The greatest treasure in the Catholic Church is, without question, the Holy Eucharist, in which Jesus Christ humbly assumes the appearance of bread. Whether retained in simple chapels or grand basilicas, the Eucharist remains a sign of the Heavenly Father's unwillingness to be physically separated from His children. His children, on the other hand, have not always appreciated this presence and, as painful as it is to consider, many have abused the gift by receiving it unworthily, by doubting the Real Presence of God in the Sacred Host, or by treating the Sacrament with indifference. For these reasons the Saviour has seen fit at times to prove His presence by performing Eucharistic miracles of various kinds. Let us now visit some of the times our Lord has seen fit to prove His real presence through Eucharistic miracles.
The Miracle Of Regensburg, Germany, 1257. For many years
there were in Regensburg (formerly called Ratisbon) two chapels
with the same name, St. Saviour, and both have interesting histories
involving the Blessed Sacrament. The oldest was founded in the
year 1255. On March 25 of that year, which was Holy Thursday,
a priest named Dompfarrer Ulrich von Dornberg was scheduled to
bring the Blessed Sacrament to the sick members of his parish.
On reaching a little stream called Bachgasse, the priest carefully
set foot on the narrow plank that served as a bridge - and promptly
slipped, dropping the ciborium he had been carrying. The Hosts
spilled from the vessel onto the bank of the stream and it was
with some difficulty that the priest collected them.
The parishioners, on hearing of the accident, decided to build
a chapel on the site where the Hosts had been soiled, in reparation
for the disrespect done to the Blessed Sacrament - even though
the incident had been unintentional. The erection of a wooden
chapel was started the same day and was completed three days later,
on March 28. Bishop Albert of Regensburg called the little wooden
structure St. Saviour's Chapel and consecrated it on September
8, 1255. The miracle of Regensburg occurred in this chapel two
years later.
During the offering of the Holy Sacrifice, a certain priest (whose
name is not given) wondered about the real Presence of Jesus in
the Eucharist. All at once, the corpus on the large altar crucifix
before him seemed to come alive. One of the hands of Our Lord
detached itself from the cross, stretched forward, and removed
the chalice from the hands of the priest! With shock and fear,
he stepped backward, gazed intently at the miracle, and fervently
repented of his doubt. It was only then that the chalice was restored
to him.
After this miracle, great crowds visited the church, many traveling
great distances. With the offerings that were generously given,
the wooden chapel was replaced with a stone structure in I 260.
Sometime after the stone chapel was completed, its name was changed
from St. Saviour's Chapel to Kreuzkapelle or Cross Chapel in honor
of the miraculous crucifix that was greatly venerated there.
The Miracle Of Middleburg-Louvain, Belgium, 1374. Time
has obscured the name of the noble lady who is first mentioned
in the history of this miracle, but it is known that she was a
wealthy native of Middleburg . She was kind to her domestics and
so solicitous for their spiritual advancement that she taught
them herself, inspiring them by her zealous observance of the
Church's traditional practices.
On the first Sunday of the holy season of Lent of 1374, in accord
with her usual custom she encouraged her servants to prepare for
this season of penance by going to Confession and receiving Holy
Communion. Her words, however, were accepted by the servants only
as a duty they had to perform. One of the servants, known simply
as Jean of Cologne, felt obliged to participate with the others
for fear of being disgraced, but he approached the Holy Sacrament
without having first prepared himself by confessing his sins in
the Sacrament of Penance.
Kneeling with the others at the Communion railing, he awaited
the approach of the priest. But as soon as the Host was placed
upon Jean's tongue, it turned to flesh, which he was unable to
swallow! Frightened by the unexpected development, he attempted
to hide his difficulty, but then made the mistake of biting into
the flesh. At that moment three drops of blood fell from his lips,
staining the cloth that was draped over the Communion railing.
Startled at the sight of the bloody flesh in Jean's mouth and
the blood dripping from it, the priest reacted promptly by removing
the Host and respectfully carrying it to the altar, where he placed
it in a small golden vessel.
It is reported that Jean was punished for his sacrilegious Communion
by being instantly blinded. Feeling overwhelming remorse for his
sin, he knelt at the feet of the priest and confessed his sin
before the entire congregation. His sincere sorrow resulted in
the restoration of his sight. Thereafter, Jean is said to have
led an exemplary life and to have maintained to his death a great
reverence for the most holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Eucharistic Miracles And The Saints. St. Anthony of
Padua (d. 1231), was involved in a most dramatic miracle of the
Eucharist. It also involved, of all things, a mule. The history
of the saint relates that a man named Boniville, believed to have
been an Albigensian heretic who rejected the validity of all the
Sacraments, was one day in Toulouse questioning the saint about
the Sacrament of the Altar. Boniville denied the real presence
of Jesus Christ in the consecrated Host, while the saint steadfastly
affirmed it. As a test, one or the other suggested that the choice
be made by Boniville's mule. Both men agreed.
The mule was kept in its stall for three days, and deprived of
food during all that time. At the end of the fast, a great crowd
of both believers and unbelievers assembled to witness the proceedings.
When the mule was brought before St. Anthony, he held a consecrated
Host before the animal, while Boniville attempted to feed it oats
and hay. The mule took no notice of the food, but fell to its
knees before the Blessed Sacrament. The Catholics who witnessed
the miracle expressed unbounded joy, while the unbelievers were
thoroughly confused. Boniville is said to have been subsequently
converted, together with a great number of the heretics.
Eucharistic Fasts. One of the most frequent of the miraculous
phenomena which have occurred in the lives of the saints is the
Eucharistic fast, in which the Eucharist was the principal, or
only, food during prolonged fasts - or was the sole nourishment
for years at a time The following is one of the many saints who
have maintained such fasts.
The fast of St. Catherine of Siena (d. 1 380) has been recorded
for us by none other than one of her confessors, BI. Raymond of
Capua. In his biography of St. Catherine he informs us that following
a vision of Our Lord, food was no longer necessary to the saint.
BI. Raymond writes: "When she was obliged to take food, she
was so incommoded that it would not remain in the stomach and
it would be quite impossible to describe her grievous pains on
such occasions." At the start of her fast, the confessor
who served her at the time commanded her to take food daily, but
after a time the saint asked him: "If therefore you see,
by the numerous experiments of which you have been witness, that
I am killing myself by taking nourishment, why do you not forbid
me, as you would forbid me to fast, if the fast produced a similar
result?"
BI. Raymond tells us that the confessor had nothing to reply to
this reasoning and said to her, "Henceforth act according
to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, for I perceive that God
is accomplishing marvelous things in you." Sometime later,
when her confessor inquired whether she did not at least experience
an appetite, the saint replied, "God satisfies me so in the
Holy Eucharist that it is impossible for me to desire any species
of corporal nourishment." On asking if she did not at least
experience hunger on the days on which she did not communicate,
the saint answered, "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."
When St. Catherine's fast became well-known many criticized her,
and even religious persons were opposed to her. Some attributed
the fast to ". . . a kind of vanity, that she did not fast
really, but fed herself well in secret." Others said she
wished to be noticed and that she was being deceived by the devil.
Bl. Raymond writes: "Catherine was willing to appease their
murmurs, and determined that every day she would go once and take
a seat at the common table and endeavor to eat. Although she used
neither meat, nor wine, nor drink, nor eggs, and did not even
touch bread. what she took, or rather, what she tried to take,
caused her such sufferings that those that saw her, however hard-hearted
they were, were moved to compassion; her stomach could digest
nothing, and rejected whatever was taken into it; she afterwards
suffered the most terrible pains and her whole body appeared to
be swollen; she did not swallow the herbs which she chewed, she
only drew from them their juice and rejected their substance.
She then took pure water to cool her mouth; but every day she
was forced to throw up what she had taken, and that with so much
difficulty that it was necessary to assist her by every possible
means. To this BI. Raymond adds, "As I was frequently witness
of this suffering, I felt an extreme compassion for her, and I
counselled her to let men talk, and spare herself such torture
. ." (Joan Carroll Cruz, "Eucharistic Miracles",
Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford, IL, 1987)