Heroes, Holiness & Mystical Phenomena

by Michael S. Rose

Recently, NBC wrapped up its first season of an interesting television series called Heroes. For those who haven’t seen it --and you should see it--the show centers around a group of people who discover they have special abilities beyond the ordinary, including superhuman powers like telepathy, time travel, flight, invisibility, the ability to walk through walls, to heal, and to paint the future, among others. These “superheroes,” one by one, come to realize that they each have a particular role to play in preventing a catastrophe and “saving the world.” It is science fiction, to be sure. But this concept is not without precedence in the real world throughout history. The Catholic Church has had its own “heroes” – like the Cure d’Ars, Padre Pio, Joseph of Cupertino and Mother Teresa of Calcutta--who were, at least through parts of their lives, blessed with “supernatural powers.” The Church calls them “mystical phenomena,” and those saints who have wielded these inexplicable powers understood their role in advancing the kingdom of God...

It is instructive to note that the Catholic Church has always approached claims of mystical phenomena with a healthy dose of skepticism. By design, Church officials throughout history have not accepted at face value any phenomenon which purports to be from God. . .

If, after all, the facts and evidence of a particular mystical phenomenon lend themselves to God’s supernatural intervention, then the Church will accept a particular phenomenon as having no other explanation than the supernatural. In many cases, especially with phenomena that are specifically connected with manifestations of holiness, the Church waits until after the person dies to determine that the phenomena associated with them were truly manifestations of their heroic virtue and holiness. Then and only then will the Church confirm that a particular phenomenon, even when witnessed by hundreds of people, was truly from God.

Rose then gives some examples of Saints and the mystical phenomena associated with them, such as:

Smelling sin
One of the more unusual gifts of mystical phenomena is the ability to smell the stench of sin when coming into contact with someone in the state of mortal sin. It can be a very terrible thing which in some cases has caused not only uncontrollable vomiting by the saint but even passing out because the stench is so overwhelming to him. St. Philip Neri was known for this ability and its side-effects. In his Life of Hilarton , St. Jerome says that St. Hilarion had the gift of knowing what sins or vices anyone was inclined to by simply smelling either the person or his garments.

This is one that I had not heard before, although I had heard of those who could detect the presence of mortal sin in others...

An interesting article which can be read in its entirety here.