What is a Eucharistic Miracle?

by Admin · August 22, 2023

The blood of the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano in Italy, which occurred in 750 AD. It is one of the most important and earliest Eucharistic miracles.

Most Eucharistic miracles involve consecrated hosts and wine inexplicably transforming into actual human flesh and blood, or the appearance of it, usually during or after the celebration of Mass. These occurrences are considered miraculous because they are not scientifically explainable, and they are seen as a sign of the power of God and the truth of the faith. Among the most famous of those are those of Lanciano in Italy, and Santarém in Portugal.

Other miracles may involve powerful actions attributed to the presence of the Eucharist, such as the instance when St Clare of Assisi repelled Saracen invaders from her convent near Assisi by holding up a monstrance containing the consecrated host.

Eucharistic miracles of the bread and/or wine changing into actual flesh and blood, or a blood-like substance, are scientifically tested and verified to ensure the flesh and blood are indeed human before the Church acknowledges them as miraculous.

While Eucharistic miracles are not officially recognised by the Catholic Church as proof of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, they are seen as a powerful testimony to the mystery and power of the sacrament.

The earliest and most famous Eucharistic miracle occurred in 750 AD in the eastern Italian town of Lanciano. According to the story, a priest who was struggling with doubts about the Real Presence in the Eucharist was celebrating Mass when the bread and wine transformed into flesh and blood before his eyes. The flesh and blood were preserved and remain on display in a reliquary at the church of San Francesco in Lanciano.

The Eucharistic miracle of Santarém occurred in the 13th century in the small Portuguese town of that name. A woman who suspected her husband of infidelity stole a consecrated host from a church to deliver it to a scorceress for the creation of a love potion. As she pocketed the consecrated host, it began bleeding. When she hid it in a drawer at night, a bright glow emitted from the trunk, seen by the women and her husband. Realising the gravity of her actions, the woman confessed to the priest and returned the miraculous host to the church.

A more modern example of a Eucharistic miracle is the Miracle of Buenos Aires, which occurred in the 1990s. A consecrated host that had fallen to the ground during Mass was picked up and placed in a container of water to dissolve, as is customary. However, the host did not dissolve and instead transformed into a bloody substance, which was later determined to be human blood.

Published in the June 2023 issue of The Southern Cross magazine