Transubstantiation is the changing of bread and wine in to the body and blood of Jesus Christ. There are many tracts written on how Christ can be present but the appearance or “accidents” of the bread and wine remain the same. However this is not always the case. Stories abound throughout history of actual changes of the Eucharist into flesh and blood. There are also other miracles including levitating and incorruptible hosts.

There are far too many cases to include them all in this post but here are three of the most interesting ones, all of which can still be viewed to this day. All of these are in Italy but similar miracles have taken place all over the world, including this one in Poland.

Lanciano, is the setting for our first miracle where an 8th century priest-monk experienced doubts about the true presence while celebrating mass. Before his eyes the host transformed into flesh and the wine into blood. The blood dried into five pellets and investigations by the monks showed that the smallest pellet weighed as much as the largest, one pellet weighed as much as all five together and two as much as any three.

In the 1970s, some investigations were done and both flesh and blood were found to be human and of the blood group AB. The tissue was heart tissue and the blood was found to have been from a live body and not a cadaver. No trace of any preservatives were found. The previous anomalies regarding the weight of the pellets were not found.

The church was demolished after earthquake damage but the miraculous flesh and blood still reside in the new church, dedicated to St Francis of Assisi.

S Maria Del Vado in Ferrara, on the 28th March 1171 a host turned in to flesh and sprayed blood over the marble vault behind it. The church was enlarged in 1500 and the marble vault removed to a side chapel and displayed. The drops of blood can still be seen. There is an excellent website with PDFs containing photographs of this and other miraculous events in PDF form, filed in country order.

Siena boasts two Eucharistic miracles, the first as the bloody page of a breviary in which a priest hastily inserted a host to take to a sick person in 1330. This maltreatment caused the host to bleed and stick to the pages and the priest quietly took it back and confessed. It may be seen today in the Basilica of St Rita in Cascia.

The second consists of a ciborium containing hosts which have remained uncorrupted since August 14th 1730 when they were stolen by thieves who had taken advantage of fact that clergy were distracted by the feast of the Assumption. The hosts were eventually located but due to their dirty and cobwebbed state when found, it was decided that the hosts could be allowed to decay naturally at which point they would no longer contain the body of Jesus Christ. They are held in the Basilica of St Francis in Siena and are not on permanent display but are shown at various times, mainly on the 17th of each month to commemorate the day of their discovery and are also paraded on the feast of Corpus Christi each year in a processional monstrance.

More modern miracles such as that in India 2001 and La Reunion 1902 have tended to consist of the appearance of the face of Jesus in a host. The Indian host survives and may be seen in St Mary of Chirattakonum in the diocese of Trivandrum.

Other Eucharist related activities of note include some astonishing acts of perpetual worship. Apparently the Cathedral of Lugo, Spain was the setting for the perpetual worship of the Eucharist for over 1000 years from the 4th century (from Joan Carrol Cruz although online sources say 6th century). The present Cathedral was built starting in 1129 and is very impressive.

A 500 year perpetual adoration took place in France in the Chapel of the Holy Cross Avignon from 14th September 1226, continuing till 1793 when there was a break until 1829 (after a bit of choppy choppy) when the adoration resumed.

Perpetual adoration has become popular, so popular in fact that the diocese of St Petersburg, Florida has banned the practice, fearing that worship of the host would detract from other sacraments.


Source - Eucharistic Miracles by Joan Carrol Cruz.