Miracles

As a Christian your foundation of faith is built on miracles. The virgin birth and the resurrection of Christ - of course there are others. Miracles are coherent within the faith story. Outside of it, it is rational to be skeptical but then what good is rational behaviour when miracles are possible or proven historically?
 
It amazes me how many "Christians" do not believe in the Bible literally because it contains miracles. It is both unbelieving and idolatrous. Unbelieving because it does not believe what the Bible says. Idolatrous because it imposes a naturalistic standard onto Scripture. If God is who He says He is, then He is not confined by His own created rules. He transcends them all. Whatever makes sense, what is natural, He is Lord over. Whatever is chaotic, unnatural, He is still Lord over.

That's a different topic than whether Apostolic sign gifts are still normative in the Church today. I do not believe they are, but that does not mean I do not believe in miracles.
 
'A friend of mine couldn’t get out and he just sat down and held his cross in his hand,' Ms Place said.

'He survived, thankfully. He managed to get out and he broke a window to escape. And the fire just avoided him. The fire just didn’t touch him.

'I just want to thank the Lord for saving me, and I just want to ask him to save my friends who are missing, because it's horrible, because I miss them,' Ms Place added.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...crucifix-hand-fire-just-avoided-survived.html
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I agree with @GodfatherPartTwo that miracles like the apostles did shortly after Christ's ascension to heaven no longer occur today. Dramatic raising people from the dead, and telling totally wrecked cripples to simply stand up and walk. You see Pentecostal TV preachers claiming this, but I don't believe in it.

However, miracles do happen quietly in answer to prayer. Not on any kind of regular basis that can be repeated on demand. However, I think people do get healed miraculously of cancer, and other supernatural healings and blessings occur under the radar. Answers to prayer happen quite often, but usually not as supernatural miracles. However, even if they aren't dramatic things like raising people from the dead, they often are pretty amazing and exceptional. The most common miracle is the way lives are changed. People who are absolutely rotten and messed up often turn into blessed saints.
 
There was a miracle in Greece on April 16, 2017, when a military helicopter crashed in the fog after getting into a ravine and hitting a power line.

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Four officers were killed, but the lone female aboard, First Sergeant Vasiliki Plexida, made the sign of the cross at first impact with the wire and was saved by The Virgin Mary (Greeks call her Panagia, the All Holy). She was extracted from the aircraft in her chair by Our Holy Mother, which was ripped from the 1200 rivets holding it to the floor, and then rested below a nearby tree, facing away from the accident so that Mrs. Plexida would not witness the catastrophe to her comrades. All Greek aircraft carry an icon of the Panagia, which was sitting next to the sergeant in her chair.

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Until help arrived, Sgt. Plexida was comforted by The Virgin Mary for over two hours, who is also called Theotokos, meaning the God bearer. She described The Holy Mother as wearing a red cloak, but could not recall her facial features.

Her injuries were very serious and she was transported by another helicopter to a hospital, but the most serious problems were healed overnight by the Theotokos, who visited her again. She was well enough only three months later to be able to attend a commemoration at a monastery that included members of the military. She is on the left in the picture below wearing a neck brace.

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Eventually, she gave a full account to an audience that included Greek Orthodox clergy. Early in the video is a short clip from the monastery picture above. Everything spoken is in Greek.

Virgin Mary Saves First Sergeant from Certain Death said:
First Sergeant Vasiliki Plexida recounts the miracle she received when the helicopter she was boarding crashed in a ravine

On the morning of April 19, 2017, a Huey UH-1H helicopter of the Hellenic National Defense with a crew of five executing a planned flight from Larissa to Kozani crashed in the area of Sarantaporos, Elassona, Greece. Immediate rescue operations retrieved the bodies of four of the crew (Lieutenant Ioannis Tzanidakis, Colonel Thomas Adamou, Major Demosthenes Goula, and Lieutenant Konstantinos Hatzis.) Fifth crew member (First Sergeant Vasiliki Plexida) was located injured but in a stable and non-critical condition. She is being transported to 424 General Military Hospital in Thessaloniki.

The above is an unofficial translation of the brief issued by the Hellenic National Defense on April 19, 2017, which can be found in the following link: http://www.geetha.mil.gr/el/briefing-el/press-el/6004-ptwsh-elikopteroy-toy-sx.html

First Sergeant Vasiliki Plexida’s account of her miraculous rescue by Virgin Mary is very moving. She recounts that this was a planned flight and that the military helicopter took off from Stefanovikeio Airport at 7:20 a.m. Within minutes, while she was occupied registering [data], completing the helicopter’s file, suddenly, she lifted her head up and saw that they were in a ravine. She says:

“I heard a ‘bang!’. The helicopter hit and I remember bashing; my head, my body being thrust back and forth. I immediately did the sign of the cross and asked Virgin Mary’s help. I immediately saw her alive. She descended in front of me dressed in a red cloak and uprooted me. She lifted me up [along] with my seat and the floor. This is really difficult. Same as a surgical procedure given that it is attached with 1,200 rivets. She snatched me and She uprooted me. I felt the upward movement, the pull. She brought me out [of the helicopter]. This happened after I experienced the first collision, the first bangs.

And the helicopter continued to topple, cranks and everything falling in mid-air.

Virgin Mary placed me at [the base of] an evergreen oak tree in the far back and to the left in relation to the scene of the accident, with my back half-turned, [thus] not allowing me to have any images of the accident and our colleagues.

Aircrafts and helicopters were looking for us all morning but could not locate us. It was impossible to find us given that the passage [the ravine] had difficult access and nobody could see us from above. Only if someone arrived on foot [they would see us].

As we later learned, Virgin Mary guided the helicopter so that [as it toppled] it hit the central hydro (electricity) pole and in doing so, sliced it. (Translator’s Note: This, we understand, caused a power outage in the area, which allowed hydro workers to find the missing helicopter while they were searching for the damage that caused the outage). The neighbouring villages complained of the power outage and D.E.H. (Hellenic Electric Company) sent out an employee [to locate and inspect the damage]. Also, Virgin Mary did not allow the power cable to fall and touch the ground [after the pole was sliced] because if it did, all the mountain, which was drenched with fuel would have caught fire. And we would all have caught fire. When we went [back to the site of the accident] for the unveiling of the monument, it seemed as though the hydro cable was miraculous being held up by an unseen hand – something which cannot be explained.

For two and a half hours, Virgin Mary kept me company. She held me in her arms (I was seated in my seat all the time). She was holding me exactly as She is portrayed on the icon of Virgin Mary the Acrotyriani (Monastery of Virgin Mary the Evagelistria, on the Island of Serifos) and she was cuddling me as if I were a baby. To me, all this time seemed as if it were but one second but it was actually two and a half hours. The accident happened at 7:50 a.m. and they found me at 10:30 a.m. All these hours, I was with Virgin Mary. But I did not have any sense of the time, [or] of the place, nothing. She had me in Her arms and She said ‘hush, why are you afraid? I am here with you. I will send [people] to find you’. She spoke to me slowly, She was making me calm, She was giving me courage because I was in shock and she was saying, ‘please don’t be afraid, I am here.’ And so, after two and a half hours, the employee from D.E.H. [Hellenic Electric Company] came. Afterwards, he told me that he had come out there to see what had caused the power outage and when he came and encountered the scene, he felt there was something holy there with me. He said he sensed it. He felt awe and did the sign of the cross. He also said that Virgin Mary gave him strength too, in order to dispense first aid. He also told me that he found me seated on the [helicopter] seat with Virgin Mary’s icon on me.

Every helicopter has an icon of Virgin Mary on the dashboard. Everything that was recovered from the accident (except for the icon) was found at the front/right side of the helicopter wreckage as per the laws of physics. But nobody can explain how I got to where they found me [left/back]. Also, my things were placed one next to the other beside me with mathematical precision. And Virgin Mary’s icon [from the dashboard] was found on me.

Our cellular phones were all ringing – all five. When mine rang again, the D.E.H. employee answered it. He gave the message to the headquarters and the Super Puma [helicopter] came to rescue me. We went to Thessaloniki. I received treatment at the 424 General Military Hospital. The rescuers from the Super Puma told me that I was very calm and tranquil. And that I was conscious because I answered everything they asked me, exactly as things were. [At the hospital], they placed me on the gurney to take me for tests and later, when I had recovered a little, a doctor said to me ‘I endured a lot because of you. We were pulling your cross, the wooden cross from your neck to remove it in order to do the MRI and you suddenly got up and you grabbed me from the neck.’ I don’t recollect this event but if the doctor said it happened, then it did.

They did [many] tests. 15 different medical specialists were gathered for my case and could not believe what they saw. Of course, as my medical file states, my injuries were very serious and were critical for my life, post-hospitalization. The fractures were all very serious. My cranio-encephalic lesions were dangerous for the brain. I had fractures on the spinal column. One, in particular, was very critical because it had a hematoma right next to the spinal cord. The doctors said they feared for partial paralysis from the waist down. I had fractures on the bones of the left eye socket, the zygomatic bone, and the leg. The fractures on my sternum were very dangerous too as doctors worried about my heart. A hematoma in my brain was very dangerous for my cranial nerves. The first day I was in the intensive care unit (ICU) doctors were worried about the hematoma and were very reserved. The following day, Virgin Mary appeared to me in ICU and she took away all the pain. The hematoma was reabsorbed and the doctors could not believe [it happened] in less than 24 hours. I never had pain, I did not take any pain medication. My husband would visit me in the ICU and bring me the miracle-working oil of Virgin Mary. The second day I was in the ICU, my husband had been allowed to stay for only five minutes. And he worried that he had to leave me but I said to him ‘don’t you see, Virgin Mary is here. I am not alone’.

[In the ICU], Virgin Mary said to me ‘I want you to preach the miracle that you received so that everyone’s faith may become stronger [to be able to face] the events of the latter days that are coming’. And I promised her to do so.

The doctors initially said that I would stay [in hospital] for four months, then they said for two months. In the end, with Virgin Mary’s grace, I remained in hospital for only two and a half weeks.

The miracle I received is manifold. It starts with the greatest miracle of my rescue and goes all the way to my speedy recovery. Six and a half months later, not only would I not have been here (translator’s note: First Sergeant Vasiliki Plexida is recounting the miracle in front of an audience) but I would also not have been the way I am. And I owe it all to Virgin Mary who never forgets us. We forget them [God, Virgin Mary, our saints]. Faith is the biggest weapon we have. And when we ask for their help with faith and real repentance, they are there and they don’t forget us.

And I give glory to Virgin Mary and I will thank her all my life.”

The above translation is based on the testimony of First Sergeant Vasiliki Plexida as she recounts her miraculous rescue and recovery. The Greek version of her testimony can be found in the presentation on the following link:
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Some additional sources that have essentially the same story as above:

The Miraculous Deliverance of an Army Sergeant From a Helicopter Crash [pdf]

How a Recent Helicopter Crash Survivor in Greece Miraculously Survived

Three video news reports from the same day of the crash, all in Greek:

4 νεκροί αξιωματικοί και μια τραυματιας απο την πτώση ελικοπτέρου στο Σαραντάπορο 19 4 2017
4 officers dead and one injured in helicopter crash in Sarandaporos 19 4 2017
Thessaly Television
April 19, 2017


Η 27χρονη αρχιλοχίας πο γλίτωσε από τη τραγωδία 19 4 2017
The 27-year-old sergeant major escaped the tragedy 19 4 2017
Thessaly Television
Apr 19, 2017


Αρχιλοχίας / Sergeant Major
Apr 19, 2017


Sgt. Plexida's address to clergy and general audience about the event

Βασιλική Πλεξίδα όλη η ομιλία / Vasiliki Plexidas, the entire speech
Nov 18, 2017
Αναλυτική περιγραφή του θαύματος της Παναγίας από τη Βασιλική Πλεξίδα.
Detailed description of the miracle of the Virgin Mary from the Basilica Plexida.
 

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Read_Lives_of_Saints said:
There was a miracle in Greece on April 16, 2017, when a military helicopter crashed in the fog after getting into a ravine and hitting a power line.
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The wreckage looks unsurvivable, helicopters are the worst, when the rotor is gone or fails, which is where most of the energy is, all upward lift is lost and you're falling hard like a rock, nine meters per second squared, the heavy junk with you inside will accumulate a lot of energy before hitting the ground, a plane can sometimes glide if there's momentum left, or gained while descending after the engines had failed.


Three to six million people visit the Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes every year, the Church has recognized 72 miraculous healings.








Urban legends say organs are harvested while the donors are still alive:
www.popularmechanics.com

A ‘Dead’ Man Woke Up While Doctors Were Harvesting His Organs—Suggesting Death Isn’t Final

Is it truly “lights out” when we die?
www.popularmechanics.com www.popularmechanics.com
 
NSOE said:
The wreckage looks unsurvivable, helicopters are the worst, when the rotor is gone or fails, which is where most of the energy is, all upward lift is lost and you're falling hard like a rock, nine meters per second squared, the heavy junk with you inside will accumulate a lot of energy before hitting the ground, a plane can sometimes glide if there's momentum left, or gained while descending after the engines had failed.


Three to six million people visit the Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes every year, the Church has recognized 72 miraculous healings.








Urban legends say organs are harvested while the donors are still alive:
www.popularmechanics.com

A ‘Dead’ Man Woke Up While Doctors Were Harvesting His Organs—Suggesting Death Isn’t Final

Is it truly “lights out” when we die?
www.popularmechanics.com www.popularmechanics.com
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Under the right conditions, the rotor will spin without power, showing the descent of the helicopter. This is called auto-rotation, and it can enable a helicopter to land without power. It's the same principle that makes gyrocopters work. All helicopter pilots are trained to do this.

Unfortunately, there are still too many ways to die in a helicopter crash. I'm sure it was God's hand that saved her even in such a horrific crash that left the helicopter completely mangled.
 
Thomas More said:
This is called auto-rotation, and it can enable a helicopter to land without power. It's the same principle that makes gyrocopters work. All helicopter pilots are trained to do this.
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I've seen it on youtube, but a plane with no propeller is better than a helicopter without rotors.
 
Our daughter started having abnormal EKG waves and moderate valve regurgitation. She has a 5% of 5% rare, congenital heart defect. While there is a significant structural abnormality, she doesn’t have the other associated classic defects and hasn’t needed a major surgery as is typically done. She plays sports and is active. Anyway, they wanted to add another medication that has more serious side effects, and valve regurgitation is one thing that would lead to major interventions, especially since it’s on an atypical side. They would have to do open heart surgery. She received the sacrament of Holy Unction several years ago and not only is her EKG a normal sinus rhythm, but her valve regurgitation has been “trivial” for years now.

James 5:13-15
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
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And many other things. Glory to God for all things ☦️ For His mercy endures forever

Here is a page for St Gabriel, who reposed in 1995, listing many miracles:

Healings & Miracles of Saint Gabriel

Elder Gabriel was a Georgian Orthodox monk venerated for his dedicated monastic life and piety. With many miracles ascribed to him, Gabriel's grave at Mtskheta has attracted an increasing number of pilgrims from all over the world. The Georgian Orthodox Church officially canonized him as Holy...
monkgabriel.ge monkgabriel.ge
 
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