The Other World; or, Glimpses of the Supernatural (Vol. 1 of 2): Being Facts, Records, and Traditions Relating to Dreams, Omens, Miraculous Occurrences, Apparitions, Wraiths, Warnings, Second-sight, Witchcraft, Necromancy, etc.
Religion
The Other World; or, Glimpses of the Supernatural (Vol. 1 of 2): Being Facts, Records, and Traditions Relating to Dreams, Omens, Miraculous Occurrences, Apparitions, Wraiths, Warnings, Second-sight, Witchcraft, Necromancy, etc.
Spiritualism; Supernatural
And so soon as the Religion of Christ was brought to Britain by our great
Apostle and Archbishop S. Augustine, “greater works than these” followed,
as a matter of course, when the banner of the cross was unfurled upon the
coasts of Kent. That this was so, that many miracles were wrought, we
learn from a Letter written by S. Gregory the Great to S. Augustine,
embodied in the well-known “History” of the Venerable Bede, and preserved
amongst S. Gregory’s “Works,” in which the Archbishop is duly and lovingly
cautioned against becoming too much elated with vain glory, because of
these marked manifestations of Divine power and favour; and is reminded
that God Almighty had, no doubt, bestowed the gift of working them, not on
the Archbishop’s own account, or for his own merit, but for the conversion
of the English nation.[32]
So, through every succeeding age, were Glimpses afforded of the
Supernatural. For example, S. Bernard, perhaps the most illustrious saint
of the twelfth century, in the “Life of S. Malachi of Armagh,” records the
miraculous cure of the withered hand of a youth, by the dead hand of his
holy friend S. Malachi. But nothing can exceed the splendour and publicity
of the miracles of S. Bernard himself,--to the reality of which the
faithful of France and Switzerland, as well as those of Germany and Italy,
bore abundant testimony. Princes and prelates, kings and priests were
witnesses of his supernatural power; for, like his Lord and Master, he
wrought instantaneous cures on the lame, the halt, and the blind, in the
presence of multitudes, and to the great spread and triumph of the Faith.
Of those worked at Cologne, Philip, Archdeacon of Liége, who was formally
commissioned to inquire and report upon them by Lampeon, Archbishop of
Rheims, declared as follows: that “they were not performed in a corner,
but the whole city was witness to them. If anyone,” he adds, “doubts or is
curious, he may easily satisfy himself on the spot, more especially as
some of the miracles were wrought upon persons of no inconsiderable rank
and reputation.”[33] Moreover, S. Bernard himself distinctly refers to
them in one of his most celebrated treatises, “De Consideratione,”
addressed to Pope Eugenius III., and maintains that the evidence of God’s
special graces and exceptional blessings thus resting upon him, enabled
him to feel sufficient confidence of the Divine aid and benediction to
enter upon the grave and laborious task of preaching the Second Crusade.
And if we proceed onward to the sixteenth century, where in some places,
and especially amongst the northern nations of Europe, Faith began to wax
cold, and Charity was not, we find, from History, that the miracles of
Francis Xavier, the saintly apostle of India, may almost vie with those
of the great S. Bernard, for they were as numerous and as inherently
remarkable; while the testimony as to their truth, reality, and
influence[34] was generally acknowledged by the faithful, as well as by
Protestants.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account