Eucharistic Miraculous Fasts.
These
articles have reviewed many different kinds of genuine miracles associated with
the Holy Eucharist – the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus. Another kind of
Eucharistic miracle is where God’s grace physically sustains a person with no
other food than solely the Eucharist.
Later
that same confessor asked whether she ever had an appetite for anything other
than the Holy Eucharist. Catherine replied, “God satisfies me so in the Holy
Eucharist that it is impossible for me to desire any species of corporal
nourishment.” Asked if she didn’t at least experience hunger, she replied, “His
sole presence satiates me, and I acknowledge that, to be happy, it even
suffices for me to see a priest who has just said Mass.”
St.
Nicholas of Flue, Switzerland (d. 1487) had been a soldier, a married man and
father of 10 children. After 25 years of marriage his wife consented for him to
leave the home and live as a hermit. He lived in s wilderness hermitage for 20
years until his death, always without taking any bodily food or drink other
than Holy Communion. His biographer was his parish priest who disclosed that
St. Nicholas had told him that he received the Holy Eucharist “once a month and
felt that the Body and Blood of Christ communicated vital forces which served
him for meat and drink, otherwise he could not sustain life without
nourishment.”
To
test whether Nicholas’ fast was actually true, the bishop came to reside in an
adjoining hermitage. After observing Nicholas for many days, the bishop ordered
him to eat some common bread and drink a little wine. The agony Nicholas
experience from that common food was so great that the bishop withdrew his
order, saying that Nicholas’ obedience to his order was proof that Nicholas was
“a child of grace.” Both the Austrian Archduke Sigismond and Emperor Frederick
III sent physicians to investigate Nicholas and his fast, and all tests only
proved that his fast from all but the Holy Eucharist was genuine. A grace from
God to one who wanted to give himself so completely to God.
Over
the ages, several other saints have experienced the same grace. But what of our
day? Yes, at least two in the 20th Century that we know of. Blessed
Alexandrina de Costa (1904-1955) of Balasar, Portugal, was an invalid most of
her life, having been crippled after jumping from a high window to escape a
rapist. She had many mystical experiences, and for some years she experienced
Christ’s passion in her own body on Fridays. For the last three years of her
life, she totally fasted from food or drink, except for the Holy Eucharist,
documented by many witnesses including physicians.
Servant
of God Therese Neumann (1898-1962) of Konnersreuth, W. Germany, never married,
but lived a holy life at home. She was granted graces of miraculous healings
and mystical experiences including the stigmata. From 1926 until her death in
1962 – 36 years – she took no food or water other than the Holy Eucharist. The
grace she received was that the Eucharist would remain within her physically
for about a day, but gradually diminish during each 24-hour period. At that
time, she felt like her life was ebbing away and would become quite weak –
until she received the Bread of Life once again.
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35.) So that we would all believe Him spiritually, Christ’s words become literally true for a chosen few.
Dibby Allan Green
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
Dibby Allan Green has a BA in Religious Studies (Westmont College, 1978) and MA in Theology (Augustine Institute, 2019), is a lay Catholic hermit, and a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.