Concerning Christian Books

Eucharistic Miracles

Author: Joan Carroll Cruz

Publication Date: 1987 

The Eucharist is one of the Catholic sacraments I never grasped until a few years ago, during what I consider my reawakening to faith. This of course is not to say I ever stopped believing in God - I just hadn't taken my relationship to Him all that seriously, never actually responded to His call. Not until after I attended a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2016 (where I also met my wife: another, much more fervent Catholic). I struggled quite a lot to reconcile my faith with my logical reasoning when my wife brought to my attention the fact that, to Catholics, the bread and wine are not just symbolic. You are literally eating the flesh of Our Lord and Saviour.

After much inner reflection, I reached a conclusion that allowed me to accept the True Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist - something of a marriage between logical reason and faithful acceptance. In short, as this isn't the point of my review, I learned to accept my (and our) limitations in understanding the intelligent machinations of God. Humbled, I admitted that while I could not understand or explain how bread could turn into the flesh of God made Man, I could, with reason, accept that such things are not impossible for God, and that they far exceed my capacity of comprehension. God, after all, is never to be contained within the limits of our own minds. Of course, people can dismiss this as a form of "double-think", suspension of disbelief, non-falsifiable reasoning or whatnot - but hey. That's where faith and hope come in.

Anyway, since coming to terms with the Blessed Sacrament - truly one of the most beautiful gifts - it has greatly fascinated me. This book, somewhat to my disappointment, was not a theological exploration or discourse on the subject. Rather, as the title makes fairly clear, it is a catalogue of many of the Eucharistic miracles that have taken place throughout history. Miracles such as the Host turning into visible flesh, bleeding, levitating, becoming incorruptible or else just being at the centre of some kind of strange or amazing phenomena.

It does get a bit dry, but nevertheless there is a good variety of miracles included. They are not all the same. Whether you accept them all, or none at all, or some but not others is up to each individual reader. Many, granted, are far-fetched - but, I repeat, nothing is impossible to God. Really, scepticism is most supported by the fact that the majority of these took place before the 1700s, well beyond our ability to properly verify. There are many cases where the Hosts are still preserved, and are subjected to scientific tests. This in itself is significant and, I do believe, at least sometimes points quite clearly to the fact (proven or otherwise) that Our Lord really does reside within the Host after consecration, for a short period of time.

In short, I cannot rightly say that I am certain all these miracles were the real thing. I certainly believe in the True Presence and I have great adoration - though I struggle to show it sufficiently - for the Holy Eucharist. I think such stories might easily have been fabricated - especially amongst the Italians and the peasantry. But that does not mean I don't believe or want them to be real. I think they are all very interesting; probably many if not most of them are true; and finally, whether they are real or not, they do not detract from the sanctity of the Blessed Supper God invites us to, in communion with His Son, who gave himself so that we may live in Him forever.

The most vital lesson to take from this book is that, miracles or not, a Catholic must learn to appreciate the true value of the Eucharist, give thanks to God and praise Jesus Christ, and rejoice with pious dignity at the invisible miracle of His residing within us every time we take communion at Mass.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.