True Stories Of Eucharistic Miracles
We who hold faithful to what the Roman Catholic Church teaches, believe that Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist. We believe it on the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who promised to give us His flesh to eat and blood to drink, at the lakeside of Galilee (John 6, 48-60), and who fulfilled that promise at the Last Supper (Matt. 26: 26-28; Luke 22: 19-20; Mark 14: 22-24; 1 Cor. 11: 23-25).
We have also the divine, infallible testimony of the Catholic Church which
He established. The Holy Synod (the Council of Trent) decreed in Canon 1
on the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist: "If anyone denies that in the sacrament
of the most Holy Eucharist are contained truly, really and substantially the body and
blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently
the whole Christ, but says that He is in it only as in a sign, or figure or force,
let him be anathema."
Over the centuries, Our Dear Lord has seen fit to work over 100 miracles
confirming His real presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament. What is the
purpose of these miracles? To prove what He said is true as the scripture
says: "The Lord confirmed the word with signs that followed."
(Mark 16:16) He wants us to believe His teaching and threatens us with damnation if
we do not. "He that believeth not shall be condemned." (Mark
16:16) God is willing to give extraordinary means to help our faith because
He desires our salvation. Jesus goes so far as to say: "Though you
will not believe Me, believe the works." (John 10:38) "They give
testimony of Me."
Related below are five wonderful Eucharistic Miracles confirming Our
Lord's real presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
First. For a long time the parish
priest of Moncada in Spain had celebrated Mass without any scruples of conscience,
when suddenly he became the prey of a violent doubt as to whether he had been rightly
ordained. In his distress, to allay his doubts he determined to put his case
before his bishop. He immediately set out on foot and journeyed to Valencia,
the seat of the diocese. In this place it pleased Almighty God to deliver him
from his trouble, and to give him light and peace by means of a very remarkable
miracle.
The priest had been appointed to say Christmas Mass. He had
reached the awful moment of Consecration, and with trembling hands took the host
and pronounced the words of transubstantiation with a quivering voice. As he
raised the Sacred Host aloft, and knelt again in trembling adoration, the cry of a
little five-year-old child rang out from the congregation: "O Mama, what
a lovely child! See there, Mama! He is up on the altar." A
little lad nearby, apparently forgetful of everything else, stood upon the chair
and clapped his hands with joy. The boy's mother was embarrassed and bade him
hush, for no one else had seen the vision of beauty; only the innocent child saw it
when the Sacred Host was raised on high. Again and again he entreated his
mother to look. "Such a beautiful child, Mama," he whispered,
"just like the little baby over there in the crib."
The mother and child awaited to hear a second Mass which was said by
the same priest at dawn, and again at the Elevation the little boy exclaimed,
"Oh, there he is again, Mama, don't you see? The priest is holding
him up in his hands and now he has laid him on the altar!" The mother
bade the child be silent; she could not see anything, the great grace being
granted only to her little son.
The priest completed the Christmas offering by saying
the third
Mass. At the Elevation the boy was all excitement, and the same scene
was enacted
as before. The happy mother told others of this strange occurrence and
through them it reached the ears of the priest himself who, it may
be believed, was greatly comforted thereby. However, his scruples were
not
entirely removed. He doubted whether the child might not have been
deceived,
and therefore he requested that the little boy be cross-examined by
him.
But the answers of the child were so accurate that he found no reason to
doubt the reality of the manifestation. Full of joy and filled with
gratitude
towards God, he invited the little boy and his mother to be present as
often as possible at his Mass, and on each occasion the miracle was
renewed.
As doubts still lingered in his mind, he resolved to receive a final
convincing
proof. Taking three particles with him to the altar, he placed two upon
the corporal and consecrated them, leaving the third one unconsecrated
but within reach. After Holy Mass was ended he called the little boy to
the altar, and asked him if he saw the divine Infant in either of the
particles,
and, if so, in which. "Oh yes, Father," said the boy, "there
He is! See, He is stretching out His hands." The little fellow seemed
quite ravished with delight. On pointing to the other host the priest
asked:
"And what about it? Is the Divine Infant also in that other host?"
The child answered, "No." "But are you sure?" queried
the priest. "Oh yes, Father, there is nothing there." At the
last manifestation the peace of the good priest returned to him. Unrest
and scruple vanished from his mind forever, and for the remainder of his
life he served God with greater love and piety.
PRAYER: O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine, All praise
and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.
In Valpariso, Chile, at the beginning of the 20th century, Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey SS, CC., well known as the great Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was a young priest. Fr. Mateo told this story wherever he preached and he found that where people were prepared to earn "three golden coins" with love, many graces were obtained and many conversions followed.
He relates that one day an 8 year old girl told him
that Jesus spoke to her every time she received Holy Communion. Father was
somewhat skeptical and requested her to ask Jesus to give him proof. The proof
Father requested was the sudden conversion of a certain man who was a big
sinner, a fallen away Catholic, and enemy of the Church ... and also that this
man should come to him for Confession.
About a week later when Fr. Mateo was hearing
confessions, the young girl told him that this sinner
was coming up to the church. As the priest was leaving the
confessional, the fallen away Catholic came into the church and walked over to
Fr. Mateo and asked him to help him with his confession. He said that it was the
first one since he was baptized. He did not know what came over him that morning
but he suddenly understood the necessity of going to confession. Father realized
that he had received the proof he requested.
The young girl told the priest that Our Lord revealed
to her that He would give the graces to repent and mend his ways to this fallen
away Catholic, and also to many other souls. He said, "Always ask Me for souls
and I will give them to you, and tell Father Mateo to ask Me for souls. I will
give them to him, too, but first you must become My missionary."
She thought she was too young to be a missionary. Our
Lord assured her that He would make her His missionary and that she would have
to pay a certain price for souls. "I want you," said Jesus, "to earn three
golden coins a day." Our Lord then explained what He meant by golden coins.
1) The first golden coin was her prayers to Him for
souls.
2) The second golden coin was her little sacrifices,
especially acts of obedience.3) The third golden coin was a promise: "never to miss Mass or Holy Communion through your own fault and to visit Me often in the Blessed Sacrament."
Third. On the 17th of December, 1899,
the fast mail on the way from Bordeaux to Paris met with a collision. In the mail car was
Gabriel Gargam, a 30-year-old post office express clerk. At
the time of the wreck the train was going at the speed of fifty miles an hour.
By the crash Gargam was thrown fifty-two feet. He was terribly bruised and
broken and paralyzed from the waist down. He was barely alive when lifted
onto a stretcher. Taken to a hospital, his existence for some time was a
living death. After eight months he had wasted away to a mere skeleton,
weighing but seventy-eight pounds, although normally a big man. His feet
became gangrenous. He could take no solid food and was obliged to take
nourishment by a tube. Only once in twenty-four hours could he be fed
even that way.
Gargam's condition was pitiable in the extreme. He could not help himself even in the most trifling needs. Two trained nurses were needed day and night to assist him. Previous to the accident, Gargam had not been to church for fifteen years. His aunt, who was a nun of the Order of the Sacred Heart, begged him to go to Lourdes. He refused. She continued her appeals to him to place himself in the hands of Our Lady of Lourdes. He was deaf to all her prayers. After continuous pleading of his mother he consented to go to Lourdes. It was now two years since the accident, and not for a moment had he left his bed all that time. He was carried on a stretcher to the train. The exertion caused him to faint, and for a full hour he was unconscious. They were on the point of abandoning the pilgrimage, as it looked as if he would die on the way, but the mother insisted, and the journey was made.
Arrived at Lourdes, he was carried to the miraculous pool and
tenderly placed in its waters–no effect. Rather a bad effect resulted, for the
exertion threw him into a swoon and he lay apparently dead. On the way
back they saw the procession of the Blessed Sacrament approaching. They
stood aside to let it pass, having placed a cloth over the face of the
man whom they supposed to be dead.
As the priest passed carrying the Sacred Host, he pronounced
Benediction over the sorrowful group around the covered body. Soon there
was a movement from under the covering. To the amazement of the bystanders,
the body raised itself to a sitting posture. While the family were looking
dumbfounded and the spectators gazed in amazement, Gargam said in a full, strong
voice that he wanted to get up. He got up and stood erect, walked a few paces
and said that he was cured. The multitude looked in wonder, and then fell
on their knees and thanked God for this new sign of His power at the shrine
of His Blessed Mother. For two years hardly any food had passed his lips
but now he sat down to the table and ate a hearty meal.
On August 20th, 1901, sixty prominent doctors examined Gargam. Without stating the nature of the cure, they pronounced him entirely cured. Gargam, out of gratitude to God in the Holy Eucharist and His Blessed Mother, consecrated himself to the service of the invalids at Lourdes. Fifteen years after his miraculous cure he was still engaged in his strenuous and devoted work. He was for years a living, visible testimony of the supernatural.
PRAYER: May the Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament be praised,
adored and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles
of the world, even to the end of time.
Fourth. Some years ago, a young
man was unhappily led astray into the paths of Jewish infidelity. While still
in the flower of youth, his heart was filled with dreams of glory to be attained as
a distinguished musician. One evening he was asked to play the organ in one of
the principal churches in Paris; there in that church God awaited him, and prepared
for him, not a triumph of his self-love, but a humiliation a thousand times more
glorious. Already the roof of the sacred edifice re-echoed the sound of the
solemn chants, and the melodious tones of the organ had filled all hearts with
recollection and prayer; every head was bowed and the God of the Eucharist
had blessed His children prostrate in lowly adoration. The unbelieving
musician, alone, dared to raise his haughty brow before that God despised
by his forefathers, but in vain. A mysterious and invisible hand bowed
his head and humbled him to the ground. A miracle of grace was effected;
the young man was conquered; he knelt down a Jew; he rose up a Catholic.
His heart wounded by the Real Presence in the Sacred Host, he left the
church; soon the waters of Baptism were poured upon him, and exchanging
his fashionable attire for the coarse serge of a monk, he bade an eternal
farewell to the pleasures of the world. A living example of the power
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, he went from city
to city, and from village to village, proclaiming the love of God, repeating
again and again: "The days of grief are departed. I have found peace
of heart since I have tasted the delights of the tabernacle of the Lord."
If you would know the name of this privileged soul, ask it at the cloister
of Mount Carmel, and they will tell you it was Father Augustine of the
Most Blessed Sacrament. If one single visit to the God of the Eucharist
transformed an obstinate Jew into a good Catholic, what may we not hope
to obtain by devout visits to the Blessed Sacrament?
PRAYER: O my Jesus, I adore Thee in this Holy Sacrament, as
my Lord and my God, as my Redeemer and Savior.
Fifth. About the year 1599, in the city of Posen, a very remarkable incident took place in connection with the Blessed Sacrament. A servant girl, who was bribed by some unbelievers, stole from the chapel of the Dominicans three small Hosts, wrapped them in a linen cloth, and carried them to the house of the wretches who had hired her for the deed. The unbelievers treated the Sacred Hosts in a most sacrilegious and shameful manner. They threw them on a table and cut the Sacred Particles. Blood spurted out on the first one of the sacrilegious creatures and left a stain that could not be removed. The report of this strange occurrence soon spread abroad and crowds ran to see for themselves. A blind woman insisted on being led to the scene of this marvelous incident. Divinely inspired, she cried out: "If Thou art the true God, He whom our ancestors nailed to the Cross, restore to me my sight!" She was immediately cured, and went away proclaiming the miracle. The guilty profaners, fearing the just punishment of their heinous crime, wished to dispose of the desecrated Hosts, and after several fruitless efforts buried them to a great depth in a swamp.
One day on the octave of the Blessed Virgin, two herdsmen,
father and son, brought their cattle to pasture near this place. The father
went to a church not far off to hear Mass, while the son guarded the herd. To his
surprise the boy saw the cattle approach the swamp and kneel down with their heads bent
low. The shepherd raised his eyes and saw in the air over the swamp three shining
objects. In amazement he perceived that they were three Hosts, and he instantly prostrated
himself and profoundly adored the God who revealed Himself by so great a prodigy.
In the meantime, the father returned from Mass. As soon as the boy
saw him he ran to meet him. "Father," he shouted, "our oxen
are adoring the Blessed Sacrament!" "Nonsense!" replied
the parent, shrugging his shoulders, "what folly is this!" "Come
and see for yourself," protested the boy, "that I am telling
the truth." While proceeding on his way the old man suddenly paused,
with feet fastened to the ground and with eyes entranced as he beheld the
astonishing scene. There at the farthest end of the marsh three little
lights hung in the air, while the dumb beasts knelt with heads bowed to
the earth. The old herdsman, all doubts gone, knelt in adoration before
the three consecrated Hosts profaned by the unbelievers. After a moment's
prayer, the old man ran to the city and proclaimed the wonder to all whom
he met. The people, however, looked upon him as a fool, and even cast him
into prison. And now a new wonder occurred–the prison door opened and
freed the prisoner. This startled the authorities and they began to investigate.
The Bishop and the clergy were informed and went in procession to the place
indicated by the herdsman. Then the Sacred Hosts, which had remained suspended
in the air, slowly descended and rested in the hands of a saintly priest.
They were taken back to the city amidst great pomp and splendor. Then the
authorities began to debate what disposition to make of the miraculous
Hosts. While they were arguing, the Hosts rose from their hands, ascended
into the air and returned to the marsh. The wish of Our Lord was evident.
So they erected an improvised sanctuary on the spot, and this in turn was
soon followed by a magnificent basilica founded by Ladislaus Jagellon,
King of Poland. Needless to say, thousands of pilgrims have visited the
famous shrine to adore the miraculous Hosts.
PRAYER: O sweetest Heart of Jesus, I implore that I may love Thee more
and more. Jesus meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like unto Thine.
Only in the Catholic Church is Jesus truly present in the Holy Eucharist. This is one of the great proofs that the Catholic Church is the One True Church.
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