Valvasone is close to Venice, Italy. A lady used wash the altar linens at Gruaro Church. This particular day she noticed a red stain on the cloth and tried to wash it out. But blood came from the cloth. She examined the cloth and found a Host in a crease in the cloth. The blood was coming from the Host. She showed it to the priest.
The Bishop of Concordia declared that it was an authentic miracle. A vessel was made to display the Host and Altar Cloth.
In 1894 the Bishop of Concordia inspected the Host and cloth. It was found that 600 years after the miracle that the Host had decomposed and the blood stains were still on the Altar cloth.
The oldest and most authoritative document describing the miracle is a decree of Pope Nicholas V written in 1454. The title of the parish church, formerly St. Mary and St. John the Evangelist was thereby changed to the Church of the Most Holy Body of Christ (March 28, 1454). Today, the cloth is kept in a crystal cylinder, held by a precious reliquary of silver made by master craftsman Antonio Calligari.
This miracle shows us:
Jesus keeps His promises that He would give us His Flesh to eat and His Blood to drink (John 6:48-59).
At every Mass, for the last 2,000 years, when the priest says the words of consecration (this is My Body and this is My Blood) the bread and wine are changed into the Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity of Jesus Christ. All Christians believed this miracle happens at Mass for the first 1,500 years until the Protestant Reformation.
The red blood cells in fresh blood break down over time (24 to 48 hours) without refrigeration.
Information from: CD by Fr. John Noone, Miracles of the Eucharist
Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association 718 Liberty Lane Lombard, IL 60148 Phone: 815-254-4420 Contact Us Internet: www.therealpresence.org
or Carol J. Seydel The Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association Phone: 815-609-7331 - [email protected] - http://www.therealpresence.org