What is the Roman Catholic stance on levitation? There are many stories of certain saints levitating or even flying. Many include reports of some particular saint seen hovering a few feet above the ground as they were deep in prayer.

Does the Roman Catholic Church have an official position on this? Are some saints officially recognized as 'levitators' or are the stories dismissed?
Skip to the "however" toward the end to avoid a lot of build-up.



I'm not finding anything official, and my favorite source is coming up inconclusive, but leaning toward "It's either bogus or of the devil, not of God.".

A search for "Levitation" on the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia site returns exactly four results.

The first is an article called "Impostors", which recounts various, well, impostors.  Excerpt:


  More to our purpose are a number of feigned or deluded ecstaticas who
  often traded upon the popular credulity in countries like Spain that
  were ready to welcome the miraculous. Amongst the most famous of these
  was Magdalena de la Cruz (1487-1560), a Franciscan nun of Cordova, who
  for many years was honoured as a saint. She was believed to have the
  stigmata and to take no other food than the Holy Eucharist. The
  Blessed Sacrament was said to fly to her tongue from the hand of the
  priest who was giving Holy Communion, and it seemed at such moments
  that she was raised from the ground. The same miraculous levitation
  took place during her ecstasies at which time also she was radiant
  with supernatural light. So universal was the popular veneration, that
  ladies of the highest rank, when about to be confined, sent to her the
  cradles or garments prepared for the expected child, that she might
  bless them. This was done by the Empress Isabel, in 1527, before the
  birth of Philip II. On the other hand St. Ignatius Loyola had always
  regarded her with suspicion. Falling dangerously ill in 1543,
  Magdalena confessed to a long career of hypocrisy, ascribing most of
  the marvels to the action of demons by which she was possessed, but
  maintaining their reality. She was sentenced by the Inquisition, in an
  auto-da-fé at Cordova, in 1546, to perpetual imprisonment in a convent
  of her order, and there she is believed to have ended her days most
  piously amid marks of the sincerest repentance (see Görres, "Mystik",
  V, 168-174; Lea, "Chapters from Relig. Hist. of Spain", 330-335). A
  large number of similar cases have been discussed in considerable
  detail by Lea both in his "Chapters" just cited, and also in the
  fourth volume of his "History of the Inquisition of Spain", but Lea,
  though indefatigable as a compiler, is not to be relied on in the
  conclusions and inferences he draws.


Score:  Legitimate levitation:0, phony (or possibly of the devil):1

The second, "St. John of the Cross" doesn't actually mention levitation.  

Score remains Legitimate levitation:0, phony (or possibly of the devil):1

The third:  "Spiritism"

I'll spare you the quote, but levitation is listed as one of the phenomena associated with Spiritism, which is seen as not of God, but of the opposite. 

Score:  Legitimate levitation:0, phony (or possibly of the devil):2

The fourth, "St. Gerard Majella" also doesn't actually mention levitation.

Score remains Legitimate levitation:0, phony (or possibly of the devil):2

Other searches:  "Levitate" returns similar articles, plus a few Latin verses, but in these, the word "levitate" is translated to English as "light", "lightly" or "lightness" consistent with the normal translation.  Example, 2 Corinthians 1:17

However...

Some other sites that look less official to me suggest otherwise.  There are several seemingly legitimate cases reported, which are seen as genuine miracles, and seem relatively accepted.

Frustratingly, I cannot find an official statement at all.  The most plausible I've found to an official stance is in an un-cited, un-referenced answer that sounds entirely plausible and consistent with all the "noise" I've found.  It is CatholicCulture.org's article on Levitation.


  According to Benedict XIV, in order to verify genuine levitation it is
  first of all necessary to make a thorough investigation to eliminate
  any chance of fraud. Then he states that a well-authenticated
  levitation cannot be explained on merely natural grounds; that this
  phenomenon is not, however, beyond the power of angels or demons; and
  that with the saints it is a kind of anticipation of a prerogative of
  glorified bodies.


This same statement can be found on many sites, and appears to be commonly accepted as a valid assertion.