The Vocal Woman

If you are a married woman, and want to get pregnant, perhaps you could visit Naples in Italy, and sit in a “miracle chair.” Many pilgrims do just that, and some get pregnant. It’s there that an elderly nun will wave a wooden cross over you that contains bones and hair from a bleeding and dying nun, who sat in the same chair 200 years ago. She was said to have had the five wounds of Jesus on her body (stigmata), and when she picked up a wooden image of the baby Jesus, His folded arms unfolded. Hence the connection the babies and pregnancy. I guess it’s not too much weirder than the "miracle water" peddled by creepy “Protestant” evangelists on cable TV. The first seed of Catholicism may have been seen in Luke 11:27, when a woman called out to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” Jesus didn’t rebuke her for calling Mary blessed, but He did say that if she wanted God’s blessing on her life, she should listen to God’s Word and obey it (verse 28). Miracle chairs, miracle water, hairy crosses, etc., will mean nothing on the Day that God judges humanity. It’s then that we will see that Jesus alone is “the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9, italics added). However, salvation doesn’t come from us being obedient to Jesus. Our obedience is the result of being given a new heart, through the new birth of John 3. Eternal life is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9), but those who are saved by His grace hear His voice, and run to do His will.