One hundred and sixty-five posters
depicting Eucharistic miracles from around the world filled the school gym at
St. John the Beloved in McLean March 2-5. Though gusts of wind took the power out
Friday, visitors read by sunlight about phenomenon from hundreds of years ago and
miracles that occurred in their lifetimes.
In the early 2000s, an Italian teen
named Carlo Acutis began to compile information on Eucharistic miracles. Acutis
died of leukemia in 2005 and is now a Servant of God, but his work lives on through
The Real Presence Association, which propagates the research he began.
Dr. William Ryckman, a Catholic from
Sutersville, Pa., heard about the exhibit when he and his wife attended World
Youth Day in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1987. Since 2009, he has traveled
around the East Coast displaying the exhibit at any interested parish.
Eighth-grader Leo Massery read up on the
miracles and volunteered as a docent for the display March 4. “I wanted to do
it because this kid was inspired by one miracle — Lanciano — to make an exhibit
where people could see the Eucharistic miracles,” Massery said. “I feel like its
proof that Jesus does exist, and I find that really cool.”
Though the church does not require belief
in any one miracle, several of the posters provide compelling evidence for
supernatural activity. In some instances where the host bled or turned to flesh
— as in Lanciano, Italy; Betania, Venezuela; and Bueno Aires— scientists were
able to perform tests. In each case, the blood was AB and the flesh was heart tissue.
After extensively studying the specimen from Lanciano in 1976, the World Health
Organization could offer no scientific explanation.
In other examples on display, faith in
the Eucharist saved towns from calamity. In 1906, the island of Tumaco, Colombia,
was spared destruction from a tsunami after the residents and local priest
began a Eucharistic procession. Similarly, in 1657 after a Eucharistic
procession, Cava dei Tirreni, Italy, was untouched by a plague that had claimed
neighboring villages.
Of the more than 100 miracles, many occurred
after a host was disrespected, or when someone doubted the True Presence. At
the sites of these Eucharistic miracles, devotion to the Eucharist and remembrance
of the event has lasted hundreds of years.
That’s why Patricia Molineaux, a
longtime St. John parishioner, requested the exhibit be brought to the parish.
“I think people have forgotten that it’s truly Christ in the Eucharist,” she
said. “Pope John Paul said he wanted to renew the amazement in the Eucharist
and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Find out more
“Eucharistic Miracles of the World” will be on display at
the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria April 8, 12:30 – 7 p.m. To learn more, go to therealpresence.org.
