It Takes a Miracle

Dear Lew,

We have several LRC readers signed up for the online retreat with Fr. McCarthy in November who heard about Fr. McCarthy’s work through your site. Thanks for everything you do!

The War on Populism: C... Hopkins, C. J. Buy New $10.99 (as of 05:41 UTC - Details) In case you’ve never seen it, here’s the ABC special that covered the story of the McCarthy family and the miracle of Edith Stein: “It Takes a Miracle.”

Edith Stein was born on Oct. 12, 1891. She was a Jewish atheist and philosopher who eventually converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite nun. She died at Auchshwitz on August 9, 1942.

Father McCarthy’s daughter was born on August 8, 1984 (August 9 in Auschwitz time). He and his wife Mary named their little girl Benedicta after Edith Stein. (The name she had taken when she became a nun was St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.)

In 1987, Benedicta, just a toddler, swallowed 16 times the lethal dose of Tylenol. The McCarthy’s started a prayer tree to ask for the intercession of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Little Benedicta was cured. On October 11, 1998, the Catholic Church declared Edith Stein a saint! Fr. McCarthy con-celebrated the canonization Mass with John Paul II.

The Best of Ellen Finnigan