The miracles which put Newman on the path to sainthood

One of the first questions posed by those who have not followed the road to sainthood of an individual is: what are the miracles?

There must be two recognised miracles attributed to a person who is to be canonised and Cardinal John Henry Newman, recognised as a saint on October 13 at the Vatican, is no exception.

Before this, the journey began in 1991 with Pope John Paul II proclaiming Newman venerable after thorough examination of his work and life by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Ten years later a US deacon from Massachusetts said his recovery from a spinal cord disorder was due to the intercession of St John Henry.

Subsequently, ahead of a September 2010 visit to the UK, Pope Benedict XVI announced that the miracle had been accepted by the Holy See and that the English cardinal was to be beatified.

The deacon, Jack Sullivan, was in agony with his spine and when undergoing surgery medical professionals found that his spine had been so severely ruptured that protective fluids had leaked out.

Inspiring

Mr Sullivan prayed to Newman, turning to him after once watching a documentary about the Anglican cleric who had converted to Catholicism in the 19th Century, finding his life inspiring.

His debilitating back problems began in 2000, when a CT scan revealed a succession of spinal disc and vertebrae deformities, compressing the spinal cord and nerves and causing stenosis, an abnormal narrowing of the blood vessels in his legs.

At the time he was training to become a deacon in the Church and was deeply upset that he wouldn’t be able to finish the course.

Having been told by doctors that the bulges on his spine were no longer visible on X-rays, Sullivan experienced further pain the following year, forcing him to undergo surgery.

It was his healing from this operation, in 2001, which surgeons had told him would take months of recovery, which was confirmed as a miracle.

After being in agony for days he felt a surge of strength after his prayers to Newman and for the first time in months pulled himself out of bed and walked upright. Little did he know that this miracle would pave the way for Britain’s first saint since 1982.

Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph many years ago he conceded there was doubts about his claims, including his wife who was initially unconvinced, but he said: “For some heavenly reason, I was selected. I don’t know why, because I’m not unusual in any way. I’m just an average guy.”

He felt a surge of strength after his prayers to Newman and…pulled himself out of bed and walked upright”

“I said to the nurse that the pain had gone. I then walked up and down the corridors, with the nurse struggling to keep up with me.”

St John Henry’s second miracle concerned the healing of a pregnant American woman. The woman prayed for the intercession of Cardinal Newman at the time of a life-threatening diagnosis, and her doctors have been unable to explain how or why she was able to suddenly recover.

The case related to Melissa Villalobos of Chicago.

Mrs Villalobos, 42, told Catholic News Service that in 2011: “My husband brought home a couple of holy cards with Cardinal Newman’s picture on them. I put one in the family room and one in our master bedroom.”

“I would pass his picture in the house and I would say little prayers to him for whatever our family’s needs were at the time – the children, my husband, myself. I really started to develop a very constant dialogue with him,” the mother of seven said.

Her prayers had a miraculous result in 2013 when she started bleeding during the first trimester of a pregnancy. At the time she had four children – ages 6, 5, 3 and 1 – and a previous pregnancy that had ended in miscarriage.

I would pass his picture in the house and I would say little prayers to him”

Developing a subchorionic hematoma, which is a blood clot in the foetal membrane, the doctors recommended bed rest. The bleeding worsened which caused her to go to the emergency room resulting in doctors once again recommending bed rest, while also saying that a miscarriage was likely but if the baby survived it would most likely be born premature.

One morning she woke up in a pool of blood, but decided not to call before tending to her children and making them breakfast. Returning to her room she collapsed on the floor due to weakness, but realised she had forgot her phone and didn’t want to call the children for fear the strain would make her bleed more. She began to pray to Cardinal Newman.

Mrs Villalobos was then able to get off the floor, and after making sure there was no more bleeding she said: “’Thank you, Cardinal Newman. Thank you.”

“Just then the scent of roses filled the bathroom,” she said. “The strongest scent of roses I’ve ever smelled.”

That afternoon Mrs Villalobos’s cure was confirmed during a weekly ultrasound.

The doctor told her everything was “perfect” and there was no more hole in the placenta. Her baby was born without any issues in December 2013.

The case was reported in autumn 2014, and a study was conducted and forwarded to the Vatican for another series of investigations.

In November 2018, the Vatican approved this second miracle and in February 2019, it was announced that Pope Francis had approved the decree concerning this miracle.

Newman’s canonisation, it was confirmed, would take place in Rome on October 13.