"I am an atheist and I believe in miracles..."

The Montreal Gazette has a very interesting and well-written story, "Miracles have a measure", (ht: David) about the canonization of Blessed Brother Andre (André Bessette, C.S.C.; 1845-1937), which will take place tomorrow (he was beatified by John Paul II in 1982). The piece is notable, I think, for its measured and objective tone, supported by some excellent quotes. Here is the opening:

Before recognizing a saint, the Catholic church says it thoroughly investigates the subject to ensure he or she led a remarkable and exemplary Christian life.

The subject must also have at least two miracles recognized as taking place through his or her intercession. The Vatican says it must confirm that "the act of healing is unexplainable in the light of present medical science."

Brother Andre is said to have performed tens of thousands of miracles. But for the Vatican, it all boiled down to two.

Before he was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1982, the Vatican accepted the story of New Yorker Joseph Audino, who was said to have spontaneously recovered from terminal cancer in 1958 after praying to Brother Andre.

In December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI recognized a second miracle, paving the way for tomorrow's canonization.

And then, near the conclusion, some quotes from hematologist Jacalyn Duffin, who was asked to examine the medical file of a woman believed to have been healed through miraculous intercession of St. Marguerite d'Youville:

It was only after Duffin submitted her report that she learned the Vatican had commissioned her study to verify the story of an alleged miracle attributed to Marguerite d'Youville. Founder of the Grey Nuns, d'Youville was recognized as a saint -the first born in Canada -in 1990.

"What the church was looking for from me was not to declare that it was a miracle, but to give a scientific explanation, and I didn't have a scientific explanation for why she was still alive," Duffin said. "If I could have provided a scientific explanation, then they would have moved on and looked for a different case."

Duffin went on to write a book, Medical Miracles: Doctors, Saints, and Healing in the Modern World, in which she reviewed 1,400 miracles used in canonizations from 1588 to 1999. She said she was surprised to find the church works hard to use "rigorous medical evidence" in studying apparent miracles.

"I am an atheist and I believe in miracles," Duffin said. "It all rests on how you define a miracle. The definition I have come to after studying all those miracles in the Vatican archives is that there are things that happen that we can't explain."

Read the entire piece, which is very well done. For more about Brother Andre, visit this page on the Congregation of Holy Cross website.