Although the Eucharistic miracle that led Pope Urban IV to institute the Solemnity of Corpus Christi was that of Bolsena (Italy) in 1263 (number 3 in this article), numerous extraordinary events have occurred over the centuries, even recently.
Eucharistic Miracles are extraordinary manifestations of the power and real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which have been recognized and venerated throughout the history of the Catholic Church.
These amazing events, which defy scientific explanation and fill us with awe and reverence, serve as testimonies to the faith and mystery of the Eucharist.
Among the most famous are the miracles of Buenos Aires, Lanciano, and Bolsena, each with its own unique and miraculous story that has strengthened Eucharistic devotion in believers around the world.
Below, I present a list of 3 Outstanding Eucharistic Miracles that have happened around the world and at different times in history, followed by a list made by Carlo Acutis of all the Eucharistic Miracles in the world, organized by country.
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1. Argentina (1992, 1994 and 1996): Three Eucharistic Miracles in Buenos Aires
On May 1, 1992, Father Eduardo Pérez del Lago was in the Santa María parish, located in the Almagro neighborhood.
This is how he relates the events to Infobae, from Father Eduardo’s point of view: “After the Mass, the parish priest Juan Salvador Carlomagno and the communion minister who was helping him, when putting the hosts in the tabernacle, found that in the corporal, which is the white handkerchief that is placed in front of the tabernacle, there were two little pieces of the host. Then the parish priest did something that we are accustomed to doing: putting it in a glass of water”.
A few days later, on May 8, the priest went to check if the pieces of the host had dissolved and found that it was as if the host had exploded. Some parts had a dark color, and others had a red color and inside as if they were a mass of blood.
Continues the priest, “We took advantage of the church closing during the noon hour and showed the host to a medical oncologist who lived nearby and she said it was blood. He then said he was going to take a sample for analysis. When she brought the syringe it did not suction because it was flesh and then she took one of the shards that were in the water with a slide and took it to a sanatorium and the first result was that it was human blood.
“Then we decided to place the bleeding host in a mobile tabernacle that same day, and we put it on my desk. At the end of the weekend the patens were inexplicably stained with blood, in one, which was a bronze paten and the other was a tin paten, the tin part absorbed the blood. Later it was possible to analyze it and it turned out that the blood that was on that paten corresponded to the same one that was in my room, however, none of them had had contact”.
In 1994, in that same church, during a children’s mass, a Eucharistic minister saw a drop of blood flowing on the wall while holding the ciborium.
And in 1996, a consecrated host fell to the ground during the Mass of the Assumption. It was placed in water to dissolve, but after a few days, it turned into what appeared to be blood.
As Infobae reports, in 1999, with the authorization of the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, scientific analyses were carried out in two laboratories in the United States. They took two samples, one from the 1992 bleeding host and one from the 1996 bleeding host. The study was double-blinded, i.e., they did not know where the samples came from. The reports obtained concluded that blood elements, the rest of the human DNA chain, and a substance generated by the skin after an injury were found. The experts also found the presence of white blood cells, which only exist in a living person.
2. Italy (750 A.D.): The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano
One of the oldest recognized Eucharistic miracles occurred in Lanciano, a town on the Adriatic Sea coast of Italy, between San Giovanni Rotondo and Loreto.
According to the Sanctuary of Lanciano, “the story goes that in the seventh century, in the city of Lanciano (which at that time was known as Anxanum), a Basilian monk (so called because they were disciples of St. Basil, coming from present-day Turkey) was celebrating Mass while doubting the true presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
At that moment, the host became flesh and the wine became Blood before the eyes of all the faithful who were amazed at such an event. Then the blood dried into 5 clots.”
To verify the authenticity of the Eucharistic Miracle, they decided, in 1970, to conduct medical studies on the flesh and blood found. The results showed that, as Xavier’s Catholic Web says, “the meat is truly meat. Blood is truly blood. Both are human blood and flesh. Flesh and blood are of the same blood group (AB). Flesh and blood belong to a LIVING person.”
He goes on to clarify that “the diagram of this blood corresponds to that of a human blood that was extracted from a human body that same day. The meat is made up of heart muscle tissue (myocardium). The preservation of these relics, left in their natural state for centuries and exposed to the action of physical, atmospheric and biological agents, is an extraordinary phenomenon. One is astounded by such conclusions, which manifest in an evident and precise manner the authenticity of this Eucharistic miracle.”
Another unexplained detail added in the article: weighing the coagulated blood pebbles, and they are all different sizes, each of them has exactly the same weight as the five pebbles together.
These are the conclusions of those who studied the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, according to the Catholic Web of Xavier:
1. Precisely when the proud affirm: “Science has buried religion, the Church, and prayer, which are things that have been superseded. None of this is important”. For these the miracle of Lanciano is a categorical answer. It is just science, with its current resources, that comes to prove the authenticity of the miracle. And what a miracle!
2. Truly a miracle destined for our time of unbelief. For, as St. Paul says, miracles are not for those who believe, but for those who do not believe. Precisely at this time, when a certain number of Christians doubt the Real Presence, admitting only a spiritual Presence of Christ in the soul of the communicant, science proves it with evidence of a miracle that has lasted for more than thirteen centuries.
3. The church of Lanciano, where the miracle took place, is dedicated to St. Longinus, the soldier who pierced the Heart of Christ with the lance on the cross. Coincidence?
4. The scientific verification by experts that it is the flesh and blood of a living person, alive today, since this blood is the same as that which would have been taken on the same day, from a living person.
5. Therefore it is the same living flesh, not the flesh of a corpse, but an animated and glorious flesh, which we receive in the Eucharist, so that we may live the life of Christ.
6. An impressive fact: the meat that is there is meat from the heart. It is not just any muscle, but the muscle that propels blood and, consequently, life.
7. The proteins contained in the blood are normally distributed in a percentage ratio identical to that of normal fresh blood.
3. Italy (1263): The Eucharistic Miracle of the Corporal of Bolsena
This Eucharistic Miracle is one of the most important in the history of the Catholic Church.
It happened in Orvieto, Italy, and it was because of this Eucharistic Miracle that Pope Urban IV instituted the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.
As ACI Prensa writes, “In the middle of the 13th century, Fr. Peter of Prague doubted the presence of Christ in the Eucharist and made a pilgrimage to Rome to pray at the tomb of St. Peter for a grace that would restore his faith.
“After returning from the pilgrimage, he went to Bolsena to celebrate Holy Mass in the crypt of Santa Cristina. It was at that moment that the Sacred Host bled and stained the corporal with the most precious blood.
“The news quickly reached Pope Urban IV, who was close by in Orvieto, and he asked for the corporal to be brought to him. The venerated relic was carried in procession and it is said that the Pontiff, upon seeing the miracle, knelt in front of the corporal and then showed it to the population.
“Later, the Holy Father published the bull “Transiturus”, with which he ordered that the Solemnity of Corpus Christi be celebrated throughout the Church on the Thursday after Holy Trinity Sunday.
“Likewise, Pope Urban IV entrusted St. Thomas Aquinas with the preparation of a liturgical office for the feast and the composition of hymns, which are sung to this day as the Tantum Ergo.”
The relic is preserved today in the Cathedral of Orvieto and can be visited and observed in a chapel built in honor of this Eucharistic miracle.
In the Basilica of Santa Cristina for seven centuries, the minor relics of the miracle of Bolsena, one of the sacred stones on which are still visible lumps of the precious Blood of the Redeemer, which have nourished the piety of generations and generations of faithful, have been jealously guarded.
If you want a list of all the Eucharistic Miracles in the world, you can access this page that Carlo Acutis designed during his few years of life. The Miracles are arranged by country, and there are several international expositions on these extraordinary events that help us to increase our Faith in God’s Love!
Eucharistic miracles are authentic witnesses to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and have been a source of wonder and faith for Catholics throughout the centuries. These extraordinary events, approved with scientific explanations, invite us to deepen our understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist and to renew our devotion and love for this central sacrament.
As we reflect on these miracles, we are reminded of the greatness and infinite love of God, who makes himself tangibly present in our lives through the Eucharist.
Renewed in Love for the living Christ, let us draw near to Him at Mass, where we can receive Him alive and truly present in the Eucharist, and in Adoration, where we can kneel before Him and give thanks for the incredible gift He left us: His own Body, alive!
