Sixteen years ago, in the middle of the night, in the heart of Illinois, a miracle happened.
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miracle → happen → Illinois
It didn’t begin as a miracle, of course.
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It → begin → course
The chain of events that would end with a miracle of biblical proportions started with me, laboring at home in the arms of my husband.
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that → end → husband
Unbeknownst to us, our healthy baby boy had a knot in his umbilical cord.
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boy → have → cord
That knot tightened during his delivery, cutting off his oxygen supply.
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knot → tighten → supply
When the midwife caught him and placed him in my arms, he was stillborn.
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he → catch → arms
For the brief moments I held him, he didn’t cry.
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he → hold → him
He didn’t breathe.
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He → breathe → ?
He had no pulse.
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He → have → pulse
Our son, James Fulton, was taken from my arms and placed on the floor.
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son → take → floor
My midwife and her assistant began CPR.
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midwife → begin → CPR
My husband performed an emergency baptism, invoking the saints James was named after.
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James → perform → saints
Sitting on the floor, I felt like I was falling out of control.
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I → sit → control
In my head, I repeated the name of my baby’s namesake, the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen — a Catholic televangelist who converted over 50,000 people during his lifetime, and who boasted over 30 million weekly viewers for his Emmy-winning show, Life is Worth Living, which aired in the 1950s.
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which → repeat → 1950s
In my moment of desperation, my heart and voice continuously called on Sheen to pray for me.
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heart → call → me
I had no idea how profoundly this prayer would change my life — and the lives of millions of Catholics across America, if not the world.
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prayer → have → world
After 20 minutes, an ambulance arrived and took James and my husband to the hospital about 20 minutes away.
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ambulance → arrive → hospital
My husband watched in shock as our tiny son — his cold, blue body hooked up to a heart monitor — lay lifeless and pulseless while every method to restart his heart failed.
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method → watch → heart
In a separate ambulance, headed to labor and delivery monitoring, I desperately prayed for the son I just wanted to love and hold.
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I → head → son
After 20 more minutes, the doctors and nurses finally stopped trying to resuscitate him and were seconds from calling the time of death.
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doctors → stop → death
At that moment, when all attempts had ended, James’ heart started to beat.
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heart → end → moment
Even then, everyone feared massive organ failure.
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everyone → fear → failure
The doctors stabilized James and transferred him to the NICU.
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doctors → stabilize → NICU
We were warned that if James lived, his life would be filled with limitations and hardships.
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life → warn → limitations
We prepared our hearts to love James no matter what.
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We → prepare → James
We also prayed for Sheen’s intercession for a miracle.
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We → pray → miracle
During my pregnancy we had decided to name James after Sheen and asked for his prayer over the life of our son.
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we → decide → son
It was natural, therefore, to continue to call on him, to ask him to pray without ceasing for our sweet baby James.
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It → continue → baby
It took years for the extent of James’ miracle to reveal itself.
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extent → take → itself
An MRI at three months showed zero brain damage.
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MRI → show → damage
As he hit milestone after milestone, it was clear that God had truly restored our son.
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God → hit → son
Independent medical professionals additionally confirmed that there was no medical explanation for James’ survival — let alone the fact that he doesn’t have any complications to this day.
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he → confirm → day
I knew in that moment that Sheen had interceded for me and my baby boy.
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Sheen → know → me
I had no idea then, however, that our little miracle could help Sheen too.
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miracle → have → Sheen
Years before, in 2002, Bishop Daniel Jenky opened the cause for canonization for Sheen in his hometown of Peoria.
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Jenky → open → Peoria
For those who don’t know, Catholic canonizations are multi-year processes the Church undergoes to determine whether an individual is officially a Catholic saint.
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individual → know → those
It involves three stages, the data collection stage before someone is declared venerable, an investigation and miracle to declare someone blessed, and a second miracle to declare them a saint.
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them → involve → stages
For the past 24 years, Catholics involved in Sheen’s canonization efforts have heavily scrutinized his life and works to ensure he merits the titles of "Venerable," "Blessed," and "Saint."
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he → involve → Venerable
In 2012, the Catholic Church declared Sheen "Venerable" after those responsible for investigating his life concluded that he had demonstrated "heroic virtue.
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he → declare → virtue
And in 2019, the Catholic Church declared that what happened to my son James was a miracle attributed to Sheen.
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happened → declare → Sheen
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
