The Eucharistic Miracle of Alatri:
During the 13th century in Alatro, Italy, a young woman had lost the man she loved and was determined to win him back. Willing to do whatever it would take to win him back she sought out a sorceress and begged her for anything that would bring this man back to her. The sorceress said she could make a love potion for her, but she needed to provide one vital ingredient: a consecrated host. The young woman attended the next Mass at the local cathedral and approached the priest to receive communion on her tongue. The priest placed the Eucharist on her tongue, but the woman kept it in her mouth, turned around and when she was out of sight, spit the host back out on a piece of cloth.
She kept it in the cloth, walked back home, and kept the host and cloth until she was able to visit the sorceress again. After three days she picked the cloth back up again to check on the host.
What she discovered was not the white host she originally had, but rather a bleeding part of flesh. She immediately realized that the host was transformed physically into the Body and Blood of Christ. She rushed back to the Church and repented of her sin. The sorceress also repented and both women were converted after such a miracle.
Pope Gregory IX investigated the miracle at the time and saw it as a visible sign against the various claims that Jesus was not present in the Eucharist. It confirmed for him and those who witnessed it that Jesus was truly present in the Eucharist, body, blood, soul and divinity. The miracle coincided with other similar events around Europe and helped pave the way to the institution of the Feast of Corpus Christi, which entreated the faithful to believe with ardent faith in the unseen miracle that occurs every time the Mass is offered.
About the Cathedral of Saint Paul the Apostle in Altari, Italy:
The bleeding host is still preserved in the Cathedral of Altari and is on display in a monstrance. It remains as a reminder of Jesus’ undying love for all humanity in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
Address: Piazzale dell’Acropoli, 03011 Alatri FR, Italy
