Holy Eucharist - Eucharistic Miracle - Saint Anthony - Rimini, Italy 1227

Eucharistic Miracle
Saint Anthony of Padua
Rimini, Italy 1227 

Rimini, Italy founded (originally named Ariminum) by the Romans in 268 BC is located on the Adriatic Sea about 30 miles southeast of Forli and about 100 miles south of Padua. Today, possibly because of its 9 mile sandy beach, Rimini is one of the more famous seaside resort destinations in Europe.  It is also the home of a Eucharistic Miracle performed by Saint Anthony of Padua in 1227. 

Saint Anthony of Padua 

Saint Anthony is one of the most famous disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi.  He was born in 1195 in Lisbon, Portugal. At the age of fifteen he entered the Congregation of Canons Regular of St. Augustine in Coimbra, Portugal.  Around 1219, Saint Anthony joined the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) and was sent to Assisi in 1221. From here he was given orders to chaplain hermits in Forli, Italy.  It was here that he was found to be a gifted preacher by by Saint Francis.  Saint Francis commissioned Saint Anthony to preach and teach throughout all of Italy.   

In 1227 Saint Anthony found himself preaching in the central piazza of Rimini. The episode is cited in Vita Benignitas, one of the oldest sources on the life of Saint Anthony, as follows:   

Saint Anthony was having a violent discussion with a heretic about the Holy Eucharist.  After lengthy discussions, the heretic challenged Saint Anthony by saying, "If you, Friar Anthony, can manage to perform a miracle proving publicly that the Body of Christ is really present in the host, I will abjure all heresy and accept your faith.  I'll keep my mule closed up for three days and let it fast.  Then I'll take it out and bring it here before all the people and I will bring it at once to a pile of oats.  You will stand ready in front of the animal carrying in your hands what you affirm to be the Body of Christ.  If the mule, after a total fast, neglects the oats to turn to your God, who according to you must be worshiped by all creatures, I'll firmly believe what the Church affirms." (1)

Saint Anthony accepted the challenge.  Three days later a large crowd came to the central piazza, which today is called Piazza Tre Martiri (Three Martyrs Piazza).  Oats were placed out for the starving mule then Saint Anthony approached the mule holding a consecrated Host.

Saint Anthony called out to the mule, "In the name of your Creator, whom I, unworthy as I am, hold in my hands, command you to move closer immediately in humility." (1) The mule refused the oats and approached Saint Anthony and bent its front legs reverently before the Host.   

In the 1500's a shrine was built on the place of the miracle. The Shrine of Saint Anthony is located at the corner of Via Antonio Battarra and Corso  d'Agusto on the edge of the Piazza Tre Martiri in Rimini, Italy.  

Saint Anthony performed this Eucharistic Miracle in 1227.  But we witness a Eucharistic Miracle during the Consecration every time we attend Mass.

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Index of Eucharistic Miracles 

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Notes:  (1) Gamboso, Virgilio. Fioretti of Saint Anthony, page 17 - 19 siting Vita Benignitas 16, 6-17. 

Picture of the facade of the Shrine of Saint Anthony of Padua (Vincentians) Rimini, Italy - From Diocese website

Painting of the Miracle of the Mule by Joseph Heintz the Younger

Painting of the Miracle of Saint Anthony in the Museum of Milan

Fresco of the Miracle of the Mule by Girolamo Tessari in the Basilica of Saint Anthony, Padua

Painting of the Miracle of the Mule by Jean Bourdichon

Picture of Shrine of Saint Anthony from Gallery Italy