PRAISE FOR Exploring the Miraculous, by Michael O’Neill
Few if any who are writing about religion today do so with the feeling that Michael O’Neill brings to this vastest of topics. His work is grounded in fact but never disregards the spiritual, as is entirely appropriate. Reading O’Neill, one comes to understand belief and faith in the modern world. His writing informs and inspires; it is smart and steeped in understanding.
— Robert Sullivan, managing editor of LIFE books and author of Two Saints, Mary: Blessed Art Thou Among Women and Pope Francis in America.
Eighty percent of Americans report they believe in miracles. For those who do, and for those who are curious, Michael O’Neill’s Exploring the Miraculous is a “godsend”! As a Stanford-trained engineer, O’Neill delivers fascinating, scientific, data-driven material to explain the supernatural. His website miraclehunter.com is an invaluable resource for anyone wondering how to put miracles in context, and now Exploring the Miraculous goes even deeper to explain the inexplicable.
— Maureen Orth, author of “The Most Powerful Woman in the World,” National Geographic cover story about the Virgin Mary (December 2015)
With the heart of a believer and the mind of a skeptic, O’Neill’s Exploring the Miraculous is a smart, comprehensive look at the fascinating world of miracles.
— Rev. Francis J. Hoffman (Fr. Rocky), Executive Director of Relevant Radio
Should we explore the miraculous? Yes! We all need miracles, and we need the insight of the Catholic Church if we are to wholeheartedly embrace authentic miracles. In his wonderful book Exploring the Miraculous, Michael O’Neill opens up for us that safe path of Church-inspired direction!
— Fr. Peter R. Stryker, C.P.M., Rector, Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (the first and only Church-approved Marian apparition site in the United States)
Perhaps it’s time to give miracles another look. This is precisely the outstanding opportunity provided by Michael O’Neill in this treasure chest of the legitimately supernatural. In this extraordinarily well-documented study, the author provides optimum historical, theological, medical, and scientific evidence wherever possible in defense and articulation of some of Christian history’s best occasions of God’s benevolent interference.
— Dr. Mark Miravalle, Professor of Theology and Mariology, Franciscan University of Steubenville
Exploring the Miraculous
Exploring the Miraculous
Michael O’Neill
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750
Nihil Obstat:
Msgr. Michael Heintz, Ph.D.
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur:
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend
October 28, 2015
The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are declarations that a work is free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.
The Scripture citations used in this work are from the Second Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), copyright © 1965, 1966, and 2006 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, for use in the United States of America, copyright © 1994 and 1997, United States Catholic Conference — Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Quotations from papal and other Vatican-generated documents available on vatican.va are copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
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Copyright © 2015 by Michael O’Neill. Published 2015.
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Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750; 1-800-348-2440
ISBN: 978-1-61278-779-4 (Inventory No. T1585)
eISBN: 978-1-61278-958-3
LCCN: 2015943727
Cover design: Amanda Falk
Interior design: Dianne Nelson
Cover images: Rays, Shutterstock; St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, c. 1580 (marble), Pilon, Germain (1535–1590) / Cathedrale Sainte-Croix-Saint-Jean des Armeniens, Paris / © Clement Guillaume / Bridgeman Images.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Contents
Are Miracles Really All That Important?
What Should We Do with Miracles?
Miracle or Fraud? — How the Church Decides
Trends in Claims of the Miraculous
Healing Miracles and the Canonization Process