“It’s a miracle.” A common phrase used repeatedly to highlight lucky wins on the lottery, match winning goals and the birth of unexpected babies.

  Of course to most parents the birth of a child is for them a miracle and rightly so, but looking at it in strictly biological terms it is just an act of nature. Nevertheless, can a miracle cure be explained? Well, doctors and scientists say it is something that is “certain, definitive and medically inexplicable”.

  Certain criteria have to be fulfilled before a “miracle cure” can be accepted. Of prime importance is that the illness was clearly established and correctly diagnosed. Secondly, that the prognosis was permanent or terminal in the short term. Thirdly, that the cure is immediate, without convalescence, and complete and lasting and lastly that the prescribed treatment could not be attributed to the cure or be an aid to it.

  Doctors and scientists carry out exhaustive tests on anybody who claims to have received a miracle cure. The person is tested then tested each year until there can be no doubt that the cure is permanent. Then the case is referred to the relevant church for them to continue the procedure before the cure is declared a miracle years go by before the process is completed.

  Around the world there are place where pilgrims go in search of miracles. Many are seeking a cure for a family member or friend, some just looking for a way to improve their lot. Portugal, Spain, France, Poland and England all have sites where miracles have apparently occurred and been documented. One place is Lourdes in France. Five million people visit Lourdes each year in the seven-month period between April and October to see the Grotto of Massabielle, Where peasant girl Bernadette soubirous saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary 18 times between February and July 1858.

 During this period, Bernadette passed on messages from the apparition telling the people to build a church. Shortly after the last visitation, Bernadette was sent to a convent in Nevers where she became a nun. In April 1879 she died and was canonized in December 1933, her mummified body is now a shrine.

   After the apparitions in Lourdes, people began to make pilgrimages there and 66-miracle cure have been registered to date. The most recent concerns Frenchman Jean-pierre Bely. Born in 1936 and married with two children, Mr. Bely developed multiple sclerosis in 1972. Over the next 14 years, his neurological system wasted away to the point where he was left bedridden. By 1987, he was in receipt of a 100 per cent invalidity pension with an allowance for a permanent carer

 In October 1987, during a trip to the sanctuary of Lourdes Mr. Bely completely regained his normal functions in a manner that was sudden, unexpected, and unforeseen. He explained that the experienced an overwhelming felling of cold then warmth during a mass. Some 12 hours later he was able to walk again unhindered and without help.