This article is the seventh in a 10-part series that will explore miracles as proof of the truths of Catholic doctrine. In this installment, we consider some of the numerous miracles attributed to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary including those attributed to the Holy Rosary as well as some of her many apparitions on earth.
Father John Hardon defines a miracle as follows: “A sensibly perceptible effect, surpassing at least the powers of visible nature, produced by God to witness to some truth or testify to someone’s sanctity.” Along with reason, miracles provide the Catholic apologist with effective tools to defend the claim that the Catholic religion alone is from God.
The Rosary as a Weapon for Mankind
In 1214 the Blessed Virgin actually appeared to St. Dominic in his chapel and handed him the beads of the Rosary with the commission that he spread this age-old devotion throughout the world.[1] Through the power of the Rosary he went about preaching and converting thousands everywhere, as he cast out devils, cured the sick, and even raised the dead to life on three occasions. The Holy Rosary has long been regarded as one of the most powerful devotions in the Catholic Church.[2] Its efficacy in times of heresy, war, oppression, and even nuclear devastation has been attested to time and again.
The Albigensian Heresy Crushed by the Rosary
In the 12th and 13th centuries, France became overrun by the dangerous Cathar heresy, also known as Albigensianism. This Gnostic sect taught that the material world was evil, the human body a prison for the soul, and that suicide and starvation were noble ways to escape the flesh. They rejected Catholic doctrine, especially the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, denied the authority of the Pope, and even claimed that Jesus was not truly man. Though Pope Innocent III launched the Albigensian Crusade in 1209 to combat this rising threat, it was not military might that ultimately quelled the heresy—it was the power of the Rosary. The Rosary not only defeated error, it built up the Dominican Order—formally known as the Order of Preachers—and initiated a devotion that would span centuries.
The Triumph at Lepanto: A Naval Victory by Heaven’s Hand
Perhaps the most famous military victory attributed to the Rosary occurred in 1571 at the Battle of Lepanto. The powerful Ottoman fleet, outnumbering the Christian forces by nearly three to one, threatened to invade Rome and the heart of Christendom. The stakes were clear: if the Muslim navy succeeded, the destruction of the West and the eradication of Christianity would follow.
Recognizing the dire threat, Pope St. Pius V asked every Catholic across the world to pray the Rosary for a miraculous victory. The Christian soldiers prayed for three hours, received absolution, and went into battle under the banner of the Holy Rosary. What followed was a stunning reversal. As the fleets engaged, the wind suddenly changed direction—just as the battle began. This unexpected shift allowed the Christian forces to gain a critical advantage, leading to one of the most lopsided and miraculous victories in naval history. The Sultan’s threat to Europe was broken permanently.
To commemorate this divine intervention, Pope Gregory XIII established a feast of thanksgiving, which Pope Leo XIII would later elevate to a universal feast under the title Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated on October 7th—the anniversary of Lepanto.
Austria Freed from Communism through a Rosary Crusade
After World War II, Austria, like Germany, was divided among the Allied powers. The most prosperous section – including Vienna – was under Soviet Communist control. With atheism, religious oppression, and tyranny weighing heavily on the people, one man turned to Heaven.
In 1946, Capuchin priest Fr. Petrus Pavlicek made a pilgrimage to Mariazell, Austria’s national Marian shrine. There he heard an interior voice say, “Do as I say and there will be peace.” He understood this as a call to promote the Rosary. In 1947, he founded the Rosary Crusade of Reparation. What began as small processions grew until hundreds of thousands participated in public Rosaries throughout Vienna, pleading for freedom from Communism.
By 1955, nearly one-tenth of Austria’s population was praying in the streets. Then, unexpectedly and without explanation, Soviet forces withdrew from Austria completely and permanently—the only case in the Cold War where the USSR relinquished occupied territory voluntarily. This peaceful liberation stands as a testament to the power of collective Rosary prayer and Marian intercession.
The Miracle at Hiroshima: Surviving the Atomic Bomb
One of the most scientifically inexplicable Rosary miracles occurred in Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. When the United States dropped the first atomic bomb, everything within a mile radius was incinerated. Over 140,000 people died.
Yet, just eight blocks from ground zero—roughly 0.6 miles away—stood a two-story house with no structural damage. Inside lived eight Jesuit priests, all of whom prayed the Rosary daily. They suffered only minor injuries and none developed radiation sickness. One of them, Fr. Hubert Schiffer, testified publicly at the 1976 Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia, having survived 30 years after the blast without a trace of cancer or radiation illness. Scientific studies of the site confirmed what eyewitnesses observed: the laws of physics could not account for their survival.
According to nuclear physicist Dr. Stephen Rinehart of the U.S. Department of Defense, the temperatures, pressure, and radiation should have vaporized every living thing and structure within their vicinity. “There are no physical laws to explain why the Jesuits were untouched,” Dr. Rinehart said. “From a scientific viewpoint, what happened at Hiroshima still defies all human logic. It must be concluded that some external force was present.”
The Jesuits themselves offered the only explanation: “We believe that we survived because we were living the Message of Fatima. We prayed the Rosary daily.”
The Miracle of the Sun at Fatima
While the miracle at Hiroshima defied science, the greatest public miracle of the Rosary—by the sheer number of witnesses—occurred on October 13, 1917, in Fatima, Portugal.
The Blessed Virgin had appeared monthly since May of that year to three shepherd children—Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta—urging the world to pray the Rosary for peace and the conversion of sinners. She promised that in October she would reveal her identity and perform a miracle for all to see.
On the appointed day, over 70,000 people gathered at the Cova da Iria amid torrential rain. Journalists, skeptics, believers, and the curious all came to witness what they believed might be a hoax. But then, as Lucia pointed to the sky, the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun appeared. It began to spin in the sky, throwing off brilliant colors—red, yellow, blue—and appeared to hurtle toward the earth before retreating to its normal place. Witnesses described seeing the ground dry instantly, their clothes suddenly no longer soaked. Even hardened Atheists and non-believers fell to their knees in awe.
This “Miracle of the Sun” was seen for miles around and confirmed by secular newspapers, including O Século, a prominent Portuguese publication. The Blessed Virgin identified herself as Our Lady of the Rosary, reaffirming her call to daily prayer of the Rosary and devotion to her Immaculate Heart.
The Miraculous Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary
For two thousand years, the Blessed Virgin Mary has interceded for the faithful, offering comfort, guidance, and miracles through her motherly care. While the Rosary is one of her most powerful instruments, Mary has also made herself known through miraculous apparitions around the world. These apparitions—often accompanied by physical or spiritual wonders—have occurred to children and adults, saints and sinners, the educated and the illiterate. Though the Church receives many claims of Marian apparitions, only a small number have received official approval after a lengthy and rigorous process.
As St. Paul warns in Galatians 1:8, “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse.” This admonition is a reminder that not all purported visions are of divine origin. Some may be illusions or even demonic deceptions. For this reason, Catholics must always adhere only to those apparitions officially approved by the Church, steering clear of questionable or condemned ones like the alleged events in Medjugorje. Below is a non-exhaustive list of approved Marian apparitions:
- Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico (1531)
- Our Lady of Lezajsk, Poland (1578)
- Our Lady of Siluva, Lithuania (1608)
- Our Lady of Laus, France (1664)
- Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Rue du Bac, Paris (1830)
- Our Lady of Rome (1842)
- Our Lady of La Salette, France (1846)
- Our Lady of Lourdes, France (1858)
- Our Lady of Good Help, Wisconsin, USA (1859)
- Our Lady of Filippsdorf, Czech Republic (1866)
- Our Lady of Pontmain, France (1871)
- Our Lady of Gietrzwald, Poland (1877)
- Our Lady of Knock, Ireland (1879)
- Our Lady of Fatima, Portugal (1917)
- Our Lady of Beauraing, Belgium (1932)
- Our Lady of Banneux, Belgium (1933)
- Our Lady of Kibeho, Rwanda (1981)
Each of these apparitions carries a unique message tailored to the people and the needs of the time. They often involve calls to penance, prayer (especially the Rosary), devotion to the sacraments, and greater trust in God’s mercy.
Apparitions Before Modern Times
One of the earliest and most remarkable Marian apparitions occurred in 40 AD, when the Blessed Virgin Mary, still living on earth, appeared to St. James the Greater in Spain. This event is remembered in the title Our Lady of the Pillar, whose feast is celebrated on October 12th. In 1641, centuries later, a miraculous healing of an amputated limb was attributed to her intercession under this title.
Another early and significant apparition occurred in 1251, when Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, Prior General of the Carmelite Order. She gave him the Brown Scapular, promising: “Whoever dies in this garment shall not suffer eternal fire. It is a sign of salvation, a safeguard in danger, and a pledge of peace.”
Our Lady of the Snows – A Miracle of August
One of the oldest Marian miracles linked to a sacred space is the miraculous snowfall on August 5, 358 AD in the sweltering Roman summer. In a dream, both Pope Liberius and a Roman couple were told by Our Lady to build a church in her honor at the place where snow would fall. The next morning, the Esquiline Hill was blanketed in snow, and the outline of a basilica appeared on the ground. That basilica became the famed St. Mary Major, Rome’s greatest Marian church, and the miracle is commemorated each year on August 5th, the feast of Our Lady of the Snows.
Our Lady of Guadalupe – The Empress of the Americas
Among the most celebrated apparitions is the 1531 appearance of the Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego, an indigenous convert, on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City. She asked that a church be built in her honor and left behind a miraculous image of herself imprinted on Juan Diego’s tilma, or cloak. That image—displayed today in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe—has baffled scientists. The cactus-fiber cloth has not deteriorated, and the image has no visible brushstrokes, under-sketch, or protective varnish. Reflections of multiple figures can be seen in the Virgin’s eyes—exactly as they would appear in a human eye. The tilma has survived centuries and defied all attempts to replicate it.
Our Lady’s appearance sparked one of the greatest mass conversions in history. In just a few years, millions of Aztecs and native peoples embraced the Catholic Faith, ending their pagan sacrificial rites. Our Lady of Guadalupe remains the Patroness of the Americas and the Unborn.
Our Lady of Good Success – Prophetic Voice for Our Times
Beginning in 1594, Our Lady of Good Success appeared to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres, a Spanish nun in Quito, Ecuador. She foretold grave moral and spiritual crises that would afflict the world, especially in the 20th century. These included a decline in priestly vocations, widespread impurity, the desecration of marriage, and the marginalization of the sacraments.
The accuracy of these predictions – many of which have come to pass in modern times – is a striking reminder that Mary’s warnings must be heeded. She calls her children back to virtue, penance, and devotion to her Immaculate Heart.
Miracles of the Brown Scapular
The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel remains a tangible and continual means of grace and protection. Countless miracles have been attributed to wearing the Scapular in faith and devotion. Here are just a few:
- 1845 – The Shipwreck That Wasn’t: A Protestant minister and his family aboard the “King of the Ocean” ship were caught in a hurricane. A young Catholic sailor, John McAuliffe, threw his Scapular into the sea while making the Sign of the Cross. Immediately, the storm calmed. The Scapular was then washed back onto the ship. The minister and his family converted to Catholicism shortly thereafter.
- Fire Averted in Germany (1957): When fire engulfed an entire row of houses in Westboden, Germany, one two-family home remained untouched. Its owners had fastened a Brown Scapular to the front door. Eyewitnesses confirmed that the fire stopped miraculously at the edge of that home.
- The Train Accident in Ohio: Around the turn of the 20th century, a man in Ashtabula, Ohio was cut in half by a train while wearing the Brown Scapular. Miraculously, he remained alive and conscious for 45 minutes, just long enough to receive the Last Sacraments before death. Our Lady had kept her promise of grace at the hour of death.
- St. Simon Stock’s First Miracle: The very day that Mary gave the Scapular to St. Simon Stock, he used it to bring about the repentance and peaceful death of a despairing man. The Scapular, even in its first hours, fulfilled its promise.
- The Incorrupt Scapular of Pope Gregory X: When the tomb of Pope Gregory X, who died in 1276 wearing the Brown Scapular, was opened 600 years later, his wool Scapular was found to be perfectly intact—a miraculous preservation.
The Church not only tolerates devotion to the Scapular but promotes it. Popes, saints, and theologians have endorsed the promises made to St. Simon Stock, so long as the Scapular is worn with sincere devotion and a commitment to Christian virtue.
Conclusion
St. Dominic famously said, “One day through the Rosary and the Scapular, the world will be saved…” With the Rosary we hold the power of God in our hands. We have a sure means of winning souls. We have one of the most indulgenced and praised prayers. And we know this as well because of the many miracles that grace the Rosary. Not all Rosary miracles are from long ago – one even concerned a man on September 11, 2001, showing that God continues to work miracles through the intercession of His Most Blessed Mother. For many more miracles attributed to the Rosary and the Scapular – and for much more on Marian apparitions – see the CatechismClass.com course on Miracles.
[1] The Rosary goes back to the very first centuries when the early Christians recited the 150 consecutive Hail Marys to the Blessed Virgin, though it was done without the beads that we use today. This devotion was known in the early Church as the 150 psalms to Jesus and Mary, prefigured by the 150 Psalms of the Old Testament.
[2] Pope Leo XIII wrote twelve encyclicals on the Rosary, a prolific number considering it is just one devotion of many that the Church promotes and encourages. This focus should underscore the preeminent importance of the Rosary in our own lives. If we are not regularly praying the Rosary, ask yourself if you are really trying to live a Catholic life. The Rosary is integral to our life. And its place of importance in the Church along with its miracles prove this. As Pope Leo XIII writes in Supremi Apostolatus Officio: “It has always been the habit of Catholics in danger and in troublous times to fly for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in her maternal goodness; showing that the Catholic Church has always, and with justice, put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God. And truly the Immaculate Virgin, chosen to be the Mother of God and thereby associated with Him in the work of man’s salvation, has a favor and power with her Son greater than any human or angelic creature has ever obtained, or ever can gain. And, as it is her greatest pleasure to grant her help and comfort to those who seek her, it cannot be doubted that she would deign, and even be anxious, to receive the aspirations of the universal Church.”
