Eucharistic Miracle of Ferrara, Italy, 1171.
It was Easter Sunday, March 28, 1171. A small church called St. Maria del Vado (St. Mary of the Ford), then 500 years old, was the scene. The priest was celebrating Mass with other priests and laity in attendance.
In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, after the
priest pronounces the words of Christ over the bread (“This is My Body”) and
wine (“This is My Blood”) – so after both have changed entirely to the Body,
Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ – the priest then breaks the consecrated
Host into two parts. As the priest did this breaking, all present were startled
to see a stream of Blood spurt out from the Host at that moment. And it was no
small stream! The stream was so strong and abundant that it not only fell on to
the altar, but the Blood burst out above the altar and sprinkled a
semi-circular vault that was above and slightly behind the altar. (From photos,
it looks like the ceiling could be 13' to 15' tall.)
Of course, news spread like wildfire and
people in all the area were amazed. Two bishops came as soon as possible to
investigate. They saw the Blood stains, the Host which not only changed in
substance (as at every Mass), but also now also bore the appearance of human Flesh.
Both bishops were in agreement that the Blood was “the real miraculous Blood of
Our Lord.”
As ordinarily the Lord allows the
appearance of bread and wine to remain after consecration, it is understandable
that some may think that after consecration, the bread becomes Christ’s Body
(only) and the wine Christ’s Blood (only). The truth is actually even more
wonderful than that. The historical Christian understanding is that the Body,
Blood, human Soul, and Divinity of our Lord are together present, and become
the substance of, each and every fragment of the consecrated Host and each and
every drop of the Precious Blood. That is why, when very tiny portions of
Eucharistic miracles are subject to scientific analysis, both fleshly Tissue
(such as cardiac muscle) and Blood (white blood cells, red cells) can be seen
in the minute fragments. (This is related in the scientific analysis reported
in prior articles, which can be read online at https://ollchurch.blogspot.com/.)
And so we see in this case the Lord had visible Blood spurt out of the
consecrated Host, as well as His transforming the appearance into Flesh. What
was previously a wafer of unleavened wheat bread had become both the Body and
Blood of Christ, as well as His soul and divinity.
The earliest known document giving the
details of this Eucharistic miracle was written in 1197. A second document was written in 1404. On
April 7, 1442, in a Papal Bull, Pope Benedict XIV recognized the miracle. A
Cardinal Nicolo Fieschi also gave recognition to the miracle in 1519.
In 1857, Pope Pius IX journeyed to the
church (which still stands today, although greatly expanded). When he saw the
drops of Precious Blood still remaining, he exclaimed, “These drops are like
the ones on the corporal in Orvieto!” Recall last week’s article on the
Eucharistic Miracle of Bolsena-Orvieto, Italy in 1263, when Christ’s Precious
Blood had poured out of a Consecrated Host, running down the priest’s hands, on
to the white corporal cloth, and on to floor stones. Pius IX was referring to
the Blood-stained white corporal of that miracle which, even still today, is
preserved in Orvieto, Italy. So Pius IX immediately noted the similarity in
appearance the two Eucharistic miracles and their respective Blood stains.
In 1970, a year-long celebration was observed to commemorate the eighth centennial of this Eucharistic Miracle. Even after 800 years, God still maintains the existence of this miracle.
Dibby Allan Green