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335

Our Lord Himself has put us on our guard against ‘ false
Christs and false prophets ’ who ‘ will show great signs and
wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect ’
TRUE CHRISTIANITY, SIGNS AND
(Matt. xxiv. 24). Such happenings have occurred from the
earliest days of the Church (Acts viii. 9). For this reason
WONDERS1
the Church has the right and the duty to judge the truth
By MONSIGNOR ALFRED OTTAVIANI,
and the nature of the facts or revelations said to have come
Assessor of the Holy Office
about by a special intervention of God. And it is the duty
of all good sons of the Church to submit to this judgment.
O Catholic questions the possibility of miracles or
As a mother, the Church has to bear the burden of a
doubts that they actually do take place. Christs
mother's onerous and doleful duties, and, like all mothers,
mission and His Divine Nature were proved by the
site sometimes has the duty not only of taking action, but
many great miracles He performed here on earth. The
also of suffering, keeping silent, and waiting. Fifty years
early Church overcame initial difficulties and persecutions
ago
who would have thought that the Church would now
because the Holy Ghost gave her special help that expressed
be
in
the position of having to put its sons, even some of
itself visibly in the gifts the Apostles enjoyed and in the
those who are priests, on their guard against so-called
large number of the elect among the first generations ®
miracles,
against all those happenings acclaimed as pre­
Christians. Once the Church was consolidated, these special
ternatural, which are arousing the interest of the masses
gifts of the Holy Ghost, as we can well understand,
here and there in almost every continent and country ?
less. But they have not ceased. The help of the H°'l·
Fifty years ago, when the ‘ scientific ’ and positif ist
Ghost and the presence of Christ in His Church are iw"
attitude was rife, people would have laughed at anyone who
things that will last until the end of time. The former shows
paid attention to and believed in what were called super­
itself by means of supernatural signs, too, with miracles.
stitions of the dark ages. Fifty years ago people reviled
By way of example, it is sufficient to call attention
the miracles that are examined during the process of the t the Church because it alone persisted in upholding their
existence, their spiritual worth, negative or positive, and
beatification of the Servants of God or the canoni/a’it·'
tiir-ir beauty or ugliness. One of the commonest and most
of the Blessed. Such mirael-s are rigorously verified
solemn of subjects as far as the apologetics of the day was
scientifically and theologically. And’ we might add.
concerned was miracles. Now the Church has to warn its
that the rigour with whit h the inirv ulous cures at Lour»·'
sons through the mouths of its Bishops by repeating the
are examined is common knowh-dge.
words of the Divine Master (Matt. xxiv. 24) not to allow
Let no one call us (■tjiui-s <>t the supernatural, therethemselves to be easily led astray by similar happenings
ior·.’!. u we gird <»urs<dws now for the task of warning
and not to believe in them save with eyes wide open and
iaithtul against un«heck<-<i statements concerning super­
after the authorities have made all the necessary inquiries
natural happenings that are supposed to have taken plan­
and given their reports.
statements which are fairly widespread at the present tin·-·
For seme years past we have witnessed an increase of
suiterucnts wnich create the danger of setin'Z tin tr·1·
popular
hankering after the. wonderful, even when it concerns
miracle di-cr dib d.
religion. The faithful repair in vast crowds to places where
/
<·’·■■
li-W.·. 4'1N.C.W.C.
visions and wonders are supposed to have taken place and,

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THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD

at the same time, abandon the Church, the Sacraments and
preaching and instruction. People who are ignorant of
the first words of the Creed set themselves up as ardent .
apostles of religiousness. Some of them do not hesitate
to speak of the Pope, the Bishops and the clergy in terms
of severe reprobation and then grow indignant when the
latter do not take part, together with the mob, in all the
enthusiasms and outbursts of certain popular movements.
Although this is a displeasing situation, it is not one that
causes surprise. Man’s feelings are natural, even those
towards religion. Just as man is a rational animal, so he
is a political and a religious animal. By bringing disorder
and confusion into the nature of man and all his feelings
original sin has attacked, so to speak, religious feelings also.
This is the explanation of the deviations and the errors
so many natural religions, no more and no less than the
explanation of so many other distortions in the history of
man. But it is a fact that errors of this kind arc much more
troublesome where religion is concerned. Coming to redeem
man from his darkness and shortcomings, revelation aufl
grace have restored him to his right nature especially where
r.-iichm is concerned. Having healed man’s wounded anQ
stricken nature, grace gives it a superabundance of strength
to be used in the service and love of God. The Church, the
custodian and interpreter of the true religion, was born οι
the Word and of the blood of Our Lord
To think oneself religious, however that ma1-' conW
about, is not required. Wi at is required is to be trub
religious. As in the case of other feelings, there can De.
and in point of fact there are. also deviations from tn^
religious feeling. Religious sentiment must be guided by
reason, nourished by grace, and as is our whole life, con­
trolled by the Church, and even more st-ictlv. There
such tilings as religious instruction, religious education and
religious training. Those who have fought the authority
of the Church and religious sentiment in so light-headed a
way find themselves to-day faced with imposing outburst5
of an instinctive re’igçms fedmg entirely- deficient in the

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337

light of reason and the consciousness of grace, one that has
no check or control.
Such action results in deplorable acts of disobedience
to the ecclesiastical authorities when they intervene to
apply the necessary brake. This is what happened in Italy
after the so-called visions of Voltago, in France over the
Espis and Bouxieres incidents which were allied to those in
Hainpsur-Sambre (Belgium), in Germany at Heroldsbach,
and in the United States of America over the manifestations
at Necedah, Wise. I could go on quoting other examples
in other countries both near and far.
The period through which we are passing stands between
these two excesses : open, inhuman irréligion or unbounded,
blind religiosity. Persecuted by the supporters of the first
and compromised by those who uphold the second, the
Church does nothing more than repeat its maternal warning.
But its words remain unheard amidst denial on the one
hand and exaltation on the other.
There is no doubt that the Church does not wish to cast
into the shadow the wonders which God works. It merely
wants to keep the faithful watchful concerning what comes
from God and what does not come from God. and which
can come from His and our adversary. The Church is the
enemy of the fal-sv miracle.
V 2ood Catholic knows from his catechism that the true
religion rests on the true Faith, on Revelation, which ended
with the death of the last Apostle and has been entrusted
to th<· Church, its interpreter and custodian. Nothing else
necessary to our salvation can be revealed to us. There is
nothing more for which we must look. We have everything,
if we wish to make use of it. Even the most accredited
v:-sb>n.s can turn sh us with new motives for fewour but not
uith new elements of life or doctrine. True religion abides
^spatially, apart from in the conscience, in the lose of God
and the consequent love of our neighbour. And, more than
bi acts of worship and rite, the love of God consists in dnimr
die will of God. obeying His commandments. This is true
bigiori.

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A good Catholic knows that in the saints themselves the
nature of sanctity consists not in the preternatural gifts
of visions, prophecies and wonders, but in the heroic exer­
cise of virtue. That God should in some way authenticate
holiness by miracles is one thing, but that holiness consists
in performing miracles is another. We must not confound
holiness with what can be and is, as a rule, an unmistakable
sign of holiness, but not always sufficiently clear so as not
to need the necessary supervision of religious authorities.
On this point the teaching of the Church has never been
equivocal. The man who turns back to events of dubious
interpretation rather than accept the word of God loves
the world more than God. Even when the Church authori­
tatively canonizes a saint, it does not by this act guarantee
the preternatural character of all the extraordinary facts con­
nected with his life. Still less does it approve all his personal
opinions. By the same token it gives even less guarantee
to all that is written, often with unpardonable levity, by
biographers with more imagination than judgment.
We repeat that in order to be religious, it is necessary to
be so in a proper fashion and as a matter of duty. In order
to be good Catholics and devout people we must act with
all the attention with which we act when applying ourselves
to the most serious things in life. Incredulity’' is just as
harmful to the sincere believer as credulity. True, it is not
everyone who can form his own opinion on every point.
But what are the Bishops and the Pope for ?
It is a strange thing : no untrained person would dare
to build a
by himself, tailor his own clothes, make
ki..ns<-if a pair =■·.' shoes or cure himself of a sickness. Vet
whi-ti if >. a -.j'lestion of religious life, people reject all
.•tudi'Ci'y. r-vixpk>v any trust in it, even distrust and
dis-ii ι-y U i;!· impunity.
Durit eg the past 200 years, especially the last half century,
the Catholic priesthood has been so much the object of
accusations, insults and defamation both bv politicians and
writers that o.w can we'd m,d< :stand how it b that Ik" ù :
ful have tin- 'zn-aicst <v.ti,cvJty in appioaehin*.r a pric"t am*

TRUE CHRISTIANITY, SIGNS AND WONDERS

339

becoming friendly with him. But during the undeniable
return to God we are now witnessing, the faithful must
overcome their bias and return once more to sharing their
feelings, their thoughts and their faith with the priest.
For the last ten years, while the religious authorities
have remained hesitant, the people have acted hastily and
busied themselves with wonders which, to say the least,
have not been verified.
Speaking honestly, we must admit that such events
may be expressions of natural religious enthusiasm
(religiosity). But they are not Christian events, and they
give a dangerous pretext to those who are out to discover at
all costs the infiltrations and survivals of paganism and
superstition in Christianity, especially Catholicism. Just
as wrongdoing may insinuate itself in our daily lives, so
may error insinuate itself into this individual Catholic or
that, a thing which causes no wonder to those who under­
stand what man is. But just as sin must be recognized as
sin if we would free ourselves from it, so too, in the case
of error, we must recognize it as such. Just as the Church
has the power to forgive sins, so has it also been commanded
by God to redeem us from error.
Let Catholics hear the word of God which the Church,
and the Church alone, preserves and repeats whole and
incorrupt. Let them not run like sheep without a shepherd
after other voices seeking to drown the voice of God if in
truth they arc opposed to the voice of the Church. We
have Holy Scripture, we have Tradition, wc have the Chief
Shepherd'and a hundred other shepherds next door to our
homes. Why should we offer the spectacle of foolishness
or unhealthy exaltation to these who oppose and despise
us · ‘ Christians, be more prudent,’ wrote Dante in his day.
‘Do not be like feathers tliat bend to ewry wind.’ The g~ar
poet urged the very same reasons that we give to-day:
‘You have the Old and the New Testament, and ih<·
Shepherd of the Church to guide you.' Dante’s conclusion
too. is the same as ours Γ ‘This is suificient for your
salvation’ (Canto, V. w. 73-77)·
Alfred Ottavianî.