The miracle that led to the beatification of Maronite Patriarch Elias Hoyek involved the healing of a Muslim man.

When a holy man or woman is beatified or canonized by the Catholic Church, a verified miracle is normally required that is attributed to the intercession of that person.

Typically the miracle is related to a Christian praying for healing through the intercession of that individual. God is the one who grants the healing, but the saint or blessed is the one who intercedes.

On July 25 a former Maronite Patriarch, Elias Hoyek, was beatified in Lebanon. He lived in the early 20th century and is called the "Father of Greater Lebanon," for his role in securing independence for Lebanon after World War I.

He was highly regarded for his holiness and continues to be a shining example in Lebanon.

What's unique about his beatification case is that the verified miracle was connected to the healing of a Muslim man.

The miracle corresponds to the healing of a Muslim of Druze ethnicity, born in Hasbaya, Lebanon; married, father of three children, officer of the Lebanese army.

In 2005, the man was experiencing severe back and spinal pain. This pain is significantly aggravated after a fall from a height of about five meters which forces him to a situation of absolute rest. A CT scan diagnosed “bilateral spondylolysis.” Diagnosis that confirmed the chronic nature of the disease. This condition remained stable in gravity until one morning in April 2005 the man awoke without any pain and was able to move normally. He attributes this fact to having dreamed of a man dressed in white and with a stick in his hand later identified with Patriarch Hoyek. The healed man claimed that he had never known or heard of the Blessed before. The recovery was of such magnitude that he resumed his usual activity.

The Muslim man attributed the healing to Patriarch Hoyek and the healing was deemed miraculous, without any scientific reasoning behind it.

The Dicastery further explains, "The moral certainty of Patriarch Hoyek's intercession can be achieved by the objective elements of the case (healing itself and the coincidence of the details of the dream with reality), also recalling God's interventions in dreams -- both in the Old and New Testaments -- and the miracles of Jesus, in which there is no explicit prior request."

God is able to miraculously cure anyone, as he repeatedly accomplished in the Bible and continues to do up to the present day.

The miracle attributed to the prayers of St. Daniel Comboni also involved someone of the Muslim faith. As explained here, the miracle was recognized December 20, 2003: It was the cure of a Muslim mother from Sudan.