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Sixteen years ago, in the middle of the night, in the heart of Illinois, a miracle happened.
It didn’t begin as a miracle, of 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. Unbeknownst to us, our healthy baby boy had a knot in his umbilical cord. That knot tightened during his delivery, cutting off his oxygen supply. When the midwife caught him and placed him in my arms, he was stillborn. For the brief moments I held him, he didn’t cry. He didn’t breathe. He had no pulse.
Our son, James Fulton, was taken from my arms and placed on the floor. My midwife and her assistant began CPR. My husband performed an emergency baptism, invoking the saints James was named after. Sitting on the floor, I felt like I was falling out of control.
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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.
In my moment of desperation, my heart and voice continuously called on Sheen to pray for 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.
After 20 minutes, an ambulance arrived and took James and my husband to the hospital about 20 minutes away. 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. In a separate ambulance, headed to labor and delivery monitoring, I desperately prayed for the son I just wanted to love and hold.
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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At that moment, when all attempts had ended, James’ heart started to beat.
He had been without a pulse for sixty-one minutes.
Even then, everyone feared massive organ failure. The doctors stabilized James and transferred him to the NICU. We were warned that if James lived, his life would be filled with limitations and hardships. We prepared our hearts to love James no matter what.
We also prayed for Sheen’s intercession for a miracle. During my pregnancy we had decided to name James after Sheen and asked for his prayer over the life of our 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 took years for the extent of James’ miracle to reveal itself. An MRI at three months showed zero brain damage. As he hit milestone after milestone, it was clear that God had truly restored our 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.
I knew in that moment that Sheen had interceded for me and my baby boy. I had no idea then, however, that our little miracle could help Sheen too.
Years before, in 2002, Bishop Daniel Jenky opened the cause for canonization for Sheen in his hometown of 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. 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.
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.” 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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And in 2019, the Catholic Church declared that what happened to my son James was a miracle attributed to Sheen. My son’s first moments of life are the reason that Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be declared “Blessed” in Saint Louis on September 24th.
Today, James is a handsome teenager, if I do say so myself. He is funny, thoughtful, and hardworking. He enjoys music, meteorology, and working alongside his dad with the high school football team. He takes his faith seriously and has a personal devotion to Sheen.
When Sheen is beatified on September 24th, James, accompanied by my husband, me, and our other seven children, will carry and present the first-class relic at the ceremony.
This honor couldn’t be bestowed on a more grateful family. We hope that sharing James’ story and promoting Sheen’s cause for canonization will inspire more Americans to recognize the glory of God and the beauty of the Catholic faith.
Sixteen years ago, in the Heart of Illinois, a miracle happened. People who do not know our family refer to that day as the anniversary of the miracle.
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We call it James’ birthday.