February 11 - Feast of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes
>
> This year marks the 150th anniversary of the apparition of our Blessed
> Mother to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, France. From February 11 to July 16,
> 1858, our Blessed Mother asked Bernadette to come to the grotto at
> Massabielle. In the apparitions Mary asked that prayers and penance be done
> for the atonement of sins. In the ninth apparition, the miraculous spring
> was revealed that has brought thousands of cures [see below - "Miracles of
> Lourdes" from
http://www.olrl.org/stories/lourdes.shtml]. It was on March
> 25, that "the Lady" told St. Bernadette her name, "I am the Immaculate
> Conception".
>
> ------
>
>
OUR LADY OF LOURDES PLENARY INDULGENCE
>
> In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Blessed Virgin Mary's appearances
> to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France, Pope Benedict XVI authorized a
> plenary indulgence for Catholics taking part in public or private devotions
> to Our Lady of Lourdes.
>
> The faithful may gain the indulgence by making a devout visit Feb. 2-11 to
> "a blessed image of the Holy Virgin Mary of Lourdes in any church, chapel,
> grotto or other suitable place in which it is solemnly displayed," according
> to the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican office dealing with indulgences and
> matters of conscience. In the presence of the image of Our Lady of Lourdes,
> the faithful "should perform some pious act of Marian devotion, or at least
> pause to reflect for an appropriate length of time, concluding with the
> Lord's
> Prayer, some legitimate form of the profession of faith, and the jubilee
> prayer or some other Marian invocation."
>
> The elderly, sick and all those unable to leave home for a just cause may
> also gain the plenary indulgence if from Feb. 2 to 11 they complete
> "spiritual visits" to a blessed image of Our Lady of Lourdes, recite the
> prayers indicated above, and trustingly offer the pains and discomforts of
> their own lives to God through Mary, according to the Apostolic
> Penitentiary. They must consciously reject all sin and have the intention to
> fulfill the abovementioned conditions as soon as possible.
>
>
>
Norms for Indulgences - An indulgence is the remission before God of the
> temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is
> concerned. This remission the faithful with the proper dispositions and
> under
> certain determined conditions acquire through the intervention of the Church
> which, as minister of the Redemption, authoritatively dispenses and applies
> the treasury of the satisfaction won by Christ and the Saints.
>
> An indulgence is partial or plenary, according as it removes either part or
> all of the temporal punishment due for sin.
>
> Catholic faithful must also meet the church's conditions for gaining
> indulgences. According to the Apostolic Penitentiary:
>
> - It is necessary that the faithful be in the state of grace at least at the
> time the indulgenced work is completed.
>
> - A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day. In order to obtain it,
> the faithful must have the interior disposition of complete detachment from
> sin, even venial sin; have sacramentally confessed their sins; receive the
> holy Eucharist; and pray for the intentions of the pope.
>
> - It is appropriate, but not necessary, that the sacramental confession and
> especially holy Communion and the prayer for the pope's intentions take
> place on the same day that the indulgenced work is performed. But it is
> sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several
> days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act. Prayer for the pope's
> intentions is left to the choice of the faithful, but an Our Father and a
> Hail Mary are suggested. One sacramental confession suffices for several
> plenary indulgences, but a separate holy Communion and a separate prayer for
> the Holy Father's intentions are required for each plenary indulgence.
>
> - For the sake of those legitimately impeded, confessors can commute both
> the work prescribed and the conditions required (except, obviously,
> detachment from even venial sin).
>
> - Indulgences can always be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the
> deceased, but they cannot be applied to other persons living on earth.
>
> Catholic faithful making a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, through Dec. 8,
> the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, can also
> receive the plenary indulgence. They must visit the following sites,
> preferably in this order: the parish baptismal font used for the baptism of
> Bernadette; the house of the Soubirous family, called the "cachet"; the
> Grotto of Massabielle; the chapel of the hospice where Bernadette made her
> first Communion. At each location, the faithful should meditate and pray the
> Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the jubilee prayer or a prayer to Mary.
>
>
> MIRACLES OF LOURDES
>
>
> INTRODUCTION TO LOURDES
>
> In 1858 in the grotto of Massabielle, near Lourdes, France, the Blessed
> Virgin Mary appeared 18 times to Bernadette Soubirous, a 14 year old peasant
> girl. She identified herself as The Immaculate Conception. She gave
> Bernadette a message for all: "Pray and do penance for the conversion of the
> world." The Church investigated Bernadette's claims for four years before
> approving devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes. Lourdes has since become one of
> the most famous shrines, attracting more than a million pilgrims each year.
> There have been thousands of miraculous cures at this shrine.
>
> A Medical Bureau was established in 1882 to test the authenticity of the
> cures. The doctors include unbelievers as well as believers and any doctor
> is welcome to take part in the examination of the alleged cures. As many as
> 500 medical men of all faiths or no faith have taken advantage of the
> invitation each year. Many books and movies tell the story of Lourdes. Even
> Hollywood made a movie of this remarkable event in the 1940's entitled "The
> Song of Bernadette" which won six academy awards.
>
> No one leaves Lourdes without a gain in faith. Moral and spiritual cures are
> more marvelous than physical cures. Some go to Lourdes with lifetime
> prejudices, yet their minds are cleared in a sudden manner. Frequently
> skepticism gives way to faith; coldness and antagonism become whole hearted
> love of God. Again and again those who are not cured of bodily pain receive
> an increase of faith and resignation - true peace of soul. The story of two
> outstanding miracles that occurred at Lourdes are told below.
>
> THE STORY OF GABRIEL GARGAM
>
> The case of Gabriel Gargam is probably one of the best known of all the
> thousands of cures at Lourdes, partly because he was so well known at the
> Shrine for half a century, partly because it was a twofold healing,
> spiritual and physical. Born in 1870 of good Catholic parents, he gave early
> promise of being a clever student and a fervent Catholic. The promise was
> not fulfilled in the most important respect for, at 15 years of age, he had
> already lost his faith. He obtained a position in the postal service and was
> carrying out his duties as a sorter in December of 1899, when the train on
> which he was traveling from Bordeaux to Paris collided with another train,
> running at 50 miles per hour. Gargam was thrown fifty two feet from the
> train. He lay in the snow, badly injured and unconscious for seven hours. He
> was paralyzed from the waist down. He was barely alive when lifted onto a
> stretcher. Taken to a hospital, his existence for some time was a living
> death. After eight months he had wasted away to a mere skeleton, weighing
> but seventy-eight pounds, although normally a big man. His feet became
> gangrenous. He could take no solid food and was obliged to take nourishment
> by a tube. Only once in twenty-four hours could he be fed even that way. He
> brought suit for damages against the railroad. The Appellate Court confirmed
> the verdict of the former courts and granted him 6,000 francs annually, and
> besides, an indemnity of 60,000 francs.
>
> Gargam's condition was pitiable in the extreme. He could not help himself
> even in the most trifling needs. Two trained nurses were needed day and
> night to assist him. That was Gabriel Gargam as he was after the accident,
> and as he would continue to be until death relieved him. About his desperate
> condition there could be no doubt. The railroad fought the case on every
> point. There was no room for deception or hearsay. Two courts attested to
> his condition, and the final payment of the railroad left the case a matter
> of record. Doctors testified that the man was a hopeless cripple for life,
> and their testimony was not disputed.
>
> Previous to the accident Gargam had not been to Church for fifteen years.
> His aunt, who was a nun of the Order of the Sacred Heart, begged him to go
> to Lourdes. He refused. She continued her appeals to him to place himself in
> the hands of Our Lady of Lourdes. He was deaf to all her prayers. After
> continuous pleading of his mother he consented to go to Lourdes. It was now
> two years since the accident, and not for a moment had he left his bed all
> that time. He was carried on a stretcher to the train. The exertion caused
> him to faint, and for a full hour he was unconscious. They were on the point
> of abandoning the pilgrimage, as it looked as if he would die on the way,
> but the mother insisted, and the journey was made.
>
> Arrived at Lourdes, he went to confession and received Holy Communion. There
> was no change in his condition. Later he was carried to the miraculous pool
> and tenderly placed in its waters - no effect. Rather a bad effect resulted,
> for the exertion threw him into a swoon and he lay apparently dead. After a
> time, as he did not revive, they thought him dead. Sorrowfully they wheeled
> the carriage back to the hotel. On the way back they saw the procession of
> the Blessed Sacrament approaching. They stood aside to let it pass, having
> placed a cloth over the face of the man whom they supposed to be dead.
>
> As the priest passed carrying the Sacred Host, he pronounced Benediction
> over the sorrowful group around the covered body. Soon there was a movement
> from under the covering. To the amazement of the bystanders, the body raised
> itself to a sitting posture. While the family were looking on dumbfounded
> and the spectators gazed in amazement, Gargam said in a full, strong voice
> that he wanted to get up. They thought that it was a delirium before death,
> and tried to soothe him, but he was not to be restrained. He got up and
> stood erect, walked a few paces and said that he was cured. The multitude
> looked in wonder, and than fell on their knees and thanked God for this new
> sign of His power at the Shrine of His Blessed Mother. As Gargam had on him
> only invalid's clothes, he returned to the carriage and was wheeled back to
> the hotel. There he was soon dressed, and proceeded to walk about as if
> nothing had ever ailed him. For two years hardly any food had passed his
> lips but now he sat down to the table and ate a hearty meal.
>
> On August 20th, 1901, sixty prominent doctors examined Gargam. Without
> stating the nature of the cure, they pronounced him entirely cured. Gargam,
> out of gratitude to God in the Holy Eucharist and His Blessed Mother,
> consecrated himself to the service of the invalids at Lourdes.
>
> He sat up a small business and married a pious lady who aided him in his
> apostolate for the greater knowledge of Mary Immaculate. For over fifty
> years he returned annually to Lourdes and worked as a brancardier. The
> Golden Jubilee of his cure was the occasion of a remarkable celebration
> during the French National Pilgrimage in 1951. M. Gargam sat in a chair in
> the Rosary Square, surrounded by 1,500 sick and 50,000 other pilgrims while
> a description of his twofold healing was given by the celebrated apologist,
> Canon Baloney. His last visit to the Shrine was in August 1952: he died the
> following March, at the age of eighty-three years.
>
> THE STORY OF JOHN TRAYNOR
>
> In some respects the story of John Traynor is similar to that of Gabriel
> Gargam. Yet in many ways it is different. After their cures, the two men
> were brancardiers at Lourdes at the same time and may have discussed their
> cases with each other.
>
> John Traynor was a native of Liverpool, England. His Irish mother died when
> he was quite young, but the faith which she instilled in her son remained
> with him the rest of his life. His injuries dated from World War I, when he
> was a soldier in the Naval Brigade of the Royal British Marines. He took
> part in the unsuccessful Antwerp expedition of October, 1914, and was hit in
> the head by shrapnel. He remained unconscious for five weeks. Later, in
> Egypt, he received a bullet wound in the leg. In the Dardanelles, he
> distinguished himself in battle but was finally brought down when he was
> sprayed with machine gun bullets while taking part in a bayonet charge. He
> was wounded in the head and chest, and one bullet went through his upper
> right arm and lodged under his collarbone.
>
> As a result of these wounds, Traynor's right arm was paralyzed and the
> muscles atrophied. His legs were partially paralyzed, and he was epileptic.
> Sometimes he had as many as three fits a day. By 1916, Traynor had undergone
> four operations in an attempt to connect the severed muscles of this right
> arm. All four operations ended in failure. By this time he had been
> discharged from the service. He was given a one hundred percent pension
> because he was completely and permanently disabled. He spent much time in
> various hospitals as an epileptic patient. In April, 1920, his skull was
> operated on in an attempt to remove some of the shrapnel. This operation did
> not help his epilepsy, and it left a hole about an inch wide in his skull.
> The pulsating of his brain could be seen through this hole. A silver plate
> was inserted in order to shield the brain.
>
> He lived on Grafton Street in Liverpool with his wife and children. He was
> utterly helpless. He had to be lifted from his bed to his wheelchair in the
> morning and back into bed at night. Arrangements had been made to have him
> admitted to the Mosley Hill Hospital for Incurables.
>
> In July, 1923, Traynor heard that the Liverpool diocese was organizing a
> pilgrimage to Lourdes. He had always had a great devotion to the Blessed
> Virgin and determined to join the pilgrimage. He took a gold sovereign which
> he had been saving for an emergency and used it as the first payment on a
> ticket. At first his wife was very much disturbed by the idea of her husband
> making such a difficult trip. His friends tried to talk him out of it. His
> doctor told him the trip would be suicide. The government ministry of
> pensions protested against the idea. One of the priests in charge of the
> pilgrimage begged him to cancel his booking. All of this was to no avail.
> Traynor had made up his mind, and there was no changing it. When his wife
> saw how much he wanted to make the trip, she decided to help him. In order
> to raise the money for the pilgrimage, the Trainers sold some of their
> furniture; Mrs. Traynor pawned some of her jewelry.
>
> There was much excitement at the railroad station the day the pilgrimage was
> to leave. In addition to the noise and confusion that accompanies the
> departure of every large pilgrimage, there was the additional hubbub caused
> by the curious who had come to see Traynor. His trip had aroused much
> interest, and at the station a great number of people crowded about his
> wheel chair. Newspaper reporters and photographers were on hand to cover the
> event. As a result of all this, Traynor reached the station platform too
> late to get on the first train. The second train was crowded, and once more
> an attempt was made to talk him out of taking the trip. Traynor, however,
> said that he was determined to go if he had to ride in the coal tender.
>
> The trip was extremely trying, and Traynor was very sick. Three times,
> during the journey across France, the directors of the pilgrimage wished to
> take him off the train and put him in a hospital. Each time there was no
> hospital where they stopped, and so they had to keep him on board. He was
> more dead than alive when he reached Lourdes on July 22 and was taken to the
> Aisle. Two Protestant girls from Liverpool, who were serving as volunteer
> nurses in the Aisle, recognized Traynor and offered to take care of him. He
> gladly accepted the offer. He had several hemorrhages during his six days
> there and a number of epileptic fits. So bad was his condition that one
> woman took it upon herself to write to his wife and tell her that there was
> no hope for him and that he would be buried in Lourdes.
>
> Traynor managed to bathe in the water from the grotto nine times, and he
> attended all the ceremonies to which the sick are taken. It was only by
> sheer force of will that he was able to do this. Not only were his own
> infirmities a serious obstacle but the brancardiers and others in attendance
> were reluctant to take him out for fear he would die on the way. Once he had
> an epileptic fit as he was going to the piscine. When he recovered, the
> brancardiers turned his chair to take him back to the Aisle. He protested,
> but they insisted. They were forced to give in when he seized the wheel with
> his good hand and would not let the chair budge until it went in the
> direction of the baths.
>
> On the afternoon of July 25 when he was in the bath, his paralyzed legs
> became suddenly agitated. He tried to get to his feet, but the brancardiers
> prevented him. They dressed him, put him back in his wheel chair, and
> hurried him to Rosary Square for the Blessing of the Sick. Most of the other
> sick were already lined up. He was the third last on the outside as one
> faces the church.
>
> Let us hear in Traynor's own words what happened after that. This is the
> story as he told it to Father Patrick O'Connor.
>
> "The procession came winding its way back, as usual, to the church and at
> the end walked the Archbishop of Rheims, carrying the Blessed Sacrament. He
> blessed the two ahead of me, came to me, made the Sign of the Cross with the
> monstrance and moved on to the next. He had just passed by, when I realized
> that a great change had taken place in me. My right arm, which had been dead
> since 1915, was violently agitated. I burst its bandages and blessed
> myself - for the first time in years.
>
> "I had no sudden pain that I can recall and certainly had no vision. I
> simply realized that something momentous had happened. I attempted to rise
> from my stretcher, but the brancardiers were watching me. I suppose I had a
> bad name for my obstinacy. They held me down, and a doctor or a nurse gave
> me a hypo. Apparently they thought that I was hysterical and about to create
> a scene. Immediately after the final Benediction, they rushed me back to the
> Aisle. I told them that I could walk and proved it by taking seven steps. I
> was very tired and in pain. They put me back in bed and gave me another hypo
> after a while.
>
> "They had me in a small ward on the ground floor. As I was such a
> troublesome case, they stationed brancardiers in relays to watch me and keep
> me from doing anything foolish. Late that night, they placed a brancardier
> on guard outside the door of the ward. There were two other sick men in the
> room, including one who was blind.
>
> "The effect of the hypos began to wear off during the night, but I had no
> full realization that I was cured. I was awake for most of the night. No
> lights were on.
>
> "The chimes of the big Basilica rang the hours and half hours as usual
> through the night, playing the air of the Lourdes Ave Maria. Early in the
> morning, I heard them ringing, and it seemed to me that I fell asleep at the
> beginning of the Ave. It could have been a matter of only a few seconds, but
> at the last stroke I opened my eyes and jumped out of bed. First, I knelt on
> the floor to finish the rosary I had been saying. Then I dashed for the
> door, pushed aside the two brancardiers and ran out into the passage and the
> open air. Previously, I had been watching the brancardiers and planning to
> evade them. I may say here that I had not walked since 1915, and my weight
> was down to 112 pounds.
>
> "Dr. Marley was outside the door. When he saw the man over whom he had been
> watching during the pilgrimage, and whose death he had expected, push two
> brancardiers aside and run out of the ward, he fell back in amazement. Out
> in the open now, I ran toward the Grotto, which is about two or three
> hundred yards from the Aisle. This stretch of ground was graveled then, not
> paved, and I was barefoot. I ran the whole way to the grotto without getting
> the least mark or cut on my bare feet. The brancardiers were running after
> me, but they could not catch up with me. When they reached the grotto, there
> I was on my knees, still in my night clothes, praying to our Lady and
> thanking her. All I knew was that I should thank her and the grotto was the
> place to do it. The brancardiers stood back, afraid to touch me."
>
> A strange feature of Traynor's case was that he did not completely realize
> what had happened to him. He knew that a great favor had been bestowed upon
> him and that he should be thankful, but he had no idea of the magnitude of
> the favor. He was completely dazed. It did not seem strange to him that he
> was walking, and he could not figure out why everyone was staring at him. He
> did not remember how gravely ill he had been for many years.
>
> A crowd of people gathered about Traynor while he was praying at the grotto.
> After about twenty minutes, he arose from his knees, surprised and rather
> annoyed by the audience he had attracted. The people fell back to allow him
> to pass. At the crowned statute of our Lady, he stopped and knelt again. His
> mother had taught him that he should always make some sacrifice when he
> wished to venerate the Virgin. He had no money to give. The few shillings he
> had left after buying a railroad ticket, he had spent to buy rosaries and
> medals for his wife and children. He therefore made the only sacrifice he
> could think of: he promised our Lady that he would give up cigarettes.
>
> The news of his cure had spread rapidly, and a great crowd was waiting at
> the Asile. Traynor could not understand what they were doing there. He went
> in and got dressed. Then he went into the washroom. A number of men were
> there ahead of him.
>
> "Good morning, gentlemen!" said Traynor cheerily.
>
> But there was no answer. The men just looked at him; they were too overcome
> to speak.
>
> Traynor was puzzled. Why was everyone acting so strangely this morning?
>
> When he got back to his ward, a priest who was visiting at Lourdes came in
> and said, "Is there anyone who can serve Mass?"
>
> "Yes, I can," Traynor volunteered.
>
> The priest who knew nothing yet about the cure accepted the offer, and
> Traynor served Mass in the chapel of the Asile. It did not seem a bit out of
> the ordinary to be doing so.
>
> In the dining room of the Asile where Traynor went to eat his breakfast, the
> other patients stared at him in amazement. Later when he strolled outdoors,
> the crowd that had gathered there made a rush at him. Surprised and
> disconcerted he made a quick retreat into the enclosure.
>
> A Mr. Cunningham, who was also on the pilgrimage, came to talk to him. The
> visitor spoke casually, but it was evident that he was making a great effort
> to control his excitement.
>
> "Good morning, John. Are you feeling all right?"
>
> "Yes, Mr. Cunningham, quite all right. Are you feeling all right?" Then he
> came to the matter that was puzzling him. "What are all those people doing
> outside?"
>
> "They're there, Jack, because they are glad to see you.
>
> "Well, it's nice of them, and I'm glad to see them, but I wish they'd leave
> me alone."
>
> Mr. Cunningham told him that one of the priests of the pilgrimage - the one
> who had opposed his coming - wished to see him. There was much difficulty
> getting through the crowd, but they finally got to the hotel where the
> priest was waiting. The priest asked him if he was all right. All this
> solicitude was most bewildering.
>
> "Yes, I'm quite well," Traynor answered, "and I hope you feel well, too."
>
> The priest broke down and began to cry.
>
> Traynor traveled home in a first-class compartment despite all his protests.
> As they were going across France, Archbishop Keating of Liverpool came into
> his compartment. Traynor knelt to receive his blessing. The Archbishop bade
> him rise.
>
> "John, I think I should be getting your blessing," he said.
>
> Traynor did not know what the Archbishop meant.
>
> The Archbishop led him over to the bed, and they both sat down. Looking at
> Traynor closely, His Excellency said, "John, do you realize how ill you have
> been and that you have been miraculously cured by the Blessed Virgin?"
>
> "Suddenly," Traynor later told Father O'Connor, "everything came back to me,
> the memory of my years of illness and the sufferings of the journey to
> Lourdes and how ill I had been in Lourdes itself. I began to cry, and the
> Archbishop began to cry, and we both sat there, crying like two children.
> After a little talk with him, I felt composed. Now I realized fully what had
> happened."
>
> Someone suggested to Traynor that he telegraph his wife. Instead of telling
> her that he had been completely cured he merely said, "Am better - Jack."
> His wife was very much pleased to receive this message. She had been very
> much upset when the woman in the pilgrimage had told her that he was dying.
> But she was not prepared for the glorious news that was to come! She was the
> only one who was not, for the story had been in the Liverpool papers. Since
> she had not happened to see the story, those about her decided not to tell
> her. They thought it would be nicer to surprise her.
>
> It seemed that all Liverpool was at the station to greet the cured man upon
> his return. When Mrs. Traynor reached the platform, she told who she was and
> asked to be allowed through the crowd.
>
> "Well," said the official in charge, "all I can say is that Mr. Traynor must
> be a Mohammedan, because there are seventy or eighty Mrs. Traynors on the
> platform now."
>
> In an attempt to save Traynor from being crushed by the crowd which was
> growing every minute, the railway company stopped the train before it got to
> the station. The Archbishop walked toward the crowd. He asked the people to
> restrain their enthusiasm when they saw Traynor and to disperse peacefully
> after they had had a look at him. They promised that they would do so.
>
> Despite this promise there was a stampede when Traynor appeared on the
> platform. The police had to clear a passage for him to pass through.
>
> The joy of Traynor's family upon his return and their deep gratitude to Our
> Lady of Lourdes could never be put into words. The cured man went into the
> coal and hauling business and had no trouble lifting 200-pound sacks of
> coal. He went back to Lourdes every summer to act as a brancardier. He died
> on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1943. The cause of
> his death was in no way related to the wounds which had been cured at
> Lourdes.
>
> The two non-Catholic girls who looked after Traynor at Lourdes came into the
> Church as a result of the cure. Their family followed their example, and so
> did the Anglican minister of the church they had been attending. A great
> number of conversions in Liverpool resulted from the miracle.
>
> Although the cure took place in 1923, the Medical Bureau waited till 1926 to
> issue its report. Traynor was examined again, and it was found that his cure
> was permanent. "His right arm which was like a skeleton has recovered all
> its muscles. The hole near his temple has completely disappeared. He had a
> certificate from Dr. McConnell of Liverpool attesting that he had not had an
> epileptic attack since 1923. . . .
>
> "It is known that when the important nerves have been severed, if their
> regeneration has not been effected (after the most successful operations
> this would take at least a year) they contract rapidly and become dried up
> as it were, and certain parts mortify and disappear. In Mr. Traynor's case,
> for the cure of his paralyzed arm, new parts had to be created and seamed
> together. All these things were done simultaneously and instantaneously. At
> the same time occurred the instant repair of the brain injuries as is proved
> by the sudden and definite disappearance of the paralysis of both legs and
> of the epileptic attacks. Finally, a third work was effected which closed
> the orifice in the brain box. It is a real resurrection which the
> beneficiary attributes to the power of God and the merciful intercession of
> Our Lady of Lourdes. The mode of production of this prodigious cure is
> absolutely outside and beyond the forces of nature."
>
> As is usual in such cures, John Traynor retained souvenirs of his former
> afflictions. The right hand did not hang quite normally, and the right
> forearm was a little less thick than the left. A slight depression was the
> only trace that was left of the hole in the skull.
>
> If John Traynor and Gabriel Gargam ever discussed their cases and compared
> notes while both were serving as brancardiers, they must have been amused by
> one point. Gargam succeeded in having his pension from the railway company
> discontinued. The British War Pension Ministry, however, insisted upon
> paying Traynor's pension till the end of his life. They had examined him
> thoroughly and found him incurable. They did not care what the Lourdes
> Medical Bureau said or what any of the doctors who examined Traynor after
> his return from Lourdes reported. It did not matter that he was engaged in
> the most strenuous kind of work. They had pronounced him incurable, and
> incurable he was. This decision was never revoked.
>
> The gift of miracles has never ceased to show its presence in the Catholic
> Church. "If you would not believe Me" said Our Lord to the Jews, "believe
> the works I do."
> ------
> "The Catholic Faith alone produces miracles, which are never seen among
> heretics. Plants of this sort cannot grow in a soil cursed by God; they can
> take root only in that Church where the True Faith is professed . . . God
> cannot sanction the performance of a miracle except in favor of the true
> religion; were He to permit it in support of error, He would deceive us."
>
> St. Alphonsus Marie de Liguori - Bishop & Doctor of the Church
