Warning: possible spoilers.
Faith, doubt and miracles are the subjects tackled in The Third Miracle written by John Romano and based on the novel by Richard Vetere. Directed by Agnieszka Holland and starring two-time Academy Award nominee Ed Harris, this 2003 film opens in a flophouse in the late 1970's. Father Frank Shore (Harris), a priest who is faltering in his faith and who has stepped away from the church, eats his meals in soup kitchens, and does what he can to help those less fortunate with whom he lives. A professional postulator ( a person who investigates claims of sainthood) Father Frank is being summoned back to authenticate the miracles of a recently deceased immigrant woman named Helen O'Regan (Barbara Sukowa) who spent her last years living in a convent as a layperson. Loved by all, she is credited with healing a young girl, and every November (the month she died) the statue weeps blood. Known as "the miracle killer" it was just such an assignment that "destroyed the faith of an entire community," and has caused his own crisis of faith. Doubt may be healthy for a layperson, but in a priest it is a certain sign of apostasy according to Archbishop Werner (Armin Muellar-Stahl) who is sent by Rome to undermine his findings in front of a church tribunal. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church is not well portrayed in this film. The Archbishop's rigid determination that no saint could possibly came out of America, especially one as "ordinary" as wife and mother Helen O'Regan, counterbalances the Bishop who talks politics over golf, spends long afternoons being massaged and mud-packed, and invites colleagues to high-profile gatherings based solely on their ability to converse wittily over cocktails. Even the poor Chicago parish where the possible-saint-to-be lived is tarnished, as the local priest proudly displays rows of scarlet electric pushbutton candles for parishioners to light when they offer a prayer. Doubt and cynicism live side-by-side in Father Frank, and neither this, nor his meeting with O'Regan's feisty, atheist daughter Roxanna (Anne Heche) surprises him. Angry that the mother who abandoned her for the church is even being considered for sainthood, Roxanna invites the priest to dance on her mother's grave in an odd, yet surprisingly sexual scene. Chemistry notwithstanding, the priest is saved from further faltering by a rainy night miracle to which he is a firsthand witness. Reclaiming his collar along with his faith, he returns to the church and argues his case before the tribunal. Several other twists and turns add to the courtroom-like suspense-some we see coming and others we do not-and contribute to an enjoyable two hours. The only question that remains is: What exactly is the third miracle to which the title points? Two are arguably attributed to the candidate for sainthood, but what of the third? On the face of it, it may simply be Father Frank's return to faith, but I would argue that the miracle is ours. Rather than calling us to believe the miracles of this "saint of the people who live in the ordinary world," I suggest it calls us to look for the miracles in our own ordinary lives. In the last scene of the movie we see the first two miracles: the restoration of Father Frank Shore and the joyous motherhood of Roxanna. The third miracle is not named because it can't be named; it is different for us all. It exists in the ordinariness of our lives, and it is up to us to find it.
Faith, doubt and miracles are the subjects tackled in The Third Miracle written by John Romano and based on the novel by Richard Vetere. Directed by Agnieszka Holland and starring two-time Academy Award nominee Ed Harris, this 2003 film opens in a flophouse in the late 1970's. Father Frank Shore (Harris), a priest who is faltering in his faith and who has stepped away from the church, eats his meals in soup kitchens, and does what he can to help those less fortunate with whom he lives. A professional postulator ( a person who investigates claims of sainthood) Father Frank is being summoned back to authenticate the miracles of a recently deceased immigrant woman named Helen O'Regan (Barbara Sukowa) who spent her last years living in a convent as a layperson. Loved by all, she is credited with healing a young girl, and every November (the month she died) the statue weeps blood. Known as "the miracle killer" it was just such an assignment that "destroyed the faith of an entire community," and has caused his own crisis of faith. Doubt may be healthy for a layperson, but in a priest it is a certain sign of apostasy according to Archbishop Werner (Armin Muellar-Stahl) who is sent by Rome to undermine his findings in front of a church tribunal. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church is not well portrayed in this film. The Archbishop's rigid determination that no saint could possibly came out of America, especially one as "ordinary" as wife and mother Helen O'Regan, counterbalances the Bishop who talks politics over golf, spends long afternoons being massaged and mud-packed, and invites colleagues to high-profile gatherings based solely on their ability to converse wittily over cocktails. Even the poor Chicago parish where the possible-saint-to-be lived is tarnished, as the local priest proudly displays rows of scarlet electric pushbutton candles for parishioners to light when they offer a prayer. Doubt and cynicism live side-by-side in Father Frank, and neither this, nor his meeting with O'Regan's feisty, atheist daughter Roxanna (Anne Heche) surprises him. Angry that the mother who abandoned her for the church is even being considered for sainthood, Roxanna invites the priest to dance on her mother's grave in an odd, yet surprisingly sexual scene. Chemistry notwithstanding, the priest is saved from further faltering by a rainy night miracle to which he is a firsthand witness. Reclaiming his collar along with his faith, he returns to the church and argues his case before the tribunal. Several other twists and turns add to the courtroom-like suspense-some we see coming and others we do not-and contribute to an enjoyable two hours. The only question that remains is: What exactly is the third miracle to which the title points? Two are arguably attributed to the candidate for sainthood, but what of the third? On the face of it, it may simply be Father Frank's return to faith, but I would argue that the miracle is ours. Rather than calling us to believe the miracles of this "saint of the people who live in the ordinary world," I suggest it calls us to look for the miracles in our own ordinary lives. In the last scene of the movie we see the first two miracles: the restoration of Father Frank Shore and the joyous motherhood of Roxanna. The third miracle is not named because it can't be named; it is different for us all. It exists in the ordinariness of our lives, and it is up to us to find it.