Sometime between 1225 or 1247 there was a woman living in
Santarem (Portugal), who was very unhappy. She was convinced that her
husband did not love her, and was unfaithful. She tried all the
wiles known to women from the days of Eve, but to no avail. As a
desperate last attempt, she went to a sorceress. The sorceress
promised the wife that her husband would return to his loving
ways, if the wife would bring her a Consecrated Host.
This greatly frightened the woman. She knew it was sacrilege.
She was also convinced that the sorceress was up to no good. The
wife didn't know what to do. She finally gave in. She went to Mass
at the Church of St. Steven, and received Communion, but did not
consume the Host. Instead, she left the Church immediately, and
took the Host out of her mouth, putting It into a kerchief. She then
headed for the Sorceress.
Along the way, the Host began to bleed inside the kerchief.
The wife was not aware of it until passersby brought it to her attention, thinking she was bleeding. Panic struck the heart of the
woman. She went home, and put the kerchief and the Host in the
bottom of a trunk. She waited all day and into night in fear. When
her husband came home late that night, she was sitting in the dark.
They went to bed. We doubt whether she slept very much. The guilt
of her sin plagued her. She also didn't know if the Host had continued to bleed.
Sometime during the night, they were awakened by bright
rays of light coming from the trunk, which lit up the entire room.
The wife confessed her sin to her husband. The two of them spent
the rest of the night on their knees in adoration before the Miraculous Host. The next day, people came to the house, attracted by the
light. They witnessed the miracle for themselves. The parish priest
was told. He came to the house, and heard the story from the
woman. He brought the Host back to the Church in solemn procession. Encasing It in a wax container, he placed the Host into the tabernacle.
Another miracle occurred. The next time the priest opened the
tabernacle door, the wax container had broken into thousands of
pieces. In its place was a crystal container with the blood of the
Host inside. It has been kept in that church until today. The
Church has been renamed, "The Church of the Miracle." The little
house where the miracle occurred was on Via delle Stuoie in
Santarem. From the time of the miracle until now, every year, on
the Second Sunday of April, the incident is re-enacted by local actors. The actual Eucharistic Miracle is processed from the house, which was converted into a Chapel in 1684, to the Church.
The Above Information is extracted from:
This Is My Body,
This Is My Blood
Miracles of the Eucharist
by Bob and Penny Lord
Catholic Books of Interest
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