166 Easter is a beautiful time to deepen our devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The Pascal Mystery which we celebrate in a special way during the Easter Triduum—the Passion, death and bodily resurrection of Christ—is daily present to us in the Eucharist. The Church teaches that Jesus is really, truly, and actually there—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—in the Holy Eucharist. Unfortunately it is all to easy, due to human weakness, to begin to lose our sense of awe, wonder, and adoration of Our Lord in the Eucharist. A great way to reinvigorate our belief and to encourage devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is by reading accounts of Eucharistic miracles that have occurred throughout the ages of the Church, from the earliest years to modern times. In fact, Jesus gives us these miracles throughout the centuries so that our love for him in the Eucharist will not wane or grow cold. If you haven’t had the chance to visit a Eucharistic Miracle exhibit, I highly recommend it. You can read many of the accounts online at the Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association website. Click on the “English” tab and scroll down until you see “Miracles by Country”. Each of those hyperlinks opens to a PDF document of various documented, Church-verified accounts of Eucharistic Miracles. One recent account of a scientifically analyzed Eucharistic Miracle was witnessed by our own Pope Francis while he was Cardinal Bergoglio. We’ve included two accounts for you below, a blog article written about the miracle as well as a YouTube video by one of the witnesses. Hopefully reading and viewing these accounts will deepen your awe and reverence when receiving Holy Communion, and also encourage you to spend more time in Eucharistic Adoration. Cardinal Bergoglio’s Eucharistic Miracle in Argentina A recent documented account of a Eucharistic Miracle took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1996 under the leadership of Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis: At seven o’clock in the evening on August 18, 1996, Fr. Alejandro Pezet was saying Holy Mass at a Catholic church in the commercial center of Buenos Aires. As he was finishing distributing Holy Communion, a woman came up to tell him that she had found a discarded host on a candleholder at the back of the church. On going to the spot indicated, Fr. Alejandro saw the defiled Host. Since he was unable to consume it, he placed it in a container of water and put it away in the tabernacle of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. On Monday, August 26, upon opening the tabernacle, he saw to his amazement that the Host had turned into a bloody substance. He informed Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who gave instructions that the Host be professionally photographed. The photos were taken on September 6. They clearly show that the Host, which had become a fragment of bloodied flesh, had grown significantly in size. For several years the Host remained in the tabernacle, the whole affair being kept a strict secret. Since the Host suffered no visible decomposition, Cardinal Bergoglio decided to have it scientifically analyzed. Read more here.Watch a YouTube video of the account below:
