In Chapter 6 of John's Gospel, Jesus tells his followers, "The bread that I will give you is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live."

To this, they respond angrily, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat? … This teaching is too hard. Who can listen to it?"

How many Catholics have had this same thought? At Mass when the priest raises the bread and the cup and proclaims that it is the body and blood of Christ, how many have doubted His true presence?

"To help us believe this miracle, he has given us miracles," said Father William Saunders, pastor of Our Lady of Hope in Potomac Falls and professor at Christendom College’s Notre Dame Graduate School. He addressed Christendom’s Summer Institute in Front Royal earlier this month. "Science can’t explain a miracle. They help us believe. They are always to bring about faith, to open our eyes and to make us see him for what he really is."

Father Saunders presented five instances over the last 2,000 years where priests and laymen have doubted the Lord’s presence in the Eucharist, but unexplained events have occurred to strengthen their faith.

Miracle of Bolsena/Orvieto, 1263

In the year 1263, there was a priest named Peter of Prague who doubted whether Christ actually was present in the communion host following consecration. Because of his doubts, Peter went on a pilgrimage to Rome to pray. On the way, he stopped in Bolsena and received permission to celebrate Mass at the Church of St. Christina.

When he said the words of consecration, the host began to bleed and blood spilled onto the altar, staining the altar cloth — the corporal.

Peter went to Orvieto to see Pope Urban IV and tell him of the events. After the pope saw the blood stained corporal and blood-stained crumbled fragments of the host, he declared a miracle and commissioned St. Thomas Aquinas to write prayers and songs for a Corpus Christi Mass, now celebrated on the Sunday following Trinity Sunday.

The blood-stained corporal is preserved in the cathedral in Orvieto. Blood-stains are still evident on the marble altar in Bolsena, which has been encased in glass.

Seefeld, Austria, 1384

On Holy Thursday, 1384, in Seefeld, Austria, an arrogant knight named Oswald approached the altar rail dressed in full armor, and demanded that he receive the priest’s larger communion host. Out of fear, the priest offered the man the larger host. When he received it, the stone floor beneath the knight’s feet began to sink into the ground. When he grabbed onto the altar with both hands to steady himself, the stone altar softened under his grip. He begged the priest to take the host away.

"This was God’s response to a desecration," Father Saunders said.

The imprints of the knight’s feet and hands are still intact at the church in Seefeld.

Augsburg, Germany, 1194

During the distribution of the Eucharist at a Mass in Augsburg, Germany, in 1194, a woman decided she wanted a relic of the host, so instead of consuming the consecrated host, she took it from her mouth and took it home. She encased it in wax and kept it for five years.

Her conscience got the best of her, and in 1199 she took the host to a priest. When the wax was opened, a sacred host made of flesh and veins — not bread — was revealed.

The host was returned to the church and placed in a monstrance.

May 11, 1199, was declared the Feast of the Wonderful Miraculous Treasures. This day is celebrated in Augsburg with eucharistic processions.

Sienna, Italy, 1730

On Aug. 14, 1730, thieves broke into a tabernacle in St. Francis Church in Sienna, Italy, and stole the chalice and hosts. Three days later, a priest noticed a host sticking out of an alms box. He placed them in a ciborium, figuring the hosts would deteriorate over time and he could dispose of them properly.

However, over time, the hosts showed no signs of decay, and in fact smelled sweet.

50 years later, an official investigation was conducted, and the hosts were found to still be intact and incorrupt. The hosts were resealed.

Around this time, unconsecrated hosts were also sealed to be compared with the consecrated ones. When the unconsecrated hosts were reopened 10 years later, they were dried, shriveled and had changed color. The stolen hosts remained unchanged. They were resealed and remained sealed until they were reopened in 1850, and were found to still be fresh and unchanged.

In 1914, Pope Pius X ordered another scientific. A scientist involved said that this preservation was "extraordinary."

Lanciano, Italy, 700s

The miracle in Lanciano involves a monk who doubted the idea of transubstantiation. However, after the consecration at a Mass in the 700s, the host became flesh and the wine, blood.

Over the centuries, the host-flesh has remained intact. The blood coagulated and formed five separate globules. It remains in the original crystal chalice.

Pope Paul VI ordered a scientific investigation in 1970. Two scientists performed separate studies, but they came to the same conclusions. The flesh is indeed flesh, more specifically, flesh from the heart. The flesh and the blood were both found to be human, and appeared to be fresh, not dead. Both were of AB blood-type, which happens to be the same type found on the Shroud of Turin. According to the scientists, there is no way a medieval person with medieval instruments could have cut the flesh the way it is cut.

In 1981, the tests were run again with newer equipment, but the same results were found.

All five of these miracles, Father Saunders said, "point us to the miracle we have, we cherish, that Christ gave us — the miracle of the Mass. Christ gave us these miracles to help increase our faith. Love the miracle."