Do 'medical miracles' really exist?

I'm interested in you're take on this story?

In recent days, much has been written about Alfred Bessette, a man known more commonly as Brother André and, since his canonization by the Roman Catholic Church on the weekend, as Saint André Bessette.

To be eligible for sainthood, you need to have performed only two miracles. Brother André, who died in 1937 at the age of 91, compiled Gretzky-like statistics. The faithful have attributed more than 125,000 miracles to him, before and after his death.

While he was a modest doorman, pilgrims would visit St. Joseph’s Oratory on Montreal’s Mont-Royal to benefit from Brother André’s purported healing powers. He would pray and dispatch them with sacred oil that had been burned in a lamp lighting the statue of St. Joseph and is said to have miraculous powers.

The Vatican, in granting sainthood, said it confirmed two miracles: In 1958, Giuseppe Carlo Audino, a New York man who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, is said to have been cured after he prayed to Brother André. In 1998, a nine-year-old Quebec boy was hit by a car while cycling and suffered serious head injuries; doctors apparently told the family that the boy had no hope of recovery, but, after being rubbed with “St. Joseph’s oil,” he emerged from a coma. (That boy, now a man, is still alive, but his identity remains secret.)

Gods, angels, spirits and so on can give us succor; prayer, ritual and congregation can also provide comfort and a sense of belonging that is healthy.

What is troubling, however, is when the media – presumably secular institutions – report these “miracles” as credible, factual events, and when they buy into pseudo-scientific twaddle, consciously or otherwise.

The Vatican, we were told in news stories, uses a rigorous scientific process to determine if a miracle has occurred; it even consults leading medical experts.

In fact, what the Catholic Church does is use a cleverly vague definition of a miracle, an “act of healing inexplicable in the light of present medical science.”

All kinds of things are inexplicable. Science is a process of continuous learning. But, in the search for explanations, it is quite a leap to go from “we don’t know” to “divine intervention.” There is a lot of untrodden territory between the two.

Occam’s razor is a rule of science that holds that when you have two competing hypotheses that appear equal, you should opt for the one that requires the fewest assumptions. Stated more succinctly, the explanation that requires the fewest leaps of logic is usually the correct one.

Miracles – unexplained events – occur every single day in the health setting. But there is no evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship between prayer and these “miracles.” And evidence, ultimately, is what matters.

The vast majority of miracles involve three conditions – cancer, paralysis and coma – and that is no coincidence because these are conditions where there is unpredictability.

In cancer, remission – the spontaneous regression of cancer – is known to occur, although it is not fully understood.

The stories of people who are paralyzed and, after the intervention of faith healers, walk away “cured” are legend. Most have a glaring lack of documentation. Not to mention that our knowledge of the workings of the spinal cord is in its infancy.

Similarly, there are many miraculous stories of the comatose reawakening, with and without being massaged with miracle oil. There are more neurons in the brain than there are stars in the sky, and science has barely begun to comprehend how the brain works.

Patients, whether they have a cold or cancer, can get better or worse for any number of reasons. Immune systems vary markedly. Doctors’ diagnoses and prognoses are sometimes wrong, or partly wrong. Defying one doctor’s expectations and going into remission from cancer, rising from a chair despite a forever-aching back, or even reawakening from a coma is hardly a miracle.

Not that this matters. There is really no harm in believing that praying to a long-ago deceased Brother André is a way of getting priority attention from a higher power. No harm in believing that he somehow had a hand in curing others in the past.

Prayer is an excellent complementary therapy – especially since, unlike many complementary therapies promoted by Internet hucksters, it has no known harmful side effects. What is harmful is when people allow superstition to substitute for science and the media go along gleefully for the ride.

The canonization of Saint André Bessette has drawn unprecedented attention to St. Joseph’s Oratory, an architectural gem on the slopes of beautiful Mont-Royal. If it inspires people to walk up the 283 steps to visit and then stroll through the nearby urban forest, that will be, well, a blessing.

But the oratory gift shop still sells more than 100,000 vials annually of sacramental “St. Joseph’s oil” and Brother André’s sainthood is expected to set sales soaring. In terms of sales, this is petty cash compared with other popular bogus treatments touted online such as oil of oregano, but it is troubling that the church plays this game. The last thing we need is to have sick people rub lamp oil, however holy, on their chest in lieu of proven cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation.

Science is not infallible – far from it. But science-based medicine is a far better bet than hoping for a miracle, even for the most pious. There is plenty enough false hope being hawked in modern society already; we don’t need to cloak pseudo-science in saintly seductiveness.

 

I believe in miracles.

Now, the REAL question is: How many posts will be added before this thread goes caustic/sarcastic/obnoxiously indignant? I'm betting ... oh ... six. Whaddaya think, Larry?

 

Hmmm... someone making me think again... I think it is a miracle that I read the initial post in one sitting!!

I think if a person thinks it may help to use the oil and they don't have to spend a fortune on it then what is the harm... It really doesn't matter what we think, it only matters that they get some hope and peace from applying the oil.

I think if I was terminally ill I would be praying for a miracle whether I believed in them or not. At that point when the doctor says you are going to die you have nothing to lose.

 

"In cancer, remission – the spontaneous regression of cancer – is known to occur, although it is not fully understood."

This is one of the things I saw with my mother and her three battles with cancer(uterin 1992, breast 1995, and bone that took her life in 2009), and the doctor told us all face to face that he fully believes that her strong faith soley helped her push an extra 4 or 5 months before she passed in 2009. Because he said that most of his patients whose bodies are covered with bone cancer(including her skull)do not hang in there as long as she did, and they braced us all for her passing in March or April '09 and she passed in August of 2009 instead.

 

Joy, please - as St John the Beatle said - give peace a chance. There's a spirit of loving detante at the moment. Bask in its radiant glow.

I think the article raises two issues. The first is about prayer and miracles and the second is about miracles where saints intercede.

My thoughts on prayer are that if it gives people strength and/or comfort that is a good thing.

I do have a question about sainthood and miracles. This is a genuine question, not an attempt to start any arguments. I have never understood why a person of faith would need another person (i.e. an existing saint or apprentice saint) to intercede on their behalf. Less still do I understand why talismans like saints' fingernails or holy water etc would be required. Surely God can hear prayers directly?

 

And so begins the thinly veiled sarcasm. When it's already understood that you are a 'non-believer', it's extremely difficult for people - me at least - to read anything you say/question about religion without being defensive. If I'm wrong, I apologize. At the risk of being naive, I'll give my two cents about your questions.

From what I've been told by a Catholic priest/friend, the logic behind praying to certain people is this: If a person is a Christian in life, death doesn't change that. The relationship between Christians doesn't stop with death. They ask living relatives & friends to pray for them, & in that same way they ask deceased relatives & friends, as well as esteemed saints, to pray for them.

I'm not clear on the issue of Holy Relics so I can't comment on that. I understand they are extremely important in the Catholic Church & so I don't disrespect them or the people who believe in their 'position'.

 

No Joy, it's not.

I don't understand that. It's precisely because I'm a non-believer that I have questions. And I'd like to understand. I don't think people have to agree on things to get along with each other, but if they understand, it helps.

So you are wrong and I do accept your apology.

I also thank you for your answer. It still doesn't make "sense" to me that you would need someone to intercede on your behalf. BUT I do take from your answer that there is a feeling of community, amongst Christians, both living and dead and there is comfort drawn from that community of prayer.

 

Maybe I am wrong but I don't feel that religion and miracles are exclusive to each other.

I believe anyone who is either a believer, non-believer, or agnostic can hope/pray for a miracle and be granted one.

I know someone will probably ask who do I think has granted the miracle so I will say right now that it is whoever or whatever you believe in that granted it.

 

Absolutely me too.

 

Hi Chris, I totally believe that this is possible. You hear the same story a lot. Glad your Mum and your family had that extra time together.

 

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Must be the Canadian way of thinking!

 

So many ideas have been raised but I'll only share briefly. Beginning with the idea that anyone can receive a miracle, blessings fall on the "just and the unjust" according to the Bible, so it is possible that a medical miracle or some other type of miracle could be headed your way. (I hope everyone realizes that the quote is from the Bible and no judgement is intended on my part.)
As to praying alone or having others pray for you, the Bible tells us that the prayers of a righteous man avails much. It tells us to get to fellow believers (elders) and ask them to pray over us and even to be anointed with oil.
So, being very brief, I believe in miracles and wish I could understand why they don't come to some people and they don't to others. God doesn't give us access to that but does promise that in heaven, we will understand. Unfortunately, while we are here, we see through a glass darkly. As to sainthood, protestants believe every believer is a saint (for a bunch of reasons that aren't important to this topic), so looking to a "saint" is something out of my field. As to relics, we put our belief in God's active person called the Holy Spirit to bring miracles and don't count on relics to do what we believe God will do.

 

I hadn't heard about the week of peace. That would be a real miracle. Let's see if we can make it happen.

 

I believe in miracles, medical and others. I don't believe it's because I'm Catholic either. I do however believe in Saints -the Sainthood, etc. Haven't you ever lost something.. your keys or paper or something and say God what the hell did I do with it? and it's where you've looked before and you KNOW it wasn't there the first time? Gee God, Thanks If you haven't you are missing out. I however pray to the saint of lost articles and always find what I lost.... But again. Everyone makes their own choices.

 

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It is hard to discuss such issues without possibly offending someone who believes differently. So, when I state my opinion here, please know it is not my intention to offend. On the other hand, it is a discussion forum so the point is to discuss things.

I really feel that INS has a valid point. Praying directly to God--with no one in the middle--is sufficient for a believer. Allowing people to come between you and God is allowing them to possibly take advantage of you. That is how religion can easily become an "industry" as another member here calls it. I am a believer in God, and I also believe in miracles. I may even, on occasion, ask friends and family to pray on my behalf. But that is very different than giving a whole class of people power, prestige and financial incentives to act as professional intercessors.

 

It was a miracle that I found MM.ORG and learned about Acyclovir right here some years ago now!

Larry

 

It's true we know so little about how our electrical system works. It's easy to call something a religious or medical miracle because we know so little about either of them. They both come from an onknown source, agreed?

 

I don't believe in miracles -- but I do believe in good fortune and luck. Random good and random bad things happen. Sh*t happens as they say and then some guy from nowhere will win millions in lotto ... still someone else's cancer may go into a lengthy remission never to return while the guy in the next hospital bed is taken out by another cancer within months. No guarantees in life.

 

Intrepid - "I'm very comfortable saying I don't know." Sounds good to me too Sarita.