The original reliquary of the Corporal
The Eucharistic Miracle - the Blood stained Corporal of Bolsena.
Posted on 03/20/2006 8:23:55 AM PST by NYer
In 1263 a German priest, Peter of Prague, stopped at Bolsena while on a pilgrimage to Rome. He is described as being a pious priest, but one who found it difficult to believe that Christ was actually present in the consecrated Host. While celebrating Holy Mass above the tomb of St. Christina (located in the church named for this martyr), he had barely spoken the words of Consecration when blood started to seep from the consecrated Host and trickle over his hands onto the altar and the corporal.
The priest was immediately confused. At first he attempted to hide the blood, but then he interrupted the Mass and asked to be taken to the neighboring city of Orvieto, the city where Pope Ur ban IV was then residing.
The Pope listened to the priest's account and absolved him. He then sent emissaries for an immediate investigation. When all the facts were ascertained, he ordered the Bishop of the diocese to bring to Orvieto the Host and the linen cloth bearing the stains of blood. With archbishops, cardinals and other Church dignitaries in attendance, the Pope met the procession and, amid great pomp, had the relics placed in the cathedral. The linen corporal bearing the spots of blood is still reverently enshrined and exhibited in the Cathedral of Orvieto.
It is said that Pope Urban IV was prompted by this miracle to commission St. Thomas Aquinas to compose the Proper for a Mass and an Office honoring the Holy Eucharist as the Body of Christ. One year after the miracle, in August of 1264, Pope Urban IV introduced the saint's composition, and by means of a papal bull instituted the feast of Corpus Christi.
After visiting the Cathedral of Orvieto, many pilgrims and tourists journey to St. Christina's Church in Bolsena to see for themselves the place where the miracle occurred. From the north aisle of the church one can enter the Chapel of the Miracle, where the stains on the paved floor are said to have been made by the blood from the miraculous Host. The altar of the miracle, which is surmounted by a 9th- century canopy, is now situated in the grotto of St. Christina. A reclining statue of the saint is nearby.
In August of 1964, on the 700th anniversary of the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi, Pope Paul VI celebrated Holy Mass at the altar where the holy corporal is kept in its golden shrine in the Cathedral of Orvieto. (His Holiness had journeyed to Orvieto by helicopter; he was the first pope in history to use such a means of transportation).
Twelve years later, the same pontiff visited Bolsena and spoke from there via television to the 41st International Eucharistic Congress, then concluding its activities in Philadelphia. During his address Pope Paul Vl spoke of the Eucharist as being ". . . a mystery great and inexhaustible."
The original reliquary of the Corporal
The Eucharistic Miracle - the Blood stained Corporal of Bolsena.
The Cathedral
Chapel of the Corporal - the location of the Eucharistic Miracle of Bolsena.
The right side of the chapel wall, showing a procession of the Corporal, and on the lower right also a depiction of St. Thomas Aquinas preaching to Pope Urban IV about the miracle (he is attributed with writing the entire Office and Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi under obedience to this same Pope).
Left side of the wall - the story of the miracle.
All pictures from The Raomin' Roman weblog.
O saving Victim, open wide the gate of heaven to us below; our foes press on from every side; thine aid supply; thy strength bestow.
All praise and thanks to thee ascend for evermore, blest One in Three; O grant us life that shall not end in our true native land with thee.
Humbly let us voice our homage
For so great a sacrament;
Let all former rites surrender
To the Lord's New Testament;
What the senses fail to fathom,
Let us grasp through faith's consent!
Glory, honor, adoration
Let us sing with one accord!
Praised be God, almighty Father;
Praised be Christ, his Son, our Lord;
Praised be God the Holy Spirit;
Triune Godhead, be adored! Amen.
Domine, non sum dignus
Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo et sanabitur anima mea.
Lord, I am not worthy,
how could I be worthy with all my darknesses and wounds,
worthy to greet you, Lord of the universe,
worthy to look upon you,
worthy to be here.
Only say the word and my soul shall be healed.
And now you call me Lord,
call me to step out in faith,
here,
at this minute,
as bravely as the Centurion,
to step out in trust,
to step out in love,
in awe.
And now, my faith is on the line, Lord.
Let me say, Jesus I trust in you,
and mean it from the bottom of my heart.
Let me say, yes, Lord,
that even after 2000 years,
after all the travail and anger,
doubt and hurt
revolving around your name,
your followers,
your way,
I believe you are here,
here at this moment,
Emmanuel, God with us,
with us in the Eucharist.
Yes Lord, I know you are Lord,
O You who has pity for our soul-sickness,
our emptiness,
our hunger,
that Jesus sized hole in our hearts, aching,
waiting for you to say the word.
Only say the word, Lord,
only say the word,
that healing touch,
and I believe that you will come into my heart.
O Lamb of God,
O Bread of life,
You whose flesh is.real food,
You whose blood is real drink.
You who have called me, lost and underserving,
to your banquet,
You who sat me down,
dressed me in the white linen of a redeemed soul,
and now,
not because I could ever deserve it,
not because I could ever earn it,
not because of me,
but because of you,
But because of Love
but because you love,
you feed me with that, yourself,
which is the only thing that can heal me,
reconcile me,
make me whole.
I behold you, Lamb of God,
broken in the priest's hand.
I behold you at Calvary,
where you hang on the cross broken for love of me.
I behold you in the cenacle,
where you break the bread and say the words, "This is my body."
O Jesus!
My hope,
My King,
My God,
I am here, kneeling in adoration.
Be thou my life, my hope, my Lord.
Adore te devote, latens deitas!
Lord I am not worthy,
I can never be worthy,
but because you say the word,
but because you call me to you,
my soul will be healed.
Amen! Thank you!
Beautiful!
I have been to Orvieto. Beautiful city. Italy has numerous places in it where miracles and mysteries of faith occurred..
One of the most beautiful Churches in all of Christendom.
Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.
Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived:
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.
On the cross thy godhead made no sign to men,
Here thy very manhood steals from human ken:
Both are my confession, both are my belief,
And I pray the prayer of the dying thief.
I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see,
But can plainly call thee Lord and God as he;
Let me to a deeper faith daily nearer move,
Daily make me harder hope and dearer love.
O thou our reminder of Christ crucified,
Living Bread, the life of us for whom he died,
Lend this life to me then: feed and feast my mind,
There be thou the sweetness man was meant to find.
Bring the tender tale true of the Pelican;
Bathe me, Jesu Lord, in what thy bosom ran---
Blood whereof a single drop has power to win
All the world forgiveness of its world of sin.
Jesu, whom I look at shrouded here below,
I beseech thee send me what I thirst for so,
Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light
And be blest for ever with thy glory's sight.
Amen.
SACRED HEART OF JESUS
Feast Day: Friday, June 18th
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus came into the Catholic faith through a Catholic sister known as Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690). At the age of 24, Margaret Mary entered the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial in France. She began to have visions of Our Lord and on December 27, 1673, on the Feast of St. John, she began to have visions that lasted for eighteen months. Jesus told her that she was to become his instrument in spreading devotion to his Sacred Heart. While kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lord appeared to her and invited her to "rest a long time on His Divine Breast". Jesus revealed to her the marvels of the love that His Sacred Heart had for mankind.
Jesus said to her: "My Divine Heart is so full of love for men and for you in particular that, no longer able to contain within itself the flames of its burning charity, it must spread these flames by means of you, and it must manifest itself to men in order to enrich them with its precious treasures. I have chosen you to achiever this grand crusade of love."
Saint Margaret Mary had frequent visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. According to Saint Margaret Mary, His Divine Heart was "more radiant than the sun and as transparent as crystal," with its adorable wound visible, and as a "furnace" of burning flames.
In June, 1675: during the feast of Corpus Christi, while praying before Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Monstrance. Our Lord revealed His Heart to her and said: "Here is the Heart that has so loved men as to spare nothing for them, exhausting and consuming itself in order to prove its love for them; and in return I receive, from most of them, only ingratitude."
Jesus asked her to have a special feast established in honor of His Sacred Heart on the Friday after the feast of Corpus Christi. Jesus asked his followers to receive Holy Communion on that day and to make atonement for the sins of the world by an act of reparation.
Jesus asked her to have an image made of His Sacred Heart and to have it promoted throughout the world with special promises to those souls who would display His image of His Sacred Heart.
She consulted with her spiritual director whom God had given her. On the following Friday, June 21, Father de la Colombiere, her priest-director, and Saint Margaret Mary consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart. With great sufferings and humiliations, Father de la Colombiere and Saint Margaret Mary made every effort to spread the new devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Thanks for posting that.
Genitori genitoquai
Laus and jubilatio
Salus, honor, virtus, quoquai
Sit et benedictio
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio
Amen.
This is from memory, any errors are mine.
Tantum Ergo Sacramentum
Down in adoration falling,
Lo! The Sacred Host we hail.
Lo! o'er ancient forms departing,
Newer rites of Grace prevail:
Faith for all defects supplying,
Where the feeble senses fail.
To The Everlasting Father
And The Son Who reigns on high,
With The Spirit blessed proceeding
Forth, from Each eternally,
Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Might and endless majesty. Amen.
How I would love to hear that hymn in Church again.
Remember prayers and benediction after Mass?
Here is another translation (not all verses, though) of this wonderful hymn by St. Thomas Aquinas:
Humbly I adore Thee, Verity unseen,
whom thy glory hidest 'neath these shadows mean;
lo, to thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,
tranced as it beholds Thee, shrined within the cloud.
Taste and touch and vision to discern Thee fail;
faith, that comes by hearing, pierces through the veil.
I believe whate'er the Son of God hath told;
what the Truth hath spoken, that for truth I hold.
O memorial wondrous of the Lord's own death;
living Bread that givest all thy creatures breath,
grant my spirit ever by thy life may live,
to my taste thy sweetness neverfailing give.
Jesus, whom now hidden, I by faith behold,
what my soul doth long for, that thy word foretold:
face to face thy splendor, I at last shall see,
in the glorious vision, blessed Lord, of Thee.
Here is the music:
http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/h/h431.html
It is one of my favorite hymns!
Thanks for posting that link - it's one of my favorites too. I had not seen that version before.
You're quite welcome! It's from the Episcopal hymnal and still loved and sung by those of us who are Anglican Use Roman Catholics. It means even more now that I understand and believe in the Real Presence, as opposed to the Episcopal version of "yes, we believe in it but we aren't quite sure what it is... It may be transubstantiation, it may be consubstantiation, it may be just spiritual, or maybe even just a memorial, but whatever it is, it's what YOU think best." No thanks, I'll believe the Church's teaching.
My priest talked about this Eucharistic miracle today too.
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