Eucharistic Miracle of Santarém, Portugal, 1266.       Evil things result from evil behavior. But God is Lord of all and well capable of bringing a greater good out of every evil for those who believe and trust (cf., Romans8:28 ). Sometimes God even intervenes publicly and miraculously to wake humanity up.       The events begin with an unfaithful husband who continually violates his marriage vows to his wife. (First evil.) The wife becomes more and more miserable. Instead of turning to God alone, she seeks the help of the devil by going to a sorceress. (Second evil.) The sorceress promises a result if the wife would bring her a consecrated Host from the Catholic Church to concoct a love potion. (Third evil, the sorceress’ intent.) The wife hesitates, but eventually agreed to commit the sacrilege. (Fourth evil, her intent, and subsequent action.)       It is February 16, 1266, Santarém, Portugal. The wife goes to Ma...

 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 ...

  Eucharist Miracle of  Bolsena-Orvieto, Italy, 1263      This Sunday we celebrate the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (formerly called Corpus Christi). It was instituted in 1264. The miracle happened the year before.      Bolsena is located in central Italy. Fr. Peter of Prague, a Bohemian priest, was traveling on pilgrimage to Rome and stopped in Bolsena on the way. Purportedly Fr. Peter’s spiritual director had recommended that Fr. Peter make the pilgrimage to Rome as a spiritual aid to his troubled soul about temptations to doubt that Christ was really present in the Eucharist.      The doctrine of transubstantiation had already formally been proclaimed in 1215 at the Fourth Lateran Council. Transubstantiation means that, pursuant to the command of Jesus to “do this in remembrance of Me,” the priest ordained in Apostolic succession, when calling down the Holy Spirit at Mass and speaking Jesus’ own w...

Eucharistic Miracle of Sokółka, Poland, of 2008.       Sokółka is a small town in NE Poland, near the border with Belarus. It was October 12, 2008, at an ordinary Sunday Mass. Accidently a consecrated Host was dropped during distribution of Holy Communion. Normally the priest might pick up and consume the Host, but it had picked up some dirt. So, as with our stories of the last few weeks, the Host was put into a container of water, expecting it to dissolve, and removed to a safe place. One week later, on the 19th, expecting the host to now be completely dissolved, instead part of the white Host remained, and it was partially covered by a solid red protruding stain, resembling a 1x1.5 cm. blood clot. Yet the water was clear. It was photographed, the diocese was informed and did a preliminary investigation. The bishop then ordered it be preserved, not in water, but that what appeared to be a blood clot to be removed from the remaining white Host and placed on a corporal (th...

Eucharistic Miracle of Tixtla, Mexico, of 2006.       In this account, you will recognize similarities to the last two articles on Eucharistic miracles from Buenos Aires. The same investigator from Buenos Aires, who had associates and funding from Australia, again provided the means for extensive investigation of the Tixtla miracle.       Tixtla is in southwestern Mexico, about 100 kilometers inland from Acapulco. It happened on Sunday, October 22, 2006, at the concluding Mass of a spiritual retreat of about 600 persons. An extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, a religious sister, noticed that in the ciborium of consecrated Hosts she was holding as she gave out Communion, one of the Hosts appeared to be stained with Blood. She brought it up to the priest. The diocese was informed. Testimonies of those directly involved, plus 17 persons who were also present, were taken, all in agreement.       The bishop was not inclin...

Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires of 1996.   The same church in Buenos Aires, Argentina, had a series of Eucharistic Miracles in 1992, 1994, and 1996. It was a regular Sunday Mass, August 18, 1996. A woman noticed a Host that had somehow been partially hidden at the base of a candlestick standing before a crucifix at the side of the church. It appeared to have been put there by someone intending to desecrate it. The Host was dirty and dusty so it was submerged in water for dissolution (as described in last week’s article). However, eight days later, the Host in the water was seen to be transforming into something red in color. Over the next weeks, the Host became less and less distinguishable and the water more turbid by a red cloud-like substance and darker jelly-like clumps resembling clotted blood. After a month, the remaining material was transferred to a closed bottle of distilled water, where it remained for three years.  In 1999, Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergogl...

Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires of 1992.       On Friday, May 1, 1992, a lay Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion noticed two crescent-shaped Host fragments lying on the corporal – the cloth where the Eucharistic Host is placed. The minister brought them to the priest’s attention, who then did the proper procedure for consecrated Hosts that are no longer edible: he immersed the fragments in water. The Church’s understanding is that when the appearance of bread is gone from a consecrated Host (as with dissolution in water), that the Presence of Jesus Christ is also gone, and then the water can be returned directly to the earth on the consecrated ground of the church. Until dissolution happens, the Hosts in water were locked in the Tabernacle, kept with other reserved consecrated Hosts.       On May 8, the priest checked on the Hosts and found three blood clots in the water, along with blood streaks on the walls of the ciborium (the containe...