Plot summary

Next to a church in a prosperous Scottish industrial town is the "Garden of Eden", a dance hall of dubious reputation. The "Garden of Eden" is a thorn in the side of the innocent and unworldly Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 Father Malachy, who is praying to God that He will close the dance hall.

During an argument with a Protestant minister, Father Malachy claims that God could miraculously remove the "Garden of Eden". The skeptical Protestant scoffs and Father Malachy inadvertently predicts that God will indeed remove the "Garden of Eden" on a specific date.

The date comes and the building and all the people inside vanish and reappear on Bass Rock

Bass Rock

The Bass Rock, or simply The Bass, , is an island in the outer part of the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland. It is approximately offshore, and north-east of North Berwick. It is a steep-sided volcanic rock, at its highest point, and is home to a large colony of gannets...

, a small island in the Firth of Forth

Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...

. This apparent miracle

Miracle

A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...

 draws the attention of the media, politicians and scientists, all trying to find rational explanations. The Catholic Church is reluctant to officially recognize this occurrence as a miracle, fearing either a loss of control in matters of faith, or a loss of face if the disappearance of the "Garden of Eden" should turn out to be a hoax

Hoax

A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...

 or fabrication.

Meanwhile, believers from all over the world come on pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

 to the former location of the dance hall. Soon the site becomes a fairground, with the town’s people, entrepreneurs and journalists trying to make a profit from the miracle and the resulting sudden influx of pilgrims. This includes the sale of holy water

Holy water

Holy water is water that, in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and some other churches, has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, the blessing of persons, places, and objects; or as a means of repelling evil.The use for baptism and...

 and miniature models of the "Garden of Eden". A young woman, who was in the dance hall during the night it vanished, becomes a media star. Financial investors are buying the island where the "Garden of Eden" reappeared, and construct a casino

Casino

In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

 that soon attracts crowds of people.

Father Malachy is confronted with interview requests from journalists, and pilgrims beleaguer the church, hoping to meet the miracle-working priest. As he has spent most of his life in the monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

, he feels helpless in the face of the excesses of modern society. He soon regrets that he asked God for the miracle. He travels to the island and prays for a second miracle that will end the frenzy, and is heard by God, who returns the "Garden of Eden" to its original location.

Film

The novel was the basis for the German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 film Das Wunder des Malachias, a 1961 black-and-white film directed by Bernhard Wicki and starring Horst Bollmann

Horst Bollmann

Horst Bollmann is a German film and television actor.-External links:*...

. The film won several awards.