Unexpected Miracles

by Gunther Simmermacher · Published January 29, 2024 · Updated April 3, 2024

Dear Reader,

Our cover story this month is on Lourdes, the site of Our Lady’s reported apparitions in 1858 to the peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous. Apart from our cover feature, which begins on page 14, there is a running thread of Lourdes-related references in this issue, from the monthly “From Our Vaults” feature on page 5 to the “History In Colour” photo on the backcover.

February 11 is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes — and, related to that, the World Day of the Sick — so a feature on the story of this great shrine is appropriate. But why this year? Well, the prompt was a good film that was released last year called The Miracle Club. Set in the 1960s, it tells the story of a group of Irish women who go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, where they find healings — of kinds they did not expect.

One character is upset to learn that there have been “only” 70 miracles at Lourdes, having expected a much higher figure. Of course the number of miracles is much higher; the 70 are only those that were officially approved. But the miracles that occur at Lourdes, or at Fatima or at Knock or at any holy site, are uncountable, diverse and — as the film’s protagonists learn — often unexpected.

I, too, have a story of an inexplicable cure following a pilgrimage to Lourdes. It might not withstand a rigorous Church investigation, but if you and I should meet one day, and you ask me about it, I shall gladly tell that story.

This year, Valentine’s Day coincides with Ash Wednesday. We look at the implication of that on page 25 (beneath a great reflection on Lent and prayer).

While on February 14 our fasting must take precedence over the romantic dinner, February is still a good time to look at romance and love. This month, three writers are sharing superb insights on the subject. On page 23, Theresa Kiser reflects on how to manage expectations in romantic love; on page 29 Fr Ron Rolheiser discusses the pitfalls of falling in love;, and on page 27 Robyn Harry notes that even when romantic love is elusive, a much greater love is available to us at all times.

We also address two important social and moral issues. To mark the 27th anniversary of the legalisation of abortion in South Africa, we look at what Pope Francis has said on the subject.

And for the feast of St Josephine Bakhita, the Sudanese slave who became a nun in Italy, Bishop Joseph Kizito of Aliwal North highlights the evil of human trafficking, and calls all of us to action in combatting this modern form of slavery.

I remember vividly that Friday the 13th in February 2004 when I received a telephone call from Durban to inform me that Archbishop Denis Hurley had just died, suddenly and peacefully. The news was hardly a shock; the archbishop was 88 years old, after all. But, as it was later with the deaths of Mandela or Tutu, the passing of Denis Hurley marked the closing of a rich chapter in the book of South Africa — even if the nation now tends to exclude from its memory the man on whose shoulders the Christian opposition to apartheid stood, as Archbishop Tutu once put it so memorably.

Archbishop Hurley remains relevant today. The Durban centre named after him is continuing his charism, in the areas of social solidarity with those at the margins — in ways that go beyond the distribution of charity — and in fostering concrete ecumenical and interfaith cooperation.

Fittingly, Raymond Perrier, the founding director of the Denis Hurley Centre, on page 28 reflects on the man whose legacy he and his colleagues are inspired to live out every day.

We mark the 20th anniversary of Hurley’s passing with an article on his life-long relationship with The Southern Cross, a publication he wrote to as a young boy, contributed to from Vatican II, and for which he wrote the last article to be published in his lifetime.

Our Saint of the Month is Bl Benedict Daswa. We featured him on our cover as recently as June 2021, but since then our readership has grown substantially. We feel it is time that his story be told again, so that this South African saint may become ever better known.

It is important that devotion to Bl Daswa grows, not only to increase the chances for the miracle that is needed for his canonisation, but also because he is a great model of integrity and courage, in a country where his brave example is so desperately needed.

Thank you for reading The Southern Cross, and please tell your friends about your monthly Catholic magazine.

God bless,
Günther Simmermacher
(Editor)