God's Fingerprints

                                  Shroud of Turin

Religious man can be compared to a detective who searches for God all his life. Just as fingerprints are a clear sign to the investigator of one's presence, so too can one see signs of God's action in attributes of creation, certain events, specific objects, and certain persons.

This post contains a list of various examples of where the 'hand of God' can be seen. A number of 'fingerprints' have already been worked out in separate posts; and I would like to refer you to the existing literature for a more extensive description of the other traces of God.

• Nature (living and inanimate) exhibits an intrinsic order that on the one hand has great complexity, but is nevertheless understandable. This complex order has long been studied extensively by many scientists; humankind also tries to reproduce this order. The production of nature can therefore be associated with a great intelligence (a Creator).

∗ Constants of nature (such as the strength of gravity and the electric and magnetic attractions) and the properties of the earth (its size, rotational speed, position, etc.) show a fine-tuning for life (see the post The Anthropic Principle); it is astonishing how simple the laws of nature are, given the complexity and diversity of life they enable.

† Beauty is everywhere; a landscape, a sunset, the (full) moon, the starry sky, etc. have given many a religious experience, made them aware of the 'supernatural'.

∈ Human creativity (music, architecture, art, literature, science) is enormous, especially given our biological resemblance to animals; this suggests something immaterial in man and raises the question of where that has come from. In addition considering certain (religious) pieces of music or works of art can be experienced as 'heavenly'.

× Our free will (see the post Quantum Free Will & Entropic Irreversibility) makes creativity possible, just as (acts of) love. Examples of heroic self-sacrifice (in disasters, accidents, illness or old age) go against natural self-interest and so in this God's presence can be seen as well.

♥ Religion is a central element of every (ancient) civilization; it is deeply human to seek the divine. Where does that urge come from? Would there be nothing to be found at all?

# The Jewish people are unique: in their four thousand years of existence, they have always been small in number, persecuted and expelled, but have never ceased to exist and are even extremely successful (economically, scientifically, technically); does this not indicate help and protection from God as their (unique) revelations also claim?

∆ The preaching, miracles, Death & Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth are the constant inspiration for many millions of martyrs. For what other person are so many people willing to give their lives? Then you must indeed be very convinced of His exceptional claims?! Partly because of all these "blood testimonies" Christianity has become the largest religion in the world.

∝ The victory at Lepanto over the overwhelming Turkish fleet (1571), the most surprising departure of the Russians from Austria (1955), the preservation of Brazil from communism (1964), the peaceful overthrow of the Philippine dictator Marcos (1986) and the nonviolent fall of communism (1989, especially in Poland) are examples of political events that, due to (rosary) prayer of Catholics, went very differently than could have been humanly expected (see further the post on Rosary Miracles).

≺ The hegemony of 'the West' indicates that it has something which the rest doesn't have; even (communist) Chinese sociologists have concluded that this must be Christianity and so that this inspires people, see also the post on Catholic Civilization.

† Libraries full of books have been written on the Shroud of Turin (1st century AD, see image on the front); besides, the tilma of Guadalupe (from 1531, see also the post La milagrosa Guadalupana) converted ten million Aztecs in ten years. Both are exceptional objects that have undergone a great deal of scientific study, but many of the results have no (natural) explanation.

¶ Jesuits in Hiroshima & Marytown in Nagasaki survived atomic explosions (Japan, 1945). St Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941 AD) inspired by heaven had founded Marytown behind the hill that would protect them from the blast. The Jesuits lived only one km from the center of the explosion without natural protection (up to three km away practically everything was destroyed). Both were strongly religious communities with a focus on the rosary.

°More than 142 eucharistic miracles have been recognized by the Catholic Church after thorough (scientific) research that declared them to be inexplicable. The most striking example is Lanciano (Italy, ≈ 700): the eucharistic bread turned into living heart tissue of a crucified man?!

¢ The Miracle of the Sun in Fatima (Portugal, 1917) was heralded by apparitions to three shepherd children. About 70,000 people showed up, the miracle could be seen up to 18 kilometers away, atheists reported it, and it dried the soaked earth instantly.

‡ The Marian statue of Akita (Japan) is an example of an officially recognized blood, tears or oil shedding religious statue. Its weeping was televised and led to the sudden healing of Sr Sasagawa. Because fraud is also committed with weeping images,  recognition only follows after careful scientific research that concludes that the phenomena are humanly inexplicable.

✄ Celestial apparitions have occurred throughout history and are recently increasing. Zeitoun (Egypt, 1968) is an example with millions of witnesses. Nearly two dozen are ecclesiastically recognized as being "certainly of supernatural origin." It is striking that most of the apparitions are of Mary; this indicates her important role in God's plan.

◦ Lourdes (France, since 1858) has the best known of the many healing springs. Millions of people claim to have received healing there; 69 of them, after rigorous testing, are officially recognised as a humanly inexplicable healing through Mary's intercession.

§ About 16 thousand people have been canonized; basically two medical miracles are required for each canonization. These special lives testify to having strongly experienced God.

♥ St Bernadette of Lourdes (died 1879) looks like a newly-dead in a 'heavenly' condition. In total there are more than 250 saints on whom the natural decomposition process does not seem to have any hold. These imperishable bodies remind us of the promise of the final resurrection of our bodies. 

+ Throughout history many have been stigmatized i.e. they bore Christ's wounds; these did not heal naturally and often blood flowed without end without exhausting the wearer. St Francis and Therese Neumann (Bavaria, 1898-1962 AD) are two well-known examples. Therese carried the stigmata for 36 years and physically experienced Jesus' suffering (mainly on fridays). Explicable cases (auto-suggestion or self-inflicted ones) in no way negate the authenticity of the rest.

^ Marthe Robin (France, 1902-1981 AD) was bedridden from an age of 21 and was instrumental in the creation of various new movements and communities. Moreover, Marthe lived for 50 years only of the eucharist. At least a dozen people have done that as well for a longer or shorter time (e.g. blessed Alexandrina da Costa for 13 years, in part under strict observation, until her death in 1955 AD in Balasar, Portugal; there also a miraculous Cross has been present in the ground since 1832 AD). Jesus' words come to mind: "Man does not live by bread alone." 

¢ Others, such as St Joseph of Cupertino (Italy, 1603-1663 AD), had the gifts of levitation. Joseph was a Franciscan, a 'holy simpleton' and was called 'the flying saint' because he often took off during ecstasy (to his own shame!).

@ Clelia Barbieri (Italy, 1847-1870 AD, 'voice from heaven') had founded a congregation at age 21, as the youngest ever, before she died of tuberculosis when she was 23. After that, her voice was heard regularly (as part of a group) in lectures and hymns in monasteries and parishes she had visited. It was described as "incomparable to anything from earth."

∗ St Christina the Miraculous (Belgium, 1150-1224 AD) suddenly stood up during her funeral, after which she went to do penance alternately under ice and in a glowing furnace. It became too much for others, she was imprisoned, but broke her chains. High-ranking people asked her for advice. After her second death she rose to comfort a fellow sister; her third death was final. [even when her story might be somewhat exaggerated, there's a reason she's called 'the miraculous'?!]

† St Francis Xavier (Spain 1506-1582 AD) is co-founder of the Jesuits and patron saint of the mission; he baptized more than 100 thousand people in less than 10 years from India to Japan and raised countless dead people!

≺ St Vincent de Ferrer (Spanish Dominican, ≈1350-1419 AD) converted over 200,000 people, was understood by non-native speakers & raised over 30 dead. Local universities even stopped their lectures when he came to preach in their city.

♥ Cor et Lumen Christi (England, since 1990) is a charismatic lay community where the eucharist takes a central place. They regularly organize faith healing services where no less than a quarter of the attendees are healed?!

✄ Bilocation, clairvoyance and prophecy are some of the many gifts of St Padre Pio (Italy, 1887-1968 AD), a simple Capuchin friar about whom many books are written.

If you now have become curious about better getting to know God  in your life, some options are: reading the Bible, praying by yourself, visiting houses of God, receiving the sacraments and putting the faith into practice. 

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, salud!

PS for those wondering how miracles do not break the laws of physics but can be compatible with them: Quantum Mechanics itself provides a mechanism for expressing our free will (see the separate post on that topic); besides, laws of physics are only valid without external influences; and finally, like a perfect billiard player, God could also perfectly control any circumstance by having precisely determined the initial conditions of the universe!