The holiness of John Henry Newman, who will be proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on November 1, is based on two inexplicable healings that the Catholic Church officially recognized as miracles. These paved the way for his beatification in 2010 and his canonization in 2019. The second and most recent of these miracles was of a vital nature.
The miracle that saved two lives
During her fifth pregnancy, Melissa Villalobos, a lawyer from Chicago, suffered a severe internal hemorrhage caused by a partial placental abruption, a condition that put both her life and that of her unborn child in grave danger. On the day of the event, Villalobos, alone at home and without strength to ask for help, turned to prayer. «Please, Cardinal Newman, stop the bleeding,» she said with difficulty. As she later recounted: «Just as I finished those words, the bleeding stopped and I noticed in the bathroom the strongest smell of roses I have ever felt in my life. When it ceased, I asked, ‘Cardinal Newman, did you do this?’ and the aroma returned a second time. I knew it was him.»
That same afternoon, doctors confirmed what they could not explain: the tear in the placenta had disappeared. Months later, Villalobos gave birth to a perfectly healthy girl, whom she named Gemma. Five years later, Gemma and her entire family participated in the canonization ceremony of Newman, presided over by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on October 13, 2019.
For Sister Kathleen Dietz, FSO, a recognized specialist in Saint John Henry Newman, the healing of the pregnant woman should be seen as a «sign of the times» in the midst of a «culture of death that permeates everything.» «He performed this miracle in favor of life, not only of the young mother, but also of her child. It is very significant,» she told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.
The inexplicable healing of a spinal disorder
The first miracle attributed to Newman’s intercession was in favor of American deacon Jack Sullivan, who suffered from a severe degenerative disease of the spinal cord that had left him almost paralyzed. In great pain and with little hope of recovery, he prayed asking for Newman’s intercession. According to his own testimony, on August 15, 2001, he experienced a sudden and complete recovery, which allowed him to walk without assistance and shortly thereafter be ordained a permanent deacon.
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints officially recognized the healing as scientifically inexplicable, and on July 3, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI officially announced that it constituted a genuine miracle. This led to Newman’s beatification on September 19, 2010, in Birmingham, England, the city where the saint lived much of his ministry.
Sullivan served as a deacon and read the Gospel at the Mass celebrated by Benedict in Rednal, England, very close to Newman’s burial place. Sullivan, who possesses the only first-class relic of Newman outside the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in England, has given numerous presentations with it and has held prayer services for healing.
Dietz, who has collaborated on several studies on the spirituality and legacy of Saint John Henry Newman, highlighted that the miracles authenticate Newman’s holiness and reflect his ongoing mission within the Church. «The miracles show that Newman continues to have a role as an example and intercessor. He will soon be named a Doctor of the Church and, therefore, will also be a teacher of truth,» she noted.
Inspiration for daily life
For the religious sister, Newman can inspire the faithful in their daily lives with a faith «lived in ordinary circumstances.» Dietz cited Newman’s 1856 work «A Short Road to Perfection,» in which he points out that to be saints «we need nothing more than to fulfill the ordinary duties of the day well.» «It is not about heroic or extraordinary feats, but about performing the actions of each day with rectitude and constancy: getting up on time, dedicating the first thoughts to God, visiting the Blessed Sacrament, praying the
Original source: ewtnvatican.com (published November 3, 2025)
Photo: James Coleman on Unsplash
