The Miracle at Orvieto
1263AD
by Fr. Patrick Greenough, ofm conv.
The Roman Catholic Church has been unequivocally clear in her teaching on the Eucharist. It is the continuation of the Incarnation under the appearance of Bread and Wine, which has been transubstantiated into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. This is an act of faith.
Sometimes however, faith is challenged, questioned or doubted and God permits miracles not to prove our faith, but to support and strengthen it. Such is the case of the Eucharistic miracle at Orvieto, Italy.
In 1263 a priest from Germany
whose name was Peter of Prague was on pilgrimage to Rome. During
his journey he stopped at Bolsena in Italy. While he was a good
and pious priest he was having doubts of faith at the time concerning
the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
One day while celebrating Mass in Bolsena above the tomb of St.
Christina, he had just begun to speak the words of Consecration
when blood started to drip from the consecrated Host over his
hands and onto the altar and the corporal. Amazed and confused,
he at first attempted to hide the blood, but then he interrupted
the Mass and asked to see Pope Urban IV who was residing in Orvieto
at the time.
After listening to the priest's story, the Pope sent delegates
to investigate the matter. After all of the facts were gathered,
Pope Urban IV ordered the bishop to bring the Host and the blood
stained corporal to Orvieto. The Pope met the procession
as it arrived and had the relics placed in the cathedral of Orvieto.
Tradition tells us that this miracle prompted the Pope to commission
St. Thomas Aquinas to compose the Proper for a Mass and an Office
honoring the Holy Eucharist as the Body of Christ.
One year after the miracle, in August of 1264, Pope Urban IV
introduced Thomas Aquinas' composition by instituting the feast
of Corpus Christi. In August of 1964, on the 700th anniversary
of the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi, Pope Paul
VI celebrated Mass at the altar where the holy corporal is kept
in the cathedral of Orvieto.
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of the Immaculata. All rights reserved.
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