Blanot, France, Year: 1331

The Eucharist falls out of a woman's mouth onto an altar rail cloth. The priest tries to recover the Host but all that remains is a large spot of blood the same size and dimensions as the wafer.

The cloth was kept in the church as a living sign of God’s love. Later the cloth was cut and the tiny precious relic was encased in a vial of crystal. Even through two world wars, the relic never left the village. In times of unrest, it passed from house to house– being used from time to time for healing the sick. In times of peace, it returned to its proper home within the walls of the church and there it remains today for pilgrims from all over the world to see and adore.

Bagno di Romagna, Italy, Year: 1412

This Eucharistic miracle occurred in the small Italian town of Bagno di Romagna as a priest was celebrating Mass and having great doubts about the True Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist. After consecrating the wine, he looked into the chalice and was shocked to see wine turned to blood. It began to bubble out of the chalice and onto the corporal. Shaken by the event, the priest prayed for forgiveness. He eventually was given the title Venerable because of the pious life he led after the miracle.

In 1958 an investigation confirmed the corporal contained human blood and still retained properties of blood nearly 600 years later.

Cascia, Italy, Year: 1330

Cascia is a small town in the mountains of the Umbrian valley in Italy. It is the home of St. Rita of Cascia and her incorrupt body lies in the Major Basilica. Below in the Minor Basilica is the Eucharistic Miracle and the remains of Blessed Simone Fidati, a priest involved in the miracle. At the time of the miracle, in the 1300's, a certain priest had lost his respect for the Eucharist and when going on a call to administer the Holy Sacraments to an ailing peasant took a Consecrated Host and placed it irreverently between the pages of his breviary. When he opened the book, he saw that the Host had turned red with fresh blood and was impregnated with the two pages between which it had been placed!

The priest sought out for counsel, Blessed Simone Fidati, a pious and respected priest of the time. He recognized the priest's error and gave him absolution. He took the two pages, putting one in a tabernacle in Perugia and keeping the other in Cascia. The miracle is particularly commemorated each year on the Feast of Corpus Christi in Cascia.

Bologna, Italy, 1333

       
The incorrupt body of Blessed Imelda since the day of her death: May 12, 1333

The Lord gave to Imelda Lambertini a special gift at age 9 on the Feast of the Ascension in 1333. The nuns were preparing to leave the church when some of them were startled to see what appeared to be a Sacred Host hovering in the air above Imelda, as she knelt before the closed tabernacle absorbed in prayer. Quickly they attracted the attention of the priest who hurried forward with a paten on which to receive It. The Host dropped onto the paten, and the priest gave Imelda her First Holy Communion. In the face of such a miracle he could not do otherwise than give to Imelda her first communion, which was also her last.

For the love with which she received her Lord was so great that it broke her heart: she sank unconscious to the ground, and when loving hands upraised her, it was found that she was dead.

Blessed Imelda’s incorrupt body lies in the church of San Sigismondo near the University of Bologna. Pope St. Pious X named her Protectress of First Holy Communicants.

Bolsena-Orvieto, Italy, Year: 1263

In 1263 a German priest, Peter of Prague, stopped at Bolsena while on a pilgrimage to Rome. He is described as being a pious priest, but one who found it difficult to believe that Christ was actually present in the consecrated Host. While celebrating Holy Mass above the tomb of St. Christina (located in the church named for this martyr), he had barely spoken the words of Consecration when blood started to seep from the consecrated Host and trickle over his hands onto the altar and the corporal.

The priest was immediately confused. At first he attempted to hide the blood, but then he interrupted the Mass and asked to be taken to the neighboring city of Orvieto, the city where Pope Ur ban IV was then residing.

The Pope listened to the priest's account and absolved him. He then sent emissaries for an immediate investigation. When all the facts were ascertained, he ordered the Bishop of the diocese to bring to Orvieto the Host and the linen cloth bearing the stains of blood. With archbishops, cardinals and other Church dignitaries in attendance, the Pope met the procession and, amid great pomp, had the relics placed in the cathedral. The linen corporal bearing the spots of blood is still reverently enshrined and exhibited in the Cathedral of Orvieto.

It is said that Pope Urban IV was prompted by this miracle to commission St. Thomas Aquinas to compose the Proper for a Mass and an Office honoring the Holy Eucharist as the Body of Christ. One year after the miracle, in August of 1264, Pope Urban IV introduced the saint's composition, and by means of a Papal Bull instituted the feast of Corpus Christi.

After visiting the Cathedral of Orvieto, many pilgrims and tourists journey to St. Christina's Church in Bolsena to see for themselves the place where the miracle occurred. From the north aisle of the church one can enter the Chapel of the Miracle, where the stains on the paved floor are said to have been made by the blood from the miraculous Host. The altar of the miracle, which is surmounted by a 9th- century canopy, is now situated in the grotto of St. Christina. A reclining statue of the saint is nearby.

Amsterdam, Holland, Year 1345

In 1345, a man who was a devout Catholic became very ill. He told his family he would like to receive Holy Viaticum. The family notified their priest of this request. The priest, after administering the sacrament, advised the family, if the ill man threw up (which he was known to do after taking nourishment) they were to empty the contents in the fire. The man threw up and the family did what they were advised to do by the priest, they threw the contents in the fire in the sick room. This incident occurred on March 12th.

Early the next morning, one of the women went to rake the fire and she noticed in the middle of the grate, the Blessed Sacrament in the form of a host. A light surrounded it. The woman became upset and immediately put her hand in the fire to rescue the host. This she did without any ill effects to herself. She did not burn her hand. The woman was surprised to find the host was cold! She immediately called in a neighbor and asked her to take the Sacred Host to her home. The neighbor took a clean cloth, placed the host on it and locked it in a box. She then took it home. When the husband of the woman who found the host heard what had taken place, he requested to see it. He tried to lift it off the white cloth it rested on but the Sacred Particle resisted as if to say it did not want to be touched by this man's hands.

A priest was then summoned who took the host and placed it in a pyx. When he went to wash the cloth which held the Blessed Sacrament and return it to the original box, he noticed the pyx was upset and the host was gone!

The next morning the neighbor returned for her original box and cloth. When she opened the locked box she once again found the Sacred Host in it! There was then no doubt that Our Lord wanted this miracle to be made known! The priest notified the clergy of Amsterdam and a procession was held to carry the host to the church.

The home of the sick man soon became a chapel and as early as 1360 public processions and pilgrims traveled to the site of the miracle.

Rimini, Italy, Year: 1225

There lived in the town of Rimini on the sea, a man named Bononillo, who owned a mule and who did not believe that Jesus was really, truly, present in the Holy Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. He thought that he was correct (in this error) for thirty years.

Now Saint Anthony traveled to the city of Rimini and it was here that he met the man named Bononillo.

Learning that Bononillo did not believe Jesus was truly present in the Holy Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, he set out to prove to Bononillo the error of his thinking.

After quoting scripture and providing explanations for Bononillo to help him believe, he saw that he was getting absolutely nowhere.

Note: We are not supposed to spend a great deal of time with heretics or apostates, we are supposed to help them once or twice and then move on. If they show some good will then you should provide them with more detail.

So Anthony looked at him and at the mule, which Bononillo was leading around by a harness, and made this suggestion:

Bononillo should keep the animal from eating for three days and then bring it to the public square. Anthony would be there on one side, holding the Blessed Sacrament (Jesus Christ hidden under the physical appearance of Bread and Wine); on the other side would be food for the animal to eat. If the mule refused to eat and instead bowed down before the Blessed Sacrament, would Bononillo believe? Bononillo said he would.

After three days, everyone met at the public square. The mule was very hungry having not eaten for three days.

The mule, instead of going to the food, knelt down and remained that way with his head bowed in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

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Saint Bonaventure quote concerning Saint Anthony >
"Saint Anthony possessed the science of the angels, the faith of the patriarchs, the fore-knowledge of the prophets, the zeal of the apostles, the heroism of martyrs."

Saint Antonine quote concerning Saint Anthony >
"He was a vessel of election, an eagle in knowledge, a wonder-worker beyond compare."

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