The Third Miracle [Hardcover]

Richard Vetere (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1997

A priest struggling with his own loss of faith investigates the life of a woman many believe to be a saint -- and comes face to face with one of religion's most profound questions: Do miracles actually occur, or are they the desperate invention of mankind?

A statue of the Virgin Mary is crying tears of blood. A young girl has been cured of a terrible disease.

When word of these wonders spreads, and the local priest attributes them to a woman named Helen Stephenson, the Cardinal asks Father Frank Moore to determine whether the events are truly signs of God's work. Following the steps that may lead to Helen's canonization, Frank begins by interviewing her daughter, Roxanna. Still angry that her mother abandoned her for the Church, Roxanna at first refuses; to see Frank. But the two are inexorably drawn to one another, and as they confront their private fears and doubts, they each find the redemption they so ardently seek.

"A terrific first novel of love and faith and miracles in a time when all three seem out of date". -- Denis Hamill, New York Daily News

"Deftly plotted, dramatic and entertaining, this is a provoking mystery about the nature and rewards of faith and forgiveness....(Vetere's) pacing is sure, and he strikes a nice balance between the sacred and the profane". -- Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Esteemed theologian Father Frank Moore is estranged from the Catholic Church, but when a possible miracle demands investigation, the long arm of the Church drags him back. The parishioners of the Church of Saint Stanislaus in Queens, New York, believe that the tears of blood a statue of the Virgin Mary has cried every October for ten years are connected to the death of Helen Stephenson, who, although not a nun, lived in the convent at the church and performed many good deeds in the community. Frank, who has had to disprove miracles before and hates robbing people of their hopes, wrestles with a crisis of faith while gathering proof of Helen's sainthood. He also finds himself falling in love with Helen's daughter. When hotshots from the Vatican arrive so that Frank can argue his case, the novel takes on the characteristics of a good courtroom thriller. Some readers will find the priest's crisis of faith all too predictable. But this novel is suspenseful from start to finish, and most readers will be swept up in a feeling of hope against hope, longing for miracles to be proven. By the scriptwriter for the film Gangster Apparel; for all popular collections.?Keddy Ann Outlaw, Harris Cty. P.L., Houston
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Debut novel by screenwriter Vetere exploring Catholic dogma, the nature of miracles, and the process by which a saint is canonized. Vetere tells an absorbing tale of a priest who secretly acknowledges that he has lost his faith but who is nonetheless called to investigate whether a woman long resident in a convent in New York was in fact a saint. The story turns on God's grace and its mysterious workings, with little hint of melodrama. Father Frank Moore made a splash when he published The God Within, a study of faith. Then Frank's mentor, Father Falcone, became involved in what seemed to be miraculous events and was himself examined for canonization following his death. Frank, sent to investigate, discovered that Father Falcone had lost his faith and drowned himself. Devastated, his own faith shattered, Frank goes into hiding until the materialistic Cardinal Cahill finds and appoints him to consider the possible canonization of Helen Stephenson. Actually, the Cardinal wants Frank to destroy Stephenson, since she also spoke out for the ordination of female priests. But miracles surround her. For ten years, the statue of the Virgin outside the church of St. Stanislaus in Queens has cried tears of blood every October, the month of Stephenson's death. A cult arises, and, as at Lourdes, the sick arrive to be healed by the tears; some are saved at the brink of death. Frank's job, meanwhile, is to probe every aspect of Stephenson's life and look for flaws that would deny sainthood. One such flaw seems to be that Stephenson, a nurse, abandoned her daughter Roxana in order to enter the convent at St. Stanislaus, and Roxanna has never forgiven her. Frank becomes embroiled erotically with Roxanna, but eventually he must face a Vatican team of cardinals and lay out the case for Stephenson. Fascinating portrait of the church's internal workings--but the characters (and drama) take second place to larger questions of faith and doubt. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786704136
• ISBN-13: 978-0786704132
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,820,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Provocative, makes you think, June 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Third Miracle: A Novel (Paperback)

As a faithful Catholic who wonders about the veracity of miracles, this forces one to consider that the true value of the miraculous experince is in the eyes of the beholder. Perhaps it is not whether a miracle is "real" or not, but rather how it affects those who believe it to be true. Some inconsistencies and the end is rather too "neat", but a provocative read.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun read but, March 2, 2000

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Third Miracle: A Novel (Paperback)

The Third Miracle is a fun read - more similar to a mystery than I expected and more than I suspect the author intended. The premise and plot are sound within the scope of a novel telescoping time into a short period of the characters' lives rather than the realistic time that would cross multiple life times.

However, I wish the book had been better editted or researched ... the sequence of the elements of the Mass was incorrect, the liturgical calendar was incorrect, the understanding of consecrated hosts was incorrect ... I don't believe that the intention of the author was to make me laugh at this point.

On the positive side, I enjoyed the realism of the range of motivations and faith of the priests, the recognition that virtue and human weakness exist side by side, the non-confrontive questioning of the origin of evil and the apparent non-responsiveness of God.

If you enjoy a fun read that still makes you think, this is a book for you. If you only read "great literature" that you believe should stick around for a few decades (or centuries), this isn't your taste.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A priest in crisis and a search for faith; compelling story, March 9, 2001

By 

K. Corn "reviewer" (midwest, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Third Miracle: A Novel (Paperback)

This book was selected as a Library Journal Best Book of the year and eventually made into a movie starring Ed Harris (who recently starred in the much-acclaimed movie/bio of artist Jackson Pollack). I've read the book and I've seen the movie. The book has its flaws, as many reader reviewers below have noted, but I found it an extremely powerful book. Perhaps this is because my religious background is Judaism and so the Catholic church and the beliefs of its members were fresh and new to me - as they might not be to some readers. Beyond that, however, I found the story of a man's search for faith to be quite moving and believable - and his desire to find out if a true miracle had occurred or not was also compelling. No matter one's religious tradition or beliefs, the desire to find spiritual truths is a universal one and the book is worthy of being put on anyone's reading list. Now, as to the movie - Ed Harris is one of my favorite actors and I found his portrayal of a priest in crisis to be a poignant one. This movie is NOT, however, for those who are easily offended by priests who act in less than ideal ways - and who has some very human failings. Be forewarned. I'd suggest you read the book and then see the movie. The is available on VHS and you can come across pre-viewed copies fairly regularly.