Miracles Amidst Chaos: A Test of True Faith or Modernist Sentimentality?
EWTN News portal reports on the survival of a Venezuelan family, the Bertis, whose home was severely damaged by a U.S. military projectile during Operation Absolute Resolve on January 3, 2026. The family attributes their physical preservation to devotional practices, with Elena Berti’s rosary and saints’ statues prominently mentioned. Neighbor Gracia Mónaco claims her untouched Virgin Mary statue proves divine intervention. The piece concludes with a material fundraising appeal for home reconstruction. This narrative reduces supernatural grace to sentimentalized natural events while omitting essential Catholic distinctions between true miracles and mere physical preservation.
Reduction of Divine Intervention to Sentimentalized Naturalism
The portal describes the event as “a miracle” based solely on physical survival and intact religious objects. While God certainly preserves life, verum miraculum (true miracle) requires supernatural causality violating natural laws (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I q.110 a.4). The article provides no evidence excluding natural explanations—the projectile’s trajectory or structural quirks. More gravely, it equates “statues remaining standing” with divine approval, dangerously approaching superstitious fetishism condemned by Leo XIII (Supremi Apostolatus Officio).
True Catholic piety distinguishes between God’s general providence and miraculous intervention. Pius XII warned against “confusing the order of nature with the order of grace” (Humani Generis 26). The family’s survival—while fortunate—demands discernment of spirits (1 John 4:1), not emotional declarations. Where are the required investigations into whether this serves souls’ conversion or merely comforts temporal existence?
Omission of Sacramental Realities and the Primacy of Sanctifying Grace
Nowhere does the article mention whether survivors sought Confession, received Last Rites, or possess sanctifying grace—the sine qua non for meriting eternal life. Physical preservation without spiritual concern is worthless: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). The Bertis’ “rosary behind the pillow” becomes empty ritualism if divorced from repentance. St. Alphonsus Liguori teaches that habitual sinners carrying rosaries “mock God” (The Holy Rosary).
The neighbors’ “unwavering faith” focuses entirely on earthly survival, ignoring Christ’s warning: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28). This reflects the post-conciliar inversion prioritizing temporal comfort over salus animarum (salvation of souls). The Syllabus of Errors condemns those who “place the salvation of souls in secondary importance” (Proposition 39).
Theological Confusion Between Sentiment and Doctrine
Patricia Salazar references a “Novena of Abandonment“—likely the modernist devotion attributing passivity to God. Contrast this with St. Ignatius Loyola’s Suscipe prayer: “Give me only Your love and Your grace; that is enough for me,” which emphasizes active cooperation with grace. The novena’s phrase “you take care of everything” risks Quietism condemned by Innocent XI (Coelestis Pastor).
Similarly, Mónaco’s claim that “God is with us always” ignores the distinction between God’s omnipresence and His sanctifying presence. Unrepentant sinners “are estranged from the womb, going astray from birth” (Psalm 58:3). The article’s saccharine tone reduces God to a celestial bodyguard, denying His justice. Where is the call to “repent and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15) amidst geopolitical chaos?
Silence on the Church’s Social Kingship and Just War Principles
The U.S. bombing—unjustly targeting a sovereign nation without justa causa (just cause)—escapes moral scrutiny. Pius IX’s Syllabus condemns the idea that “the Church ought to be separated from the State” (Proposition 55), yet the article accepts secular military action as neutral background. True Catholics must judge all events through Christ’s social kingship: “He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth” (Isaiah 11:4).
The fundraising plea underscores materialistic priorities. Why not organize Eucharistic processions for national conversion? Where are demands for Venezuela’s consecration to Christ the King? Quas Primas mandates that “rulers of states. . . fulfill their duty. . . to public veneration and obedience to the reigning Christ.” This silence confirms the conciliar sect’s abandonment of Catholicam Christi Regnum (Christ’s Catholic Kingdom).
Source:
A bomb fell meters from their homes in Caracas, but they survived: ‘It’s a miracle’ (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 06.01.2026