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) teaches....
"that in the august sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, after the Consecration of
the bread and wine, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is truly,
really and substantially contained under the appearance of those visible signs."
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 four wonderful
Eucharistic miracles confirming Our Lord's real presence in the Most Blessed
Sacrament.
1. 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 repeated this
strange occurrence to others, 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 thanksgiving be every moment Thine.
2. 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 a post office express clerk, Gabriel Gargam, thirty years old.
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.
3. 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.
4. 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.