What caused the miracle?

[Tamasin]

Obviously spoilers.

What caused the miracle now? Played it through but didn't find the answer. Is the red pope responsible?

[Scorpix]

In the area named The Knot of Three World there is a tree. It is a place where the Son of the First miracle was praying for suffering. He was doing it while being on log and during his praying the log has changed into the tree which devoured him and from which every year flows golden essence as a reminder of those events.
I think the moment when The Miracle started was the moment when he died in joy and he said: My Great Guilt.

[Gwyn]

Originally posted by Scorpix:

In the area named The Knot of Three World there is a tree. It is a place where the Son of the First miracle was praying for suffering. He was doing it while being on log and during his praying the log has changed into the tree which devoured him and from which every year flows golden essence as a reminder of those events.
I think the moment when The Miracle started was the moment when he died in joy and he said: My Great Guilt.

I'm a bit confused about, is the Son of the First miracle and The Twisted One are the same person?

[FONEternal]

I am still somewhat thrown off as to what The Miracle even is. Is it a physical affliction? A sickness or disease like a plague? A curse where people turn into trees/are consumed by them? Or is it some general notion of suffering?

[MarbleThrone]

Originally posted by FONEternal:

I am still somewhat thrown off as to what The Miracle even is. Is it a physical affliction? A sickness or disease like a plague? A curse where people turn into trees/are consumed by them? Or is it some general notion of suffering?

According to the wiki, "The Miracle, also known as the Sorrowful Miracle or the Grievous Miracle, is a mysterious, supernatural entity or event that manifested in the lands of Cvstodia and is the central cause for much of the events in Blasphemous."

Sounds a lot like a curse but I suppose it could also be a thing, a deity.

[M.V.Petra]

As for the causation, I don't think there really is one. It is a miracle after all. But essentially, a young man prayed on a log to be punished for his sins, and that's when the Miracle first "manifested" causing the log to grow roots, slowly and painfully taking over the man's form and turning him into the "Twisted One" who then became an object of reverence and worship, called "The Father."

Much time later, the current Papal figure Escribar believed that the "Miracle" had disappeared, which meant there was no longer anything to pray to. So he turned his throne around to face away from his congregation and in response, the Miracle would eventually manifest again, this time him into, as you could guess, a large tree, which it then burned for 90 days straight, leaving a large mountain of ash, on top of which was his Turned Throne, as well as ashen fog permeating through out the cathedral, engulfing everyone through out. Once the ashed finally settled, the people who had been trapped underneath it would rise out, mutated and transformed into "beasts of faith" who only cared about the Miracle, and among them was the now red wood Papal figure Escribar, returned from death, and thus began "The Age of Corruption" when the miracle would manifest itself constantly, playing tricks and ironic punishments on any who sinned, which in this world, means everyone, corrupting them.

I believe some time after that (though I could be wrong and it might have been pre-Turned Throne), was the opening scene of Blasphemous, a woman used a small statuette of the Father to bludgeon her chest, praying to be punished for her sins, and the Miracle would answer by turning that statue into a sword that pierced her chest, and she would turn into a statue, known as the Kneeling Stone, which like all things, became an object of worship.

Some time after the game would begin in earnest, when the Brotherhood of Silent Sorrow would attempt to end this "Age of Corruption," though the specifics of how they figured out they could do so is beyond my knowledge, perhaps the tie in comic reveals more, I haven't read it. But to do so, they would require the sword Mea Culpa, still stuck in the Kneeling Stone, and when they would steal it, Escribars person Knight Templars, the "Anointed Legion" would strike back to try and get it back, killing all but one of the Brotherhood in response. The only remaining survivor would then use the Mea Culpa to continue his quest to end the Age of Corruption by turning himself into the new martyr of the Miracle.

tl;dr Nothing caused the Miracle, it's a Miracle, and doesn't need a cause, its just a fickle diety that does what it wishes when it feels like it; the Twisted one is the first Son of the Miracle, the first martyr to start an age, followed by Escribar, who's forced martyrdom (rather than The Father's consentual sacrifice) began the new age where the Miracle punished all, and finally The Penitent One becoming the next Son of the Miracle through willing sacrifice to end the Corruption of the land, Cvstodia