February 8-9, 2025
Dear parishioners,
This past December, an intriguing article surfaced on a few Catholic news sites, which caught my attention. Most people probably did not see it, because the headline was not on all Catholic news sites, and the story itself did not make much of a splash even in the wider Catholic world. I doubt that any secular media sources even covered the story at all. The immediate occasion of this news story was the official proclamation by Catholic Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool, England, on December 8, 2024, of 71st miracle attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes. Of course, with the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes (February 11) happening this week, I thought this would be an opportune time to encourage everyone to read about the miracle that led to this proclamation.
Archbishop McMahon’s proclamation pertains to the miracle received by John Jack Traynor, an English soldier who was severely wounded in World War I. Traynor was born in Liverpool in 1883; his mother died while he was still young, but he would later attribute his strong Catholic faith to her unfailing devotion to the Eucharist and to the Blessed Mother. As part of the Royal Navy, he was first injured by shrapnel in 1914, and more severely by machine-gun fire in 1915. He suffered major wounds on his head and chest, and his right arm was paralyzed. As a result, he underwent numerous unsuccessful medical operations over the following years, and further, he began to suffer from frequent and severe epileptic seizures. A long process of surgeries and examinations not only led to partial paralysis of both legs, but doctors also documented that Traynor was beyond medical treatment and therefore uncurable.
Despite his physical condition, Traynor never lost that deep faith that was instilled in him by his mother. Fostering his devotion to Our Lady, and looking once again to ask for her intercession regarding his severe ailments, he made the decision, contrary to the advice of everyone around him, to join an archdiocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, even as his condition was appearing to worsen.
Throughout his week in Lourdes, Traynor was dipped into the waters at the shrine there, which have produced miracles in the past. Towards the end of the pilgrimage, he was dipped in one last time; immediately after, he was in attendance for a Eucharistic procession. It was at the very moment he was blessed by the Blessed Sacrament that the miracle happened, and he regained use of his paralyzed arm and legs, and he never had another seizure again.
As you might have guessed, I left out a lot of details in what I wrote above. But, they are certainly worth reading! In fact, you can read Traynor’s entire account of his experience in his own words. Fortunately, his story has been preserved by Fr. Patrick O’Connor, who met Traynor in 1937 on a train; Fr. O’Connor titled his short publication, “I Met A Miracle.” As Fr. O’Connor wrote in his introduction, “I rode with him [Traynor] for about ten hours in the train that day, and when I said good-bye to him in Paris that evening, it was with the certainty that I could never forget him. He was a delightful character, this big Liverpool Irishman, with his manly faith and piety, lacking all trace of exaggeration in one direction or the other; unaffected and unassuming, yet obviously a fearless militant Catholic; with only a primary education but with a clear mind enriched by the faith and preserved by a great honesty of life. Not for his personality, however, am I bound to remember him but for his story, which he told me on our long journey that day. He told it simply, soberly, exactly, a narrative that it was a grace to hear and is a duty to recall.” Fr. O’Connor corresponded with Traynor multiple times so that Traynor could edit and add details for accuracy.
You can find the full text of “I Met A Miracle” online when you search it. (www.faithandfamily.org.uk and www.ecatholic2000.com appear to have the full text. But please note that I have not looked through the rest of the content on these sites, so I am not necessarily endorsing them in their entirety.) It can be read in a single sitting, and would definitely make some worthwhile spiritual reading!
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!
Blessings,
Fr. Ammanniti
