Holy Eucharist - Eucharistic Miracle - Cascia, Italy

Eucharistic Miracle
The Face of Our Savior
Cascia, Italy - 1330
Feast Day - Corpus Christi

About 60 miles north of Rome, in the mountains of the Umbrian Valley, is the small town of Cascia, Italy. This town is known for two great things, it was the home of Saint Rita of Cascia and a Eucharistic Miracle.  

                                           

Saint Rita

Saint Rita, like Saint Jude, is the patron saint of the impossible. Born with the name of Margherita Lotti in 1381 in the city of Roccaporena she longed to be a nun.  Her parents thought it best for her to marry.  She married and had two sons.  Her husband was murdered and her sons vowed revenge.  Margherita prayed that her sons would not be able to seek vengeance and her prayers were answered. Maybe not the way she had hoped. Her sons died of influenza before they were able to commit murder and revenge. Margherita then negotiated peace between her family and the family who had murdered her husband.  In Italy in the 14th century this was considered impossible.  With God all things are possible.  

Margherita was given the gift of the Stigmata of the Crown of Thorns and became an Augustinian nun taking the name of Rita.  Many times when one is given the Gift of the Stigmata, the smell of their wound gives of a pleasant fragrance.  In the case of Rita her Stigmata gave off a putrid smell.  A smell so bad that her fellow sister required her to live away from them. For 15 years she lived segregated from her sister nuns.  

Saint Rita died May 22, 1457. At the moment of her death her Stigmata was replaced with a ruby red spot that gave off a delightful fragrance.  

                                     

Today her incorrupt body lies in a glass casket in the Chapel of Saint Rita in the Upper (Major) Basilica of Saint Rita in Cascia, Italy.  After 550 years not only is the body of Saint Rita  beautifully preserved by Our Lord but her habit and veil are also in wonderful condition.  

                      

Eucharistic Miracle 

The first stone of the Basilica of Santa Rita in Cascia was laid on June 20, 1937 and it was elevated to a Basilica by Pius XII August 1, 1955.

The Eucharistic Miracle is kept in the lower (minor) Basilica of Saint Rita.  
                                     
In 1330, a priest in Cascia was called to administer the Holy Eucharist to an ailing farmer of the town.  Instead of placing the Consecrated Host in a pyx, the priest, for whatever reason, placed the Host between the pages of his breviary. When he opened the book to take out the Host he found that the Host had turned red with fresh blood and saturated the two pages between which It was placed.
     

Realizing that he had desecrated the Eucharist the priest went to Siena to the Augustinian Priory to ask counsel of Fr. Simon Fidati.  Fr. Simon now Blessed Simon Fidati gave him absolution. Knowing that this was a miracle, he took the two pages to reserve them for veneration at the Augustinian Monastery of Cascia. 

In 1930, six hundred years after the Eucharistic Miracle, the pages were given a beautiful new Monstrance to hold Them. Once the Church of Saint Rita was completed the Eucharistic Miracle was moved from the Augustinian monastery to the lower chapel in the Church of Saint Rita.  

Over the years a secondary miracle took place on the Bloodstained pages.  A face began to take shape on each page.  Both pages now portray a perfectly formed profile of a man with a beard. 


The Basilica of Saint Rita is located at Viale Santa Rita 06043 Cascia, Italy.

Though this is a Eucharistic Miracle.  We witness a Eucharistic Miracle during the Consecration every time we attend Mass.  

For devotional items related to the Catholic Church, please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures.  

Index of Eucharistic Miracles 

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Holy Card of Saint Rita of Cascia
Tomb of Saint Rita at the Basilica of Saint Rita in Cascia - Wikipedia
Photo of the Basilica of Saint Rita in Casica from Bella Umbria
Painting of The Madonna delle Libere by Pier Paolo Agabiti depicts Blessed Simon of Cascia and Saint Rita of Cascia with Mary and the Child Jesus - Painting at the Monastery of 
Saint Rita of Cascia. 
Picture of Eucharistic Miracle in Monstrance - The Eucharistic Miracles of the World (January 2009), p. 110. 
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Holy Eucharist - Eucharistic Miracle - Shedding His Blood - Offida, Italy

Eucharistic Miracle
Shedding His Blood
Offida, Italy - 1273
Feast Day - May 3 

The miracle of Offida begins in Lanciano in the year 1273 when newly married Ricciarella Stasio felt it necessary to utilize the services of the town witch in order to rekindle the affection of her husband Giacomo.

The witch told Ricciarella that in order to fix her marriage she should receive Holy Communion, but not consume the consecrated Host.  She should then take the Host home, burn it into a powder over her fire, and place the ashes into her husband’s food or drink. In other words, she should commit a sacrilege and desecrate the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord.  This is something no one should ever do!

 

For some reason Ricciarella did what the witch told her to do. She placed the consecrated Host she had received at Holy Communion on a tile and held it over the fire.  Instead of turning to powder, the outside portion of the Host turned into flesh and began to bleed.  The center of the Host retained its original form.

Panicking, Ricciarella took wax and dirt and threw it over the Host to try and cover the Blood.  But the Blood seeped through the dirt.  So Ricciarella covered the Host with a linen tablecloth decorated with silk embroidery and lace. 

She then buried this in the stable under the dung heap of their mule.  From that time on, whenever Giacomo brought their mule into the barn, the mule would genuflect toward the manure pile. 

Ricciarella lived with this grave sin for seven years.  Finally she could no longer stand the torment that her action had brought her and she confessed to the priest of the local Augustinian monastery in Lanciano.  Ricciarella and the friar went to the stable and dug up the Host.  When they uncovered the Host they found that It was intact and appeared as It had seven years earlier. 

Since the Augustinian friar was a native of Offida, Italy, the miracle was deemed property of Offida.

A craftsman in Venice fashioned a cross-shaped reliquary to hold the sacred relic. 

Today the reliquaries of the tile, the Blood-stained linen, and the cross containing the miraculous Host are exposed in St. Augustine’s Church in Offida.

Ricciarella’s house in Lanciano was made into a small chapel.  Every year on May 3^rd the citizens of Offida celebrate the anniversary of the miracle.  

In 1788 Giovanni Battista Doria authenticated a parchment from the 13th century describing this miracle.  There are also Papal Bulls from Pope Boniface VIII (1295), and Pope Sixtus V (1585) that describe the miracle.  

As a Catholic, we are not obliged to believe in these Eucharistic miracles, even if they are officially recognized by the Church.  But, we must not exclude the possibility that God might intervene in an extraordinary way at any given moment to any person.  He certainly does that at every time the Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated.  

For devotional items related to the Catholic Church, please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures.  

Index of Eucharistic Miracles 

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Photos taken from Public Domain and from The Eucharistic Miracles of the World Catalog of the Vatican International Exhibition pages 132 - 133.

1.  Photo of Church of St. Augustine Offida Italy.
2.  Close up of the cloth with Blood stains.
3.  Close up of the cross-shaped reliquary that contains the Host and some wood from the True Cross.
4.  The relics of the tile and cloth below the cross.

Holy Eucharist - Eucharistic Miracle - The Heart of Christ - Lanciano, Italy

Eucharistic Miracle
The Heart of Christ
Lanciano, Italy  - AD 750
Feast Day - Last Sunday of October 

For centuries, God has given us miraculous signs that help to reinforce our belief in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist - these signs are known as Eucharistic Miracles. 

Lanciano is a small town near the eastern coast of Italy about halfway between San Giovanni Rotondo and Loreto.  

The miracle took place in the year 750 in the Church of St. Legontian and St. Domitian, which at the time it was under the custody of Greek Orthodox Monks of St. Basil. The miracle was a divine response to a Basilian monk's doubt about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. 

One day during Mass, after the consecration, the Host transformed into live Flesh and the wine into five globules of coagulated Blood.

The monk and the parishioners accepted this miracle immediately and carefully took care of this Gift until 1176 when the Benedictines took over the church which was beginning to be very rundown. 

In 1258 the church was turned over to the Franciscans who built the Church of St. Francis over the site of the original Church of  St. Legontian and St. Domitian. All during this time the Eucharistic Miracle was well preserved. For almost 266 years the Flesh and Blood were kept walled up in a cubical lattice of gold plated cast iron. To get into the cubical took four keys, each one held by a different person.   

In 1902 the people of Lanciano collected enough money to build a new home for the Eucharistic Miracle.  They hired Filippo Sergiacomo to build an altar. 

On top of the altar the Body and Blood of Our Lord was displayed in a silver Monstrance.    

A stairway in back of the altar leads to a viewing platform which allows pilgrims to examine the Monstrance close up.

The Host is kept in the top portion of the Monstrance and appears rose colored when light is shined from behind.  The five pellets of coagulated Blood are stored in the crystal chalice below.  

Scientific Investigation

In 1970 the 1220 year old relics were submitted to medical and scientific investigations by Dr. Edward Linoli, director of the hospital in Arezzo and professor of anatomy, histology, chemistry, and clinical microscopy.  Here are his findings: 

- The Flesh is authentic flesh and consists of part of the myocardium (muscle tissue of the heart), more precisely the left ventricle.  The arteries and veins can be easily identified, as well a a double slender branch of the vagus nerve.  

- The Blood is real blood.  The proteins contained in the Blood have the normal distribution, in the identical percentage as that of the serous-proteic chart for normal fresh blood. Meaning the blood has the same qualities of blood that would have been taken from a body that very same day. No preservation substances were found.  

- The five globules of coagulated Blood (which are different in shape and size) each individually weigh 15.85 grams.  All five of the globules together also weigh 15.85 grams.  In fact when any combination of globules are weighted together, they weigh 15.85 grams.  

- The immunological study shows that the Flesh and Blood are human, and the immuno-hematological test confirms that the blood type is AB, the same blood type taken from the Shroud of Turin.  

In 1973 the World Health Organization appointed a scientific commission to corroborate Linoli's findings.  Their work took 15 months.  They found that the Flesh and Blood of Lanciano were in the same condition one would expect to find in flesh and blood taken from a human body within a period of one day.

Normally the chemical properties of blood are gone within half an hour after the blood has been shed.  At the time, this Blood was 1223 years old and still contained all the properties of freshly shed blood.

The summary of the findings by the World Health Organization published in December 1976 in New York and Geneva declared "that science, aware of its limits, has come to a halt, face to face with the impossibility of giving an explanation." (1)

But we don't have to go all the way to Lanciano, Italy to witness a Eucharistic Miracle.  This happens every time a priest consecrates the Eucharist in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  

"Take and eat, this is My Body which is given for you."

For devotional items related to the Catholic Church, please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures.  

Index of Eucharistic Miracles 

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Notes 

(1) Institute of St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr. The Eucharistic Miracles of the World, (Eternal Life, 2009), p 123.

Art
Painting in the Church of Saint Francis depicting the miracle. 

Photos taken from Public Domain and from The Eucharistic Miracles of the World Catalog of the Vatican International Exhibition pages 122 - 125.

Holy Eucharist the Source and Summit of Christian Life - Eucharistic Miracles of the World

Miracles of the Holy Eucharist 

"Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen."  (Hebrews 11:1) 

As Catholics our faith teaches us that Jesus is really truly present in the Holy Eucharist, but it is still very difficult to believe.  Over the centuries even priests have found themselves doubting the Real Presence.

If only we could know without a doubt that Jesus was truly present.  If there was no doubt, would people line up for the Sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving the Eucharist because they would not want to profane the Body and Blood of the Lord by receiving Him in an unworthy manner? (1 Corinthians 11:27 – 28)  Would they pack the pews every Sunday at Mass to adore the Creator of the World?

It would be nice to be one of those blessed who have not seen yet have believed. (John 20:29)  But let's be real, many of us need help in order to believe.  I know that I do. 

Though Jesus is not going to prove to each and every one of us individually through a blatant Eucharistic miracle - there are many existing Church approved Eucharistic miracles we can look to that will give us a reason to know our faith is true. And Our Lord is present in the Eucharist whenever the Sacrifice of the Mass is proclaimed. 

For the next six months I will be posting a blog on a Church approved Eucharistic miracle once a week.  A reminder to my husband and I that the Real Presence of Our Lord is there every time we take the Holy Eucharist - and to comfort to us during this time when our daughter-in-law undergoes chemo for her stage IV Hodgkins.  God is the Creator of the Universe, He is all powerful and all merciful. Praise Be and Thanks be to God.  

The Eucharist is the source
 and summit of Christian life. 

Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion) is the Catholic sacrament in which Christ is really and truly present under the appearances of bread and wine.  Although it does not look like the Body and Blood of Jesus, His Real Presence is hidden within the consecrated Host.  This is a great miracle and a great mystery.

Jesus offered an explanation of the Holy Eucharist as the Bread of Life in His discourse to the crowds in John chapter 6:22 - 59. "I am the bread of life.  Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world...unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you...For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink." (John 6:48 -51, 53, 55) 

After Jesus spoke these words, “The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  (John 6:52)

These words were very difficult for the first century Jews to comprehend.  In fact if taken literally they would have understood this as a form of cannibalism, a theologically objectionable act.  If Jesus had been speaking metaphorically here he could have easily stopped their quarreling with a simple explanation.  But he didn't.  Instead he amplified his command.  

The sacrament of the Eucharist was first given to the apostles by Jesus on Holy Thursday during which Jesus and His apostles celebrated the Jewish Passover.  Jesus offered the first Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which became known as the Last Supper (the last meal Jesus shared with his apostles).  At this Last Supper, Jesus took bread and wine and by His power as God He prayed a prayer of consecration over the bread and wine, changing it into His own Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

After Jesus changed the bread and wine into His Body and Blood, He gave it to His apostles to eat and drink.  The bread and wine, changed (transformed) into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, which is what we consume during the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist.

"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body,"  Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins."  (Matthew 26:26-28)

Jesus conferred upon the apostles the power of the priesthood and commanded them to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in memory of Him.  By this power, Jesus gives every priest, on the day of his ordination, during the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the power to change bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

Eucharistic Miracles 

Lanciano, Italy 750 A.D.
Offida, Italy 1273
Bolsena, Italy 1263
Siena, Italy 1730
Cascia, Italy 1330
Bagno di Romagna, Italy, 1412
Florence, Italy, 1230 and 1595
San Mauro La Bruca, Italy 1969
Rimini, Italy 1227
Ferrara, Italy 1171
Faverney, France 1608
Blanot, France 1331
Douai, France 1254
Santarem, Portugal 13th Century
Alkmaar, Netherlands 1429
Boxtel, Netherlands 1380
Meerseen, Netherlands 1465
Boxmeer, Netherlands 1400
Seefeld, Austria 1384
Bois-Seigneur, Belgium 1405
Herkenrode-Hasselt, Belgium 1317
Augsburg, Germany 1194
Poznan, Poland 1399
Cimballa, Spain 1370
Onil, Spain 1824
Silla, Spain 1907

Third Sunday of Easter - The Miraculous Catch of Fish

Today’s gospel is taken from John 21 describing the third appearance of Jesus to his disciples after the resurrection, this time at the Sea of Tiberias at Galilee. The chapter is divided in two parts: the miraculous catch of fish (John 21: 1-14), and the dialogue between Jesus and Peter (John 21:15-19).

The Miraculous Catch of Fish

Day has dawned and Jesus stands on the shore watching seven of his disciples pull their boat toward shore. Jesus asks them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” The disciples who do not recognize Jesus respond that they have caught nothing, to which Jesus says, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something."

The surface of the sea heats up quickly after sunrise, and the fish tend to swim toward deeper water until nightfall, so it would be odd for the disciples to continue to fish after dawn. Yet they respond to the stranger on the shore by casting their nets as suggested. Moments later their net was so full they “were not able to pull it in.” It was then that “the disciple whom Jesus loved” recognized this stranger saying, “It is the Lord.” Impetuous Peter responds by jumping into the sea and swimming to shore.

When Peter and the others in the boat reach shore they are met by Our Lord who already has a “charcoal fire” going “with fish on it and some bread.” St. John appears to offer details that would seem to be irrelevant, “charcoal fire,” “with fish” and “some bread.” Jesus didn't need the fish from the disciples catch for the meal he was going to offer, and why mention the material used in the fire? The importance of the fire comes into play in the second half of this gospel reading.

The disciples dragged the net filled with one hundred fifty-three large fish about a hundred yards to shore, and “even though there were so many, the net was not torn.” Many have wondered about the mystical meaning of this episode and why St. John specifies exactly how many fish were caught.

St. Jerome wrote that [at the time it was thought] that there were only 153 species of fish in all the world. Hence the disciple’s catch of 153 fish signified that men of every class and time would be saved through the Gospel, that the disciple’s catch would be universal. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church wrote that the boat signifies the Church, whose unity is symbolized by the net which does not tear, the sea is the world and the great catch of fish signifies the number of the elect, that salvation is open to all and will encompass people from every nation, place, class, and time period.

The first part of this gospel ends with Jesus calling the disciples to “come, have breakfast,” to break the fast. Jesus then “took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish.” Similar to the words Jesus used at the Last Supper, this meal may have had Eucharistic significance for the early Christians.

The Dialogue between Jesus and Peter

After breakfast cooked over a charcoal fire, Jesus, in his mercy, will give Peter a threefold chance to undo his threefold denial that took place before the crucifixion while Peter was warming himself around a charcoal fire. (John 18:17-18, 25-27)

The Greek language has three words for love: agape, phileo, and eros. In the second portion of today’s gospel, two of the Greek words for love are used, agape which expresses the self sacrificial, highest and purest kind of love, and phileo which is more of a brotherly love. Such as the name of the city of Philadelphia, which means “the city of brotherly love.”

Our gospel continues, “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love [agape] me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love [phileo] you.” He said to him, “Feed [teach] my lambs.” He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love [agape ] me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love [phileo] you. “He said to him, “Tend [govern] my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John do you love [ phileo] me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love [phileo] me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love [phileo]you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

Jesus accepts where Peter is with his phileo love as he accepts each one of us where we are in our journey when we enter into relationship with him. The threefold asking has counteracted the threefold denial.

In this conversation Peter is commanded to shepherd God’s sheep by feeding and tending God's flock.  Feed means to teach and tend means to govern. Jesus the Good Shepherd appoints Peter the universal shepherd of his whole flock to teach and to govern.…When Jesus commands Peter to govern his sheep, he implicitly commands the sheep [us, or those who recognize and respond] to submit to and obey the universal shepherd.

The last words from Jesus to Peter in this discourse make clear the cost of being faithful to God’s command. “But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go……Follow me.” Peter would soon give his life for the faith and stretch out his hands to die crucified on Vatican Hill in Rome.

The Miraculous Catch of Fish
Recognize and Respond

Lord, help me to recognize your love for me today
 so that I can respond in a way that shows my love for you.

 

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Art
Peter Cast Your Net - Duccio
Peter Cast Your Net - Raphael
Peter Crucified - Carvaccio

Wedding At Cana

The Wedding at Cana

In today’s Gospel reading from John we hear of the third event that celebrates the epiphany of Jesus,  the wedding at Cana. Here, John tells us, “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs [miracles] in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory.” (John 2:11) By performing His first miracle, Jesus manifests Himself as the Messiah, and begins down the road to the Cross.

It is interesting to note that Jesus’ first miracle is performed during a wedding, changing water into wine. “The Church attaches great importance to Jesus’ presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ’s presence.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1613)

The Church sees marriage as a successful sign, a symbol, or an icon of the presence of Christ. In other words, the Church sees marriage as a sacrament, an outward sign, instituted by Christ that conveys a supernatural grace.

Besides proclaiming the goodness of marriage, the wedding at Cana gives Mary a prominent roll. It is at her request, “They have no wine,” (John 2:3) that initiates the response from Jesus, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2: 4) This may appear to be rude, but rather it is the way one expressed “it was none of their business” in Aramaic.

Jesus also knew that if He performed this miracle He and His mother would no longer live a private and peaceful life. By changing the water to wine, His “hour of glory” would be revealed; there would be no turning back. He would begin His journey to the Cross out of His deep love for all of us.

Jesus’ use of the term “woman” is a connection back to Genesis 3:15, the Protoevangelium, or “first gospel.” Here the Lord God said, “I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” This “enmity” is between the “woman” and the serpent [Satan], this “woman” from Genesis 3:15 is the mother of Jesus.

The Church states in the “first gospel”, that this is the” first announcement of the Messiah and Redeemer, of a battle between the serpent and the Woman, and of the final victory of a descendant of hers.… Furthermore many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have seen the woman announced in the Protoevangelium as Mary, the mother of Christ, the “new Eve.”” CCC # 410-411

In Revelation 12: 1-5, this “woman” appears again, “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth….then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child….She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne.” The child is Jesus, and the woman is Mary his mother.

At the wedding of Cana Jesus connects His mother to the woman promised in Genesis and spoken of in Revelation. Jesus is reminding us of the great roll Mary will play in salvation history.

“They have no wine,” may seem of little importance, but it is symbolic of coming to the aid of those in need, and bringing that need to the attention of Christ. Mary is interceding here for the newly-weds. “Mary’s heart cannot but take pity on the unfortunate couple….it stirs her to act as intercessor and ask her Son for the miracle, even though no one asks her to…If our Lady acted like this without being asked, what would she not have done if they actually asked her to intervene?” (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Short Sermons, 48, 2, 1)

Next his mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you,” and Jesus proceeds to change water into wine. Our Mother “continues in heaven to exercise her maternal role on behalf of the members of Christ.” CCC#975

There is so much more revealed in this gospel, but needless to say, the first miracle of Jesus appears to describe more than just a supernatural “wine run” to 7 Eleven because all the bottles were empty. Let us walk with Him in peace and joy. Shalom

For devotional items related to the Catholic Church, please visit Lynn's Timeless Treasures.  

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Art
Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese
Wedding at Cana Giotto