We explore 5 of major miracles in history and what happened during these events.
Lourdes
Lourdes is one of the world's most famous miracle sites - a French grotto which is said to have healing properties for those who drink or bathe in it.
And we aren't talking about curing a headache or funny stomach here. This grotto supposedly has heavy duty healing powers, and there have been multiple cases throughout history of it curing seemingly terminal or incurable ailments.
On the 10th May, 1948, Jeanne Fretel arrived at Lourdes in a comatose state as a result of tuberculosis peritonitis. After being given some Eucharist (the disc shaped wafer used in Christian mass), Jeanne woke from her coma and declared herself cured. Her miracle cure was officially recognised in 1950.
One of the most recent examples of Lourdes' healing properties is Jean-Pierre Bely, who arrived on the 9th October 1987 suffering from multiple sclerosis. After spending time near Lourdes waters, he was declared cured.
The Miracle of the Sun
This is one of, if not the miracle with the highest number of witnesses. Between 50,000 and 100,000 people claim to have seen the Miracle of the Sun on the 13th October, 1917 whilst standing in the Cova da Iria fields near Fatima, Portugal. Reportedly, after a downfall of rain and dark clouds the sky became clear and the Sun appeared as a spinning disk. After emitting multi-coloured lights, it appeared to zig zag quickly towards Earth. Some witnesses said their clothes, previously wet, had dried instantly.
Some people attributed the phenomena to Our Lady of Fatima, an apparition of the Virgin Mary which had appeared to three young shepherd children on three different occasions supposedly telling them to watch out for a miracle on that specific day in October. It was officially accepted as a miracle by the Roman Catholic church on 13th October 1930.
Padre Pio
Original name Francesco Forgione, Padre Pio was a Roman Catholic Capuchin priest who had perhaps the world's most famous case of stigmata. Despite his efforts to the contrary, news of his mysterious wounds on the palms of his hands and feet went global in the early 1920s. In addition to bearing the marks of Christ's crucifixion, some people also attested to Padre Pio as having powers such as healing, prophecy and even levitation.
One of the most tangible and undeniably mysterious things about him is the fact that when his corpse was exhumed in March 2008, he looked almost exactly the same as the day he died - 40 years earlier, in 1968.
Vesna Vulovic
Serbian former flight attendant Vesna Vulovic holds a miraculous world record - the longest fall without a parachute, after a plane she was working onboard in 1972 exploded, 33,333 ft in the air.
Somehow, Vesna was the only person to survive the detonation out of 28 people. She was pulled from the centre of the plane wreckage with a fractured skull, two broken legs and 3 broken vertebrae, but alive.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
In 1531, Juan Diego said the Virgin Mary appeared to him, first asking him to build a church where he stood and then later, to collect a bundle of flowers. When he opened his robes, the flowers fell away to reveal a now famous image of Mary, one which can still be seen today in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
Roman Catholics claim the image has survived ammonia spills and even a bomb explosion, but one hard fact remains - the painting remains as colourful today as it did 500 years ago, surviving the Mexican heat in a way contemporary replicas could not imitate and with minimal restorative work.
