Very soon after the apparitions in Medjugorje, many people witnessed miraculous healings. An old man, Jozo Vasilj, was blind for many years. After washing his eyes with the water in which he put some plants from the site of the apparitions, he said, "I can see ..." That was the first miracle in Medjugorje.
Next, there was the case of Daniel Setka who was seriously ill with convulsions and looked "stiff and blue" when he was only four days old. Medical examination has confirmed that he was suffering from a combination of spastic hemiparesis and epilepsy. At two and a half years old, the child was unable to speak or walk and he could not even hold his head up. Even after making several pilgrimages to the various shrines in Yugoslavia, his condition remained the same. On the evening of June 28, 1981 (the fifth day of the apparitions) his father carried him up Podbrdo Hill toward the site of the apparition. During the apparition, Vicka presented the boy to the Virgin Mary. Following the apparition, the first sign of a healing took place. When the family stopped at the restaurant for dinner after the apparition, the boy suddenly tapped on the table and said, "Give me something to drink." Those were the first words that came from his lips. The following day, his parents brought him to Podbrdo Hill. Halfway up the hill, they put him down. Little Daniel began to climb over the rocks and called out in a loud and clear voice, "Mama, look, I'm walking!" His healing was declared complete that day.
The most well-documented healing was probably that of Diana Basile, an Italian secretary and mother of three sons. Her first symptoms of a profound multiple sclerosis appeared in 1972 when she was thirty-two. In spite of the expert help of the professors and doctors at the clinic in Milan, she was getting worse. Her right hand began to shake uncontrollably and there was complete blindness in her right eye. Her right knee became so rigid that she found it almost impossible to walk. By the summer of 1983, she became completely incontinent, was unable to lift her right arm and had great difficulty in walking. On 23rd May 1984, she made it to St. James's Church, Medjugorje, to observe that evening's apparition. At the end of the apparition, Basile found that she could walk normally. That night, she discovered that she was no longer incontinent. The next morning, she was able to see with her right eye again. That afternoon, she walked barefoot from Ljubuski to Medjugorje, a distance of six miles, to climb Podbrdo Hill. By the time she returned home, she was completely healed. Ever since then until today, she has remained well.
Probably the most famous person who claimed that she had been healed by Our Lady of Medjugorje was entertainer Lola Falana who also suffered from multiple sclerosis. By 1989, she was already confined to either her bed or wheelchair. One day, she was watching a documentary about Medjugorje. According to her, "When the television showed the crowd of pilgrims which ascend the Hill of Apparitions, I experienced a desire to go there, to walk with them, but my legs were inert, dead. Then, with tears in my eyes, I prayed to the Blessed Mother to heal me, promising Her that if one day I would be able to walk again, I would go there." Within a month, the symptoms of her illness had completely disappeared. As promised, she went to Medjugorje.
Two of those who claimed miraculous healings in Medjugorje were medical doctors. One of them was a general practitioner from the Philippines whose breast cancer had already metastasized. According to her, she had a spiritual healing at the twelfth and thirteenth stations of the cross on Mount Krizevac. By the time she returned home, all traces of her cancer had vanished without treatment. The other medical doctor was an Italian pediatrician with an ulcerated colon that had abscessed into a life-threatening fistula. His family came to Medjugorje to pray for his recovery. The doctor also prayed at home promising the Mother of God that he would go to Medjugorje if he were cured. Overnight, his fistula closed and he was cured of this life-threatening disease.
Another case which clearly indicates that Medjugorje is a place of healing is Charlene Vance's case. In 1986 on Halloween night, a tractor ran over her leg. The tibia and fibula were broken in two places and her ankle was crushed to a pulp. Doctors told her that even if her leg bones could heal properly, she would still have to walk with a severe limp all her life. Even though she is not a Catholic, Vance joined a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. At the fourth station on Mount Krizevac, a monk in a white habit touched her forehead and leg with his rosary beads which he said had been placed on the stigmatic wounds of Therese Newman's right hand. Vance spent the night praying on Mount Krizevac. When she descended the mountain the next morning she found that there was no more pain in her ankle. X-rays showed that the bones in her ankle had been completely restored.
The most widely publicized healing is probably that of Rita Klaus of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA, a teacher and mother of three daughters. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 20, not long after her graduation. For 26 years, she suffered from multiple sclerosis. Neither doctors nor medicine were able to help her. By 1986, she had blurred vision and periodic incontinence and had to be confined to a wheelchair most of the time. As her leg muscles degenerated, her legs began to warp inward at the knee and outward at the ankle. It became almost impossible for her to sit in her wheelchair without buckling her lower limbs into steel braces. In early 1986, one of her friends told her about Medjugorje and she started to pray to the Mother of God. On the evening of 18 June 1986, while she was praying the rosary, she felt an electric jolt running through her whole body. The next morning, she could move her feet and legs again. That evening, she could walk without assistance. On the following day, she walked more than a mile to visit the friend who told her about Medjugorje. And from then till today she is completely well. Her healing is complete and permanent.
One of Medjugorje's most famous healings is that of an Austrian nurse named Agnes Heupel. In the year 1974, when she was 23, she suffered from a paralysis of the right side. She had to be confined to a wheelchair most of the time and her memory was gradually eroded to the extent that she could not even recognize her old friends. In May 1986, she made the difficult journey to Medjugorje. After the apparition on May 12, she stood like everyone else and began to walk out of the room. Father Slavko went after her, holding her crutch and shouting, "You forgot something!" But she knew that she would never need it again because she was completely healed. The following day, she climbed Podbrdo Hill without assistance.
What do these miracles tell us? We cannot deny the fact that something is really going on in Medjugorje. Supernatural events are occurring there. What is the real purpose of these miracles? To help us to believe and live by faith. Miracles do not belong to science but to theology and faith. As what Stuart Chase says, "For those who believe no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is enough!"
If you would like to read more about the miracles of Medjugorje, please refer to Randall Sullivan's The Miracle Detective - the book that brought me to Medjugorje. (Please click here to view the contents page of this blog. You will be able to find more articles about Medjugorje.)
Reference:
Sullivan, Randall. (2004). The Miracle Detective. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press.
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