often moved by considering these supreme miracles – the raising of the dead.
Death is the door through which we will all pass. It is the gateway to eternal life, and immediately upon death we hear the judgment of God on our eternal destiny: Heaven (likely after Purgatory) or Hell. But, in some of the great proofs of God’s power, the dead have been restored to life. In this segment, we consider this supreme miracle – the raising of the dead – by considering not only Our Lord’s raising of the dead but also learning how Catholic saints have, in the Name and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, done the same. Truly, if a man is able to restore a dead man to life by the Name of Jesus Christ, we can have no doubt about the truth of the Catholic Religion.
The Raising of the Dead in the Old Testament
The raising of the dead to life is explicitly mentioned several times in Scripture, including in the Old Testament. The Prophet Elijah raised a child from death (3 Kings 17:17-24), and his disciple Elisha did likewise (4 Kings 4:25-38). Even Elisha’s bones raised a dead man to life (4 Kings 13:20-21). These miracles prefigured the greater miracles of Christ.
Christ Raises the Dead
In the New Testament, we see Our Lord raising the dead on three occasions: the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-16), Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:35-43), and Lazarus (John 11:17-45). These all served as proofs of His divine power. Dom Guéranger, in The Liturgical Year, highlights the degrees of spiritual death each of these resurrections represents: the girl who had just died (a sinner freshly fallen), the young man of Nain (one firmly in sin), and Lazarus (already decomposing – symbolizing hardened sinners).
The Resurrection of Christ: His Supreme Miracle
All the other miracles of resurrection pale in comparison to Our Lord’s Resurrection. Others were raised by God’s command through His prophets and saints. Only Christ raised Himself. No other religion lays claim to such a miracle. Such a miracle is the very foundation of our Faith as Archbishop Lefebvre reminds us:
The power to raise oneself from the dead, as our Lord did, can only belong to God. Only God could raise again His own body, which He had taken to become incarnate and dwell among us. The Resurrection of our Lord therefore manifests the almighty power of God. Today we are affirming with the Church of all time that Jesus rose again with the body with which He was crucified. May His glorious wounds maintain us in that faith!
St. Paul similarly writes: “And if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). The Resurrection is the central mystery of our Faith. It is the greatest proof of Christ’s divinity and of the divine origin of the Catholic Church.
The Apostles and the Saints Continue the Miracle
Our Lord commanded His Apostles, “Heal the sick, raise the dead…” (Matthew 10:8). The Acts of the Apostles recounts St. Peter raising Tabitha (Acts 9:36-42). But it did not end with the Apostles. The Catechism of the Council of Trent, teaching on the resurrection of the body, affirms: “Besides those who were raised to life by our Lord, many were raised by the holy Apostles and by many others… believing that many were recalled from death to life, we are also naturally led to believe the general resurrection of all.”
In the early second century, St. Irenaeus wrote, “Some persons that were dead have been raised again and have continued among us many years.” He added, “So far are they from raising the dead, as Our Lord raised them, and as the Apostles did by prayer, and as in the brotherhood oftentimes is done, when the whole church of the place hath begged it with much fasting and prayer, and the spirit of the dead man hath returned and the man hath been given back to the prayers of the saints.”[1]
Miracles of Resurrection in the Lives of the Saints
Throughout the centuries, numerous canonized saints have raised the dead through the power of God. These miraculous accounts are drawn from ecclesiastical biographies and traditional hagiographic sources.
St. Francis Xavier, the Apostle to the Indies, raised multiple persons from the dead. One of the most well-documented miracles occurred in the region of Travancore, near Cape Comorin. St. Francis had been laboring among the local people, many of whom remained resistant to conversion despite his preaching. He prayed with great fervor, asking God to soften their hearts and confirm the truth of the Gospel. Recalling that a man had been buried the day before, he went to the place of burial and had the body disinterred. The people, skeptical but curious, uncovered the body, which had already begun to decay. In full view of the crowd, St. Francis Xavier knelt and prayed, then commanded the man to rise in the name of Jesus Christ. To the astonishment of all, the man stood up alive and in good health. This dramatic miracle led to the baptism of many in the region and is detailed in the bull of Xavier’s canonization and in early biographies.[2]
St. Dominic also performed this miraculous wonder. According to Sister Cecilia of Rome, who received the habit from St. Dominic himself, a Roman widow named Lady Tuta had a sick child—her only son. One day, while St. Dominic was preaching in the Church of St. Mark, she left the boy at home and attended the sermon. Upon returning home, she discovered her son had died. Though devastated, she placed the child’s body in her arms and went to San Sisto, where St. Dominic was residing. Upon arrival, she found the saint near the chapter hall and, without saying a word, laid her lifeless son at his feet, imploring him in tears to restore the boy to life. Deeply moved, St. Dominic withdrew for a moment to pray, then returned, made the Sign of the Cross over the child, and took him by the hand. The boy instantly rose up, alive and completely restored. Although St. Dominic asked for the miracle to remain private, it quickly spread, drawing even greater devotion to him among the faithful and prompting Pope Honorius to desire it be proclaimed publicly—though St. Dominic humbly refused such acclaim.[3]
St. Vincent Ferrer is credited with raising at least twenty-eight people from the dead during his lifetime. On one occasion, he stopped a funeral procession, prayed over the deceased, and commanded him to speak. The man sat up and declared the innocence of another who had been falsely condemned. St. Vincent offered the revived man the option to continue living, but the man, assured of salvation, chose to die again peacefully.[4] Another author states that St. Vincent Ferrer “resuscitated more than thirty persons during his lifetime.” So great a missionary was St. Vincent Ferrer that he can only be compared to the twelve Apostles. His accomplishments were incredible and rare in the whole history of the Church; his life story contains one amazing story after another, many of these are documented in the book St Vincent Ferrer –The Angel of the Judgment by Father Andrew Pradel, O.P.
St. Benedict of Nursia, as recorded by Pope St. Gregory the Great, raised a child who had died suddenly. A desperate father placed the body at the monastery gate and begged St. Benedict to help. After prayer, St. Benedict restored the child to life, to the awe of all present.[5]
St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, is reputed to have raised thirty-three people from the dead. One incident involved a chieftain who had refused baptism and died suddenly. St. Patrick prayed at his grave, and the chieftain returned to life, received the Sacrament, and died again reconciled to God.[6]
St. Hyacinth, a Dominican missionary, is known for restoring a drowned child to life after fervent prayer. This miracle reinforced the faith of local converts in Poland.[7]
St. Bernard of Clairvaux raised a boy who drowned and was brought to him by grieving parents. St. Bernard’s prayer brought the child back to life, reaffirming belief in God among the people.[8]
St. John Bosco, the beloved educator and founder of the Salesians, raised a young boy who had died unexpectedly. After praying and embracing the child, St. John Bosco called him back to life, and the boy revived.[9]
St. Martin de Porres, a Dominican lay brother known for his humility and miracles among the slaves of the New World, restored several persons to life, including children who died of fever and accidents in Lima, Peru.[10]
St. Philip Neri once raised a young man who died without the Sacraments. St. Philip prayed over the body, and the young man awoke long enough to confess and receive absolution before passing away again peacefully.[11]
St. Anthony of Padua raised a drowned child back to life through prayer. Numerous such miracles accompanied his preaching and helped convert hardened sinners.[12]
Blessed Peter Armengol, once a bandit, raised a boy who had died from a fall. He prayed over the body and restored him to life, reinforcing his reputation as a holy man.[13]
St. Gerard Majella performed the miracle of restoring life to a boy who fell from a balcony. Through his intercession, the child was revived and healed completely.[14]
St. Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese Maronite monk who lived until 1898, is credited with posthumous miracles, including raising a girl from the dead through his intercession. After drowning, the child awoke after the family invoked Charbel’s name in prayer.[15]
Learning More
Over four hundred canonized saints are recorded to have raised the dead. The excellent book Saints Who Raised the Dead by Fr. Alfred Hebert, S.M., documents many of these miracles. Saints such as St. Francis of Paola, St. Rose of Viterbo, St. Andrew Bobola, St. Paul of the Cross, and others are part of this astonishing list. The miracles are historically documented, verified during the canonization process, and serve to glorify God.
No Protestant minister, Muslim imam, Hindu guru, or Buddhist monk has ever raised the dead. Nor have any claimed to do so with an independent verification. Only in the Catholic Church has this miracle occurred across the centuries. As Our Lord said in Matthew 12:26: “If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself: how then shall his kingdom stand?” These miracles, done in Christ’s name, can only be from God.
Conclusion
The raising of the dead back to life is one of the most astonishing signs of God’s power. From the prophets Elijah and Elisha, to Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the Apostles and the saints throughout the ages, this miracle continues to be a living testimony to the truth of the Catholic Religion.
And yet, as great as these resurrections are, they remain temporary. All who were raised, except Christ, would one day die again. But the general resurrection will be permanent. At the end of time, all will rise: some to eternal glory, others to eternal punishment. The Catholic Faith alone teaches the true doctrine of the resurrection of the body and provides the Sacraments necessary to ensure that when our bodies rise, our souls may be ready. As the Roman Catechism affirms: “Man is, therefore, to rise again in the same body with which he served God, or was a slave to the devil; that in the same body he may experience rewards and a crown of victory, or endure the severest punishments and torments.”
The raising of the dead is thus not just a miracle of the past. It is a foreshadowing of the glorious triumph of Christ at the end of time and a continual proof of the truth of the Catholic Church. May such miracles inspire in us deeper faith, greater hope, and the courage to proclaim the one true Faith to all the world.
[1] English translation in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, eds. Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson
[2] Bouhours, Dominique. The Life of St. Francis Xavier of the Society of Jesus, Apostle of India
[3] The Life of St. Dominic (Sr. Cecilia of Rome, via Jordan of Saxony and others).
[4] Pradel, Andrew. St. Vincent Ferrer: The Angel of the Judgment.
[5] Pope Gregory the Great. Dialogues, Book II: Life of St. Benedict.
[6] Healy, John. The Life and Writings of St. Patrick.
[7] Catholic Encyclopedia. Entry of St. Hyacinth at https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07591b.htm
[8] The Life and Works of St. Bernard. E Catholic
[9] https://archive.org/details/saintjohnbosco00forb/page/94/mode/2up
[10] Antonio, Giuliana. Saint Martin de Porres.
[11] https://archive.org/details/spiritualmission00viva/page/98/mode/2up
[12] Collier, John Payne. Legends of St. Anthony of Padua
[13] The Little Bollandists: Lives of the Saints, Vol. 8.
[14] Thompson, Edward. The Life of Saint Gerard Majella.
[15] https://maronitemonks.org/saint-charbel/
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