The Book of Miracles: Extraordinary Events in Ordinary Lives

by Malcolm Day

Arranged chronologically from the years of the ministry of Christ to the present day, this inspiring volume reviews unusual events and visions that have been extensively documented but which defy scientific explanation. Dozens of stories are told, each in the context of its time, with evocative illustrations to inspire today's readers. Nature miracles recounted include Christ walking on the water and his feeding of five thousand disciples. Healing miracles include Christ's healing of the ten lepers and his raising of Lazarus from the dead. Later miracles include the dramatic conversion of Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity in AD 312, and the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, Poland, which for centuries has protected its monastery from sieges by outsiders. Here too are accounts of miraculous apparitions of the Virgin Mary by St. James the Apostle, Bernadette of Lourdes, and the three children at Fatima Portugal. Accounts of other miracles involve the Shroud of Turin, the works of St. Francis of Assisi, and the vision of the Italian monk, Padre Pio, who reportedly protected his church from bombing during World War II. This fascinating and inspiring book is beautifully produced, and includes more than 130 color illustrations.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2002

Reviews

[Rod Horncastle]

I'm a guy who believes in Jesus' miracles, a floating zoo, 1 specific talking donkey (not a friend of Shrek), and parting a particular sea as well as riding in a whale. But this book? Mostly no.

The very picturesque glossy book was most likely pumped out as Catholic Propaganda to the gullible masses. It starts out interesting enough: showing the New Testament miracles of Jesus, Paul, Mary, Lazarus, and meeting a demon or two. Well done, sticking with the Biblical text.
Then it branches off into Roman Catholic mysticism (basically Benny Hinn and Charismatic shenanigans throughout the church age - last 1900 years).

WE have Jesus and Mary popping up everywhere, on the globe, and mostly standing around being ghostly. Which is interesting; because the author appears to have another book called, wait for it: GHOSTS. After people get bored of Ghostly apparitions then we move on to endless crying and bleeding statues and church relics.

I'm always more interested in the people behind these freaky-religious claims. It appears that 100% of them are desperately emotional passionate mystic charismatics - of course they are going to see something out of the ordinary. Maybe that's what happens when you meditate too long or have some nasty religious pride that must be validated to prove how special you are. WE don't get any great Bible scholars and theologians seeing modern miracles like these - only church nutters and left-over Catholic Saints, or children.

Here's some after-Bible miracles you may have heard of:
The Holy Family of Bordeaux (1822)
Sister Anna Ali (1987)
The Black Madonna (1382)
The Flying Monk (1943)
St. Bernadette of Lourdes (1858)
Knock, Ireland (1879)
Fatima, Portugal (1917)
Mama Rosa of San Damiano (1961)

And the always popular: St. Francis of Assisi (1224) and the classic Turin Shroud of Jesus (never heard from until the 1350's).


WE even get a picture of a floating VIRGIN (not any more) Mary above a church in Zeitun, Egypt (1968). It looks like a fuzzy FUZZY... basically that's it - white light at night. If God went through the motions of giving us a magical appearance, you would think he'd want us take some better pictures. Guess not.

WE even get 3 homegrown miracles:
1) Bleeding tabernacle and stigmata Audrey Santo in Worcester, Massachusetts (1996). And don't forget the weeping engraved angels - that's a given at this point.
2) A stigmata priest and weeping Madonna statue in Lake Ridge, Virginia (1991).
3) And Canada's very own Weeping Madonna from Toronto, Ontario (1996)... please take a bow. Apparently it left a puddle on the floor - the janitor may not have been pleased.
____________________
These are all very short accounts. More to jostle the memory and point to things that can be explored much deeper. But, getting to the truth is never easy. Even this book mentions that many of these miracles were inspected by experts and scientists/doctors - which ones exactly? Doesn't say.

As a Christian I indeed believe God can easily do miracles and healings. I also think Satan and demons can muck about as well. You can go on youtube and watch endless charismatic false-prophets throwing people about with holy spirit power and healing a person with an unseen disease or illness. I agree with the skeptical internet group "Why Doesn't God Heal Amputee's?".
Best to ignore small miracles from religious loonies and charlatans.

[Anne]

This is a sweet little book that I would love to read an updated edition on! I loved reading about so many different miracles that have happened throughout time, and the physical and spiritual healing that befell on people because of them. It's beautiful to read extraordinary things Jesus will do to remind us that he loves us and what he has in store for us!

I also really appreciated that some miracles were accompanied by small segments that include what skeptics or scientists said about a miracle occurring. I made me curious and encouraged me to look into it more! There were also miracles that I have never heard of, and I got to learn a lot more about the extraordinary lives of faithful people.

I would highly recommend this book for beginners who want to discover more about miracles. This is the perfect place to get your curiosity going! However, keep in mind that since this book was published around 2002, there is no miraculous records after this year.

[Donna Rochow - Poljarevic]

curiosity led me to read this book, I enjoyed this book, it was insightful and easy to read

[Edie]

I liked it a lot!!