Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-14
CHURCH TO RESERVE.
miracle" RULING,
DR.. H. 7. HENRY SAYS
Investigation of Reported
Grave Cures May Be Un-
dertaken, He Ayers.
ROME WOULD WEIGH
EVIDENCE OF CASE
Catholic University Professor Tells
of Rigid Requirements by Which
Proof Is Measured.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

A few days ago, attendants In q
Massachusetts cemetery observed some
nondescript visitors dipping rainwater
from depressions on an obscure grave.
Folks do strange things In graveyards,
where grief and reverence may combine
to produce fantastic behavior, so the
attendants at first barely noticed the
incidents.
But more and more persons came,
kneeling on the mound, plucking blades
of dead grass, trampling over surround
ing graves. Day after day the throngs
increased until they no longer could be
ignored. The old Irish Catholic ceme-
terry at Maiden had become, for no OBJ
vious reason, the center Of one Of the
greatest and most colorful religious
spectacles the New World has known.
The climax came on ArmiStice day,
when more than 10000 persons from
all over New England flocked there.
Memory Of His Life Lost.
The grave was that of young priest
who died go years ago, presumably at
the outset of his ministry, and the
strangest part Of 1t all was that nobody
seemed to know anything about him.
Practically all memory of his life and
personality had been lost. 1t was
known only that he had lived and died.
Somehow, mySteriouSly and without
warning, an idea had arisen thar there
was some miracle-working potency in
his grave Where it came from nobody
knows. 1t seems to have appeared sud-
denly in the group consciousness Of
thousands of individuals.
Some claim to have been cured
miraculouSly Of various bodily ills, to
have gone to the grave crippled and
walked away whole.
In the face of such a remarkable
phenomenon, says the Right Rev. Hugh
T. Henry, professor of homiletics at
Catholic University, the attitude Of the
church will be to reserve Judgment on
the whole matter until the present
excitement has died away, when an in
vestigation may be undertaken by the
local bishop If it appears that there is
anything worthy Of investigating.
Church Believes in Miracles.
The church, DR.. Henry pointed out,
believes frankly in the possibility Of
miracles in the present day, but is ex-
tremely rigid in its demands for proof
that an event cannot be explained
satisfactorily by known laws of nature,
which would throw out sensational
cures of functional ailments in most
instances. Great spontaneous pilgrim
ages of this nature, he says, are not new
in the history of the church and some
times die down without any further
notice being taken of them,
Following the investigation by the
ecclesiastical authorities at Boston II
thay decide to make any, Rev. DR..
Henry said, all the evidence will go
to Rome, where it will be subjected to
such a severe examination that it will
be impossible for any flaws to escape
notice. The dificulty of meeting the
requirements is so great, he pointed out,
that although apparent miracles are
reported often, up to the present the
claims of only two Americans as cam
didates for canonization have been rec
ognized. One was a poor Indian girl
and the other a distinguished church.
man. Both cases were attended by
events which seemed to transcend nat
ural causes.
Almost Blinded by Disease.
The first was that of Catharine Teg-
awitha, an Algonquin Indian known as
the Lily of the Mohawks, who died in
1880 in her twenty-fourth year. She
was the daughter of Christian Algon-
Quin woman who had been captured
by the IroquoiS. Both her parents died
Of smallpox when she was q child and
she herself was disfgured and almost
blinded by the disease.
NOIlNcIOcQ 10 NLIlSVldIllIy ny JCouAt
missionaries, she met with such oppo-
sition from her own tribe that she was
forced to fee. and lived for the rest OF
her short life In a cabin with an old
SQuaw, devoting her whole life to the
practice OF religion. Apparently color
less as her life had been, authenticated
miracles were reported after her death.
The second case was that OF the
Right Rev. John N. Neumann, fourth
Bishop of Philadelphia, who died in
1866. He was member OF the Re-
demptorist Order, who came from Boz
hemia as missionary. The evidence
of supernatural intercession through
him Is so strong, DR.. Henry said, that
he has been made a venerable" the
first step in the progress toward canon
ization. His remains were placed In
vault before the altar of st. Peter Re-
demptorist Church, in Philadelphia,
which is visited annually by hundreds
seeking help
So rigidly was the evidence in Bishop
Neumann'S case considered in Rome,
DR.. Henry said, that one of the points
introduced by the devils advocate, the
Official who presents the contrary EVIL
dence. was that In his. old age he had
oeen addicted to the use of snuff. This,
the devils advocate insisted, constituted
surrender to temptations of the flesh
not entirely in keeping with sanity
character. The argument was over
come by testimony that he mixed salt
with the snuff to deprive himself of any
pleasure in its use.
Church Distinction Is Cited.
If further developments at Maiden
justified continued interest in the case,
DR.. Henry said, every shred Of evidence
possible to obtain concerning the life
ana character of this obscure young
priest will be secured and submitted to
Rome, with accounts of the present
manifestations.
The church, he pointed out, makes
careful distinction between miracles
that Is, events which seem to be directly
operated by God-and 'prodigies," re-
markable happenings which can be ex-
planned by natural law and which have |
no particular religious significance. AS
an Illustration of the latter, he described |
the case Of blind colored pianist for |
whom the claim was made that he could !
repeat any music after hearing 1t once, I
regardless Of its dificulty. Father Henry, '
himself composer, tested out this /
man with some music which he him.
self had composed but never published !
so that the colored man could not pos
sibly have been familiar with 1t. Yet |
he played it almost perfectly. After
ward the priest ascertained that the |
blind man was an imbecile, but with q /
brain so peculiarly constituted that II
seemed to echo" any sounds which |
came to 1t. Yet such q case could not
possibly be considered In the nature OF