Why don't Protestants asks the saints for intercession?

[GreggAlvarez]

Yes. Revelation 3:8 is not a representation of saints interceding for the faithful. Paul reminds us that there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Tim. 2:5) The image is that of Christ victorious. He has conquered sin and death and thus cast out the accuser who accused the saints before the throne of God. (Rev. 12:10) By His victory there is nothing prohibiting the prayers of the saints from reaching the throne of God. (Psa. 141:2) The veil was torn in two and we have direct access to God through Christ Jesus. (Heb. 10:19-22, Rom. 8:26-28)

Actually, Revelations 5:8 IS a representation of the saints intercessing for the faithful. Let me post it again for ease:

“When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones”

They held it up to the Lamb. They brought the incense to the Lamb. They brought our prayers to the Lamb. Did He NEED it? No, He is omnipotent. All prayers go through Christ. But, the Saints bring our prayers to Him, who is and who was and who is to come.

This does NOT contradict “One Mediator”. If you think it does, then you do not understand Catholic doctrine.

“The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” James 5:16

You can say that “Jesus is a righteous person” and I would agree. We pray to Christ to. But, there are also others in Heaven represented by the 24 elders. (Go look up what the number 24 means… Or look up what both 12 and 2 mean in the Bible.)

Anybody in Heaven is a righteous person. Who is more righteous than one in Heaven? Nobody… They are the perfect friends of Christ. Indeed, they are perfected BY Christ.

In any event, all Christians pray to those in Heaven. “Momma, please watch over me and family.” THAT IS A PRAYER. All Christians do this because it is the right thing to do. It is true!

Tell a kid this: Your mother is in Heaven but she is not looking out for you. She cannot do that. Besides it being completely false, it is denying God’s omnipotence, even His Love!

 

[GreggAlvarez]

Maybe, we perfer the prayers of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, see Romans 8.

**Actually, the Holy Spirit leads us through all prayer. And those in Heaven bring our prayers to Christ as Revelations 5:8 makes clear.

So, it is not about preferring either because both of them are working in ALL prayers anyway. Whether it be to the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit or God’s friends in Heaven. It is much more simpler than most people think, even Catholics.

All prayers go through Christ. “Through Him, with Him, and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit…” This goes for EVERYBODY! You, me, Shakespeare, the beggar on the street, Saint Paul, the Pope, Pastor Fred, Donald Trump… You name it…

Do not complicate things.**

 

[BartBurk]

Actually, Revelations 5:8 IS a representation of the saints intercessing for the faithful. Let me post it again for ease:

“When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones”

They held it up to the Lamb. They brought the incense to the Lamb. They brought our prayers to the Lamb. Did He NEED it? No, He is omnipotent. All prayers go through Christ. But, the Saints bring our prayers to Him, who is and who was and who is to come.

This does NOT contradict “One Mediator”. If you think it does, then you do not understand Catholic doctrine.

“The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” James 5:16

You can say that “Jesus is a righteous person” and I would agree. We pray to Christ to. But, there are also others in Heaven represented by the 24 elders. (Go look up what the number 24 means… Or look up what both 12 and 2 mean in the Bible.)

Anybody in Heaven is a righteous person. Who is more righteous than one in Heaven? Nobody… They are the perfect friends of Christ. Indeed, they are perfected BY Christ.

In any event, all Christians pray to those in Heaven. “Momma, please watch over me and family.” THAT IS A PRAYER. All Christians do this because it is the right thing to do. It is true!

Tell a kid this: Your mother is in Heaven but she is not looking out for you. She cannot do that. Besides it being completely false, it is denying God’s omnipotence, even His Love!

That makes sense when you realize the 24 elders are people who have passed from earth into heaven. Is it possible the 24 elders represent the saints in heaven and the saints listed here suggest the saints still living in the flesh?

 

[GreggAlvarez]

From my three decades as a Prostestant in a Trinity-believing faith, and not a theological point of view or even the Presbyterian faith (I didn’t become Presby until adulthood):.

Presby… Haha… I have never heard of that

The evangelical and fundamentalist Protestants encourage a one-on-one relationship with God. If you go to God through anyone, it is Jesus. The Holy Spirit exists within us as we allow. You only deal with one of those three…

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

As long as they are “of Christ”, we can “deal with” them. They all go through Christ anyway. “Through Him, with Him and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit…” (That is a prayer said at the consecration of the Eucharist.)

My childhood faith did not believe in “resting dead”, it just discouraged “playing with spirits”, as we were taught that Satan can easily take any form save that of God.

“Resting dead”? Who plays with spirits?

Actually, Satan has taken the form of Christ. Look at the history before Christ. There were many false christs. There are even false christs now, proclaiming the “Rapture” and the world ending May 21, 2011. There have even been some saying that Pope John Paul II is in Hell because he never taught about the realities of Heaven or Hell. Well, his documents have Heaven and Hell written explicitly in there.

Now, Satan cannot take the form of God as we know Him. But he CAN take the form of what we believe to be God. So, you are right and not so right at the same time. But, I get your point.

 

[GreggAlvarez]

That makes sense when you realize the 24 elders are people who have passed from earth into heaven. Is it possible the 24 elders represent the saints in heaven and the saints listed here suggest the saints still living in the flesh?

Good question. That is probably true. When concerning the intercession of those in Heaven, “saints” means those who are perfect in Christ?

This is speculation, but perhaps “saints” in the Bible could just mean those believers in Christ on Earth. My Bible says, “holy ones” which suits better in this context.

 

[Hiskid1973]

That makes sense when you realize the 24 elders are people who have passed from earth into heaven. Is it possible the 24 elders represent the saints in heaven and the saints listed here suggest the saints still living in the flesh?

Ever wonder who the elders are ? Ever wondered about the OT saints that were in grave and were resurrected after Jesus’s death/resurrection. Where did they go with their resurrected bodies? How about the transfiguration miracle…Wonder about our prayers ascending to the throne as worship/adoration? I understand about absent with the body present with the Lord… Just our spirit ? One day at the last trump the living saints and those in the grave will arise for their resurrected bodies to meet Christ in the clouds…What enables silent/verbal prayers to be heard outside this realm? Are all who departed this earth have the ability to be omniscient? Do those in the same realm really need to “pray” to contact each other? When James spoke about ministry to the body was he speaking about those gone on being righteous? Just adds alot of questions…Seems better just to follow Christ’s example while He was here…

 

[jlmagee]

Actually, Satan has taken the form of Christ. Look at the history before Christ. There were many false christs. There are even false christs now, proclaiming the “Rapture” and the world ending May 21, 2011. There have even been some saying that Pope John Paul II is in Hell because he never taught about the realities of Heaven or Hell. Well, his documents have Heaven and Hell written explicitly in there.

While I do not believe in the rapture as many in my denomination do, I do not think that the simple teaching of it should link them with false Christs. While there are some that teach rapturolatry most educated evangelical pastors are level headed. Most who teach the rapture are not the same as Harold Camping who is a false prophet.

 

[Publisher]

I have asked “saints” to interceed for me…both living and dead saints…I asked my mom to offer a prayer for me when she stood “in the Presence”…I have asked my grandmother to “save a place if you can”…both just before she was Called and afterwards…she being so new in the Presence would remember those she left behind I thought…it certainly assisted with grief…I’ve “prayed” to my wife and child to wait just inside the Gate if they could…and I’ll be along as soon as I’m Called.

I have asked saints for intercerssion…just most likely none you would be aware of.

 

[Gianna_MarieJMJ]

Paul reminds us that there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Tim. 2:5)

---

Hi all!

I thought I’d pop in here to give a little of my insight and why HONOURING the saints really isn’t as bad as alot of the Protestants think.

(I really don’t have alot of time right now so this is why you see copied answers from different apologists)

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus1 Timothy 2:5,”
First off, the Greek word used here for “one” is eis, which means “first” or “primary,” not monos, which means “only” or “sole.” Just as there is one mediator, there is also one divine sonship, which we all share – by way of participation – with Christ (filii in Filio, sons in the Son). - Scott Hahn

1 Tim 2:5-6 - therefore, it is because Jesus Christ is the one mediator before God that we can be subordinate mediators. Jesus is the reason. The Catholic position thus gives Jesus the most glory. He does it all but loves us so much He desires our participation.

Scripture Catholic - Teachings of the Catholic Faith

God Bless!!

Gianna_MarieJMJ

 

[Joseph_L_Varga]

I have made a bit of a study of Padre Pio, how he is said to have biocated, levitated, etc. Yes, this is possible, of course, as God can do anything, but I find it hard to believe, and the evidence seems thin. Sorry.

Speaking of Padre Pio, and specifically of the time when he was still living in the flesh with us, I wonder whether Protestants would ask someone who is alive among us (as opposed to deceased), and well-known for being a saintly person and a miracle-worker, to intercede for them with God.

I understand many Protestants have a problem praying to deceased people and asking for their intercession, but how about asking a live-in-the-flesh person? Do they have a concept of the fact that “me and Jesus” might not work, but “this saintly person and Jesus” will? I mean, the concept that God will not hear my prayer, but he will hear this other saintly person’s prayer, and grant to him the very same request that he would deny to grant to me?

Many people specifically went to visit Padre Pio at his friary in San Giovanni de Rotondo where he lived until his death in 1968, and were granted great miracles of healing at Padre Pio’s intercession. I wonder, would most Protestants have a qualm with this concept?

 

[Alexandra_Kent]

Protestants must not believe in heaven…they say they do, but then when people die the Protestants seem to think that they automatically forget about their loved ones on earth and go live in a little self-absorbed cloud of angels. What kind of a heaven full of love and charity is that?

They could pray for us when they were on earth, but when they finally get to the seat of all power and glory, they just kind of fizzle out…loose all sense of charity for humanity…figure their time is done getting stuck handling all those prayer requests and go play a harp or take in some cloud bowling…

Maybe they are too busy having great banquets to think about us mere mortals

Heaven forbid that some Catholic should come along and think that a human soul would have more charity when it reaches the source of all charity and actually take an interest in praying for those that were left behind.

Protestant Heaven must be a pretty self-centered place.

 

[Joseph_L_Varga]

they automatically forget about their loved ones on earth and go live in a little self-absorbed cloud of angels.

:heaven: :heaven: :heaven:

They could pray for us when they were on earth, but when they finally get to the seat of all power and glory, they just kind of fizzle out…loose all sense of charity for humanity…figure their time is done getting stuck handling all those prayer requests and go play a harp or take in some cloud bowling…

:harp:

 

[Alexandra_Kent]

:heaven:

:harp:

LOL Thats too cute!

 

[Joseph_L_Varga]

I have made a bit of a study of Padre Pio, how he is said to have biocated, levitated, etc. Yes, this is possible, of course, as God can do anything, but I find it hard to believe, and the evidence seems thin. Sorry.

Thinking some more of Padre Pio, and specifically during the time before his death in 1968…

Would most Protestants have a problem with the concept that he received a special charism (gift) from the Holy Spirit, namely the charism to heal people? A charism that very few people ever receive? Thus, if I prayed for the healing of my own spouse, or for my child, that would not be effective, but if Padre Pio did, God would hear his prayer, and miraculously heal my loved one?

Would Protestants have a problem with this concept? The concept is certainly in agreement with the Bible, where St. Paul says that we, as members of Christ’s mystical body the Church, all received various and different gifts. Some of us received the gift of healing, others received the gift of prophesy, the gift of teaching and admonition, and so on.

If Padre Pio was alive today, would a Protestant have a problem going to visit him, and ask him to miraculously heal, through his intercession, his blind child, his cancerous wife, or his own crippled leg?

Next question: and what about now, after 1968, now that Padre Pio is deceased and his soul is in the Heaven, according to the Catholic Church? (because “canonization”, “canonized saint” mean just that - the CC has infallibly discerned that the soul of the canonized saint is in Heaven) So, then, would a Protestant person say that it was OK to visit Padre Pio and ask his intercession while he was still alive, but now that he is deceased and his soul is in Heaven, it is no longer OK to pray to him and ask him to intercede with God for the healing of our loved ones?

 

[Roy5]

What about Protestant evangelists and their claims? Remember Oral Roberts? He said that God gave him the power to determine how many demons were in a person and then to cast them out?

There are hundreds of Protestant ministers - especially among the Pentecostalists - who believe in such healing, and many claim to have witnessed it. People walk who could not walk, talk who could not talk, even see who could not see. So, if true, the gift is distributed among various religious groups, suggesting that God may not have a favorite???

Personally, I tend to believe in faith healing. Oral Roberts once said that people often bring illness on themselves through their sins and other weaknesses, and that faith can conquer those illnesses and 'demons'. I think there may be something to that. I'm not sure it's God picking and choosing who to heal and who not to heal. Instead, in some believers mind can overcome matter, a genuine faith can help the body rid itself of certain illnesses.

Complex area, and I certainly haven't figured it out yet. But I'm skeptical when it comes to certain people being able to heal others. Perhaps if we believe they can heal us, it can happen. The power of faith.

 

[Joseph_L_Varga]

What about Protestant evangelists and their claims? Remember Oral Roberts? He said that God gave him the power to determine how many demons were in a person and then to cast them out?

There are hundreds of Protestant ministers - especially among the Pentecostalists - who believe in such healing, and many claim to have witnessed it. People walk who could not walk, talk who could not talk, even see who could not see. So, if true, the gift is distributed among various religious groups, suggesting that God may not have a favorite???

Personally, I tend to believe in faith healing. Oral Roberts once said that people often bring illness on themselves through their sins and other weaknesses, and that faith can conquer those illnesses and 'demons'. I think there may be something to that. I'm not sure it's God picking and choosing who to heal and who not to heal. Instead, in some believers mind can overcome matter, a genuine faith can help the body rid itself of certain illnesses.

Complex area, and I certainly haven't figured it out yet. But I'm skeptical when it comes to certain people being able to heal others. Perhaps if we believe they can heal us, it can happen. The power of faith.

I would have no problem at all with the concept that certain Protestant persons received the charism of healing others, through their prayers. I cannot comment on Oral Roberts specifically, because I don’t know much about him. But why not, why couldn’t be certain non-Catholic people endowed with that specific gift? I know of an Eastern Orthodox saint, a Russian man named St. John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco. He died in 1967, he is buried at the Russian EO Cathedral at San Francisco, and his body is miraculously incorrupt like St. Padre Pio’s body. This EO saint was an extremely great miracle worker already during his own life-time, just like Padre Pio. In fact I have a great devotion to St. John Maximovitch and I pray that one day, when the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches reunite, St. Padre Pio and St. John Maximovitch will be venerated side-by-side. They were contemporaries, they died only 1 or 2 years apart, and their lives were very similar. Both were great ascetics, men of prayer, and God allowed some rather unbelievable miracles to happen at their intercession.

I also agree with the other point you raise, namely that the person asking for a miracle should have faith. He/she must have actually enough faith to believe that his/her request for a miracle will be granted.

But my studies indicate that a person with enough faith may not be able to heal himself/herself, however God my allow someone else with the special charism (gift) for healing, to heal this person who has enough faith. Thus, the person may not be able to heal himself/herself, but someone like Padre Pio may intercede for him/her and obtain his/her healing, if the person requesting it has enough faith, and if this request does not conflict with God’s plans for this person. We should not forget, God may want a person to suffer, even if the person is a very good person and has a lot of faith. And a good person will accept that, that God may have a special plan for him/her, a plan that involves this person suffering and uniting his/her own suffering to the suffering of Jesus Christ. Just as the Apostle St. Paul had to suffer, in order to share in the cross of our savior, we might be asked as well to suffer and thus share in the cross of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we committed some great sin, or that we don’t have enough faith to heal ourselves. It might simply mean that God has a different plan for us.

 

[Joseph_L_Varga]

**St. John Maximovitch smiling **

Regarding St. John Maximovitch of Shanghai and San Francisco (1896-1966), the recent Eastern Orthodox saint and miracle worker who was a contemporary of the Catholic saint Padre Pio, I quote below some stories of miracles that happened at his intercession, both before and after his death.

However, before going into what kind of man he was, and why he was so highly favored by God that he was able to mightily intercede for others, and perform all those wonders and miracles, here’s what **St. John Maximovitch himself **had to say about intercession:

“**Holiness is **not simply righteousness, for which the righteous merit the enjoyment of blessedness in the Kingdom of God, but rather such a height of righteousness that men are filled with the grace of God to the extent that it flows from them upon those who associate with them. Great is their blessedness; it proceeds from personal experience of the Glory of God. Being filled also with love for men, which proceeds from love of God, they are responsive to men’s needs, and upon their supplication they appear also as intercessors and defenders for them before God.”

Quote from:

orthodoxphotos.com/Holy_Fathers/St._John_Maximovitch/

**Ascetic **

It was his own students who first became aware of Vladika’s great feat of asceticism. At night they noticed that Vladika would stay up, making the rounds of the dormitories and praying over the sleeping students. Finally, it was discovered that he scarcely slept at all, and never in a bed, allowing himself only an hour or two each night of uncomfortable rest in a sitting position, or bent over on the floor, praying before icons. This ascetic feat he continued for the rest of his life.

…was elevated to the episcopate of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and was sent to Shanghai, China… …founded an orphanage, and himself gathered sick and starving children off the streets. He always wore clothing of the cheapest Chinese fabric and often went barefoot, sometimes having given his sandals away to some poor man. Vladika celebrated Divine Liturgy and received Holy Communion daily, as he did for the rest of his life.

Wonderworker

In Shanghai it became evident that Vladika was not only a righteous man, but a true ascetic, a man of prayer and a wonderworker. Once in Shanghai Vladika John was asked to the bed of a dying child, whose case had been called hopeless by the physicians. Entering the apartment, Vladika John went straight to the room in which the sick boy lay, although no one had managed yet to show him where this was. Without examining the child. Vladika immediately fell down in front of the icon in the corner, which was very characteristic of him and prayed for a long time. Then, assuring the relatives that the child would recover, he quickly left. And in fact the child became better towards morning and he soon recovered, so that a physician was no longer needed.

Vladika loved to visit the sick and if the condition of a patient would become critical, he would go to him at any hour of the day or night to pray at his bedside. There were cases when patients would cry out to Vladika in the middle of the night from their hospital beds, and from the other end of the city Vladika would come.

**Man of Prayer **

With the coming of the communists, the Russians in China were forced once again to flee, most through the Philippines. At one time 5,000 of the refugees were living in an International Refugee Organization camp on the island of Tubabao, located in the path of the seasonal typhoons.

When the fear of typhoons was mentioned by one Russian to the Filipinos, they replied that there was no reason to worry, because “your holy man blesses your camp from four directions every night.” They referred to Vladika John, for no typhoon struck the island while he was there.

In trying to resettle his flock, Vladika went to Washington, and through his intervention, almost the whole camp was miraculously able to come to America - including his orphanage.

In 1951 Vladika was sent to Western Europe. Here too his reputation for holiness spread - and not only among the Orthodox. In one of the Catholic churches of Paris, a priest strove to inspire his young people with these words: “you demand proofs, you say that now there are neither miracles nor saints. Why should I give you theoretical proofs, when today there walks in the streets of Paris a saint - Saint Jean Nu-Pieds (St. John the Barefoot)”.

Finally, in 1962, Vladika was sent to San Francisco …
…

**Alive after Death **

On June 19/July 2, 1966, during a visit to Seattle with the wonderworking Kursk Icon of the Mother of God, Vladika peacefully gave his soul to the Lord Whom he had served so faithfully during his earthly life. His unembalmed body was flown to San Francisco where for six days it lay in the cathedral in an open coffin, while thousands of the faithful came to say their last farewell to the beloved archpastor. Even after the sixth day it was noticed that there was no sign of decay.

Archbishop John was laid to rest in a small basement chapel under the altar of the cathedral… …His sepulchre became a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of people in need of his strong intercession before the throne of God. The many cases of answered prayer only confirm Vladika’s words to one of his devoted servants when, after his death, he appeared to her in a dream and said: “Tell the people: although I have died, I am alive!”

On June 19/July 2, 1994 St. John Maximovitch was canonized in San Francisco and his relics rest today in the Joy of All Who Sorrow Cathedral for all the faithful to venerate.

 

[Joseph_L_Varga]

One of the last pictures of St. John Maximovitch, San Francisco, 1966

Here are some testimonies of miracles that happened at St. John Maximovitch’s intercession,** after his death**.

Quoted from:

fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/johnmx1.htm

The manager of the St. Tikhon Zadonsky Home and long a devoted servant of Vladika, M. A. Shakmatova, saw a remarkable dream. A crowd of people carried Vladika in a coffin into St. Tikhon’s Church; Vladika came to life and stood in the royal doors anointing the people and saying to her, “Tell the people: although I have died, I am alive!”

As during his life time, Vladika continues to be very active in helping those who need him. Here are just two of the thousands of cases of Vladika’s miracles. Victor Boyton, who witnessed the healing of his friend by Vladika John, recounts: “The miracle occurred after I had received the copyright to the English publication of Orthodox Life from Jordanville, N.Y., which included photos of Vladika John. I had a friend, a Moslem from Russia, who was suffering from cancer of the blood and was losing his sight. The doctors concurred that in three months time he would be blind. Placing the picture of Vladika John by my vigil light, I began to pray daily for my friend. After a short period of time my friend was healed from the blood cancer and began to see normally. The eye doctors were amazed at this occurrence. From then on, my friend has lead a normal life and reads without impediment.”

The archpriest Stephan Pavlenko recollects: “My brother Paul, although not in the military, lived for some years in Vietnam. There he sought children who were wounded or orphaned due to the then continuing war. He placed them either in orphanages or hospitals. Thus he became close with his future wife, a certain Vietnamese Kim En who was also involved with helping the unfortunate children. My brother introduced Kim to the Christian faith and to the lives of many of God’s Saints. She told my brother that during her very difficult times there appeared to her in her dreams a certain monk who consoled her and told her what to do. Once, towards Easter time, I sent my brother some cassettes of monastic songs as well as some books and journals of a spiritual context. Having received my parcel and having shown the spiritual literature to Kim he was surprised, when upon seeing the cover of a certain journal she exclaimed: `This is the monk who appears to me in my sleep!’ She pointed to a well known picture of Vladika John, taken among the graves of the Novo Diveevo monastery in Spring-Valley. In suit, Kim was baptized in the Orthodox Church with the name Kyra.”

continued…

 

[Joseph_L_Varga]

…continued - quote from:

fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/johnmx1.htm

Some Recent Miracles of St. John.

…the people of Russia… …experienced healings through his prayers, as the following accounts testify.

1. Valentina A. is a member of our parish which is dedicated to the Reigning Icon of the Mother of God. Having read the book on the healings and life of St. John of San Francisco (Blessed John the Wonderworker), she came to me after church services and asked for oil from the lampada in the sepulchre of Archbishop John, as her daughter was seriously sick. Valentina A. recounted that her daughter, an architect by profession, had a swelling in her breast. It grew and the daughter turned to a doctor for help. The diagnosis was a frightful one, cancer of the breast. I had Unction served over the daughter and later gave her cotton saturated with oil from Archbishop John’s lampada. She anointed the ailing spot several times by making the Sign of the Cross. The doctors insisted on surgery, but when she came to the hospital for observation, the doctors and the sick woman herself were amazed: the swelling had disappeared and there remained only a scar. (1994)

1. Our altar boy, Oleg S., asked me after church services to anoint his hand. There was a swelling on it the size of a chicken egg. I anointed him with the oil of Archbishop John in a cross-like form in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the acolyte left for home. After a week, I asked Oleg about his hand. He said he himself did not even notice when that swelling had disappeared. (1995)

1. Some time later, after Divine Liturgy, a Moleben was served with a Blessing of the Water. At the end of the Moleben, I anointed all communicants with the oil of St. John Maximovitch. I also anointed Olga. After a week, she was again at services and stood weeping. I asked her why she was weeping and all she could say was that everything was fine. Her husband, a military man, later came to me and told me that her leg had developed some infected growths. These growths had rapidly become ulcerous and had begun to multiply. The sight was awful. She turned to doctors but they simply shrugged their shoulders and could say nothing concrete. They gave her various creams but these did not help her.

Alter Holy Communion, Alga had been anointed with the oil of St. John. At home she sprinkled her legs with holy water and went to bed. In the morning, she saw no ulcers at all on her legs. Therefore, at the next church service, Olga wept from gratitude and was too emotional to tell us by herself. June, 1995)

1. Another parishioner of mine, Nadezhda, told me that her son Michael caught a severe cold and had a convulsive cough which only grew worse. She began to treat him with various medications. In the evening he would begin to fall asleep but the cough continued to torment him. Each minute he would be racked by this cough. His mother, a professional medical worker, was very frightened because at one time he had been rushed to the hospital by ambulance with these same symptoms. At this time, Nadezhda was reading the book on St. John Maximovitch and his miraculous healings. The mother began to pray, asking help from St. John, that he would heal her son. Having prayed, she came over to her sleeping son, crossed him and turned him on the other side. Some time later, the cough stopped and the boy quietly slept until morning. She no longer gave him any medication, only some holy water. For several days, her son would occasionally cough, but the convulsive fits did not return, and he became quite well. The mother was very thankful to Archbishop John for the healing of her son and continues to pray to him with gratitude. (April, 1995)

Hieromonk Cyril Osipov

Astrakhan, Russia

 

[Joseph_L_Varga]

http://www.michaeljournal.org/images/Pio9.jpg

http://www.michaeljournal.org/images/Piod.jpg

And here’s just one example of a miracle that happened at the beloved Catholic saint Padre Pio’s intercession, during his lifetime. Our late Pope John Paul II (then known as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla) himself requested Padre Pio’s intercession in this case, in 1962. Is this evidence strong enough to you, Roy5?

Quote from:

michaeljournal.org/stpio.htm

…an event that took place in 1962. Young Bishop Wojtyla was then in Rome, attending Vatican II. He received from Krakow a letter which informed him that one of his main collaborators, Dr. Wanda Poltawska, a doctor in psychiatry with whom he had worked a lot in family services, was seriously ill with throat cancer. The doctors had decided to operate on her, but the hope of saving her was almost nil.

Wojtyla learned of the news with great sorrow, not only because she was a personal friend of his, but also because she was still young with four children, who would have become orphans. Medicine could do nothing. Wojtyla thought about Padre Pio. He wrote to Padre Pio a letter in Latin, which was handed to the Capuchine priest by Msgr. Angelo Battisti, who was working at the Secretary of State of the Vatican, and also the administrator of the House for the Relief of Suffering, the hospital founded by Padre Pio.

Msgr. Battista handed the letter to Padre Pio, who replied, after having read it: **“Angelo, I cannot say no to this request.” **

Eleven days later, Msgr. Battisti returned to San Giovanni Rotondo, with a second letter of Archbishop Wojtyla, in which he thanked Padre Pio, saying:** “The lady who was ill with cancer was suddenly healed before entering the operating room.”**

The dialogue begun in 1947 between Padre Pio and Karol Wojtyla continued. The admiration and esteem of Karol Wojtyla for Padre Pio increased after the death of the monk. Archbishop Wojtyla was the first one to send a letter in Rome to ask for the opening of the beatification process. On May 25, 1987, Pope John Paul II made a pastoral visit to San Giovanni Rotondo, to kneel and pray at Padre Pio’s tomb. And it is he, Karol Wojtyla, now Pope John Paul II, who now officially declares Padre Pio a saint.

http://www.michaeljournal.org/images/piotomb.jpg

**John Paul II praying at Padre Pio’s tomb
in San Giovanni Rotondo on May 25, 1987. **