[Taken from The Catechist, by the Very Rev. Canon Howe. Imprimatur: Edm. Canonicus Surmount, Jan 26, 1922.]
There once lived a man who had given himself up to every passion, and had become by his life a scandal to all who knew him. Being at length upon his death-bed, his family, who were good Catholics, sent for the priest, who heard the sick man’s confession, and prepared to give him the Holy Viaticum. He had already taken the Blessed Sacrament in his hand, and was about to place it on the sick man’s tongue, when the latter cried out, “Stop, Father, stop! I made a sacrilegious first Communion, and have never made a Communion since. I will not have two bad Communions on my conscience. One surely is sufficient to suffer in Hell for all eternity!” In vain did the priest and the bystanders, struck with horror, exhort him to repentance, and remind him of the Infinite Mercy of God, Who is ever ready to pardon the repentant sinner. He sank into the depths of despair and died miserably.
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Rudolph, Count of Hapsburg, one day following the chase in the mountains in Switzerland, perceived a poor priest who was much embarrassed to cross a stream swollen by rain; he had to cross it to bring the Holy Viaticum to a sick person. Immediately the noble count alights from his horse, makes the priest mount him, and follows himself on foot with much recollection. The priest afterwards wanted to give back his horse to the Prince, but the latter answered: “I do not deem myself worthy of ever again mounting a horse which has had the honor of bearing the Lord of lords; it is from Him that I hold in fief all I possess.” And so saying, he left his beautiful courser at the service of the poor priest and his Church. The report of this so edifying event was soon noised abroad through the valleys of Switzerland, and thence into the provinces of the German Empire; it everywhere caused a pious joy to all the people, great and small.
A monstrance which was at the National Eucharistic Congress of 1942 in São Paulo, Brazil. On display at the Museum of Sacred Art of São Paulo (source).
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In the pretty town of Seefield which nestles among the Alps in the Austrian Tyrol, a great miracle took place nearly 600 years ago. One day a nobleman went to Mass with the intention of going to Holy Communion and, not wishing to receive the same size Host as that given the peasants and faithful, through pride asked the priest to give him one as large as that consecrated in the Mass. The priest, through fear of incurring the anger of this great man and thereby losing his good pleasure, consented to this. The moment of Communion arrived; the nobleman presented himself at the altar to receive and knelt at the side of the altar on the step, being too proud to kneel at the rail with the peasants. The large Host was placed upon his tongue, but he was unable to swallow It. In trying to do so, the Precious Blood flowed from It and It shriveled up and clung to his tongue. Furthermore, the ground gave way beneath him and he sunk into it up to his knees. In an agony of fear he grasped the end of the altar and implored the priest to remove the Sacred Host from his mouth. The latter did so and was surprised to find that the Host was marked with what appeared to be the Five Wounds. When the nobleman clung to the altar, though it was made of stone it melted under his touch. He was stricken with remorse and then and there made a vow of perpetual reparation. To this end he shortly entered a monastery where he performed the most austere penances the remainder of his life and finally died in the odor of sanctity.
The Sacred Host with its miraculous markings is still preserved and may be seen by all who visit the church, and the account of the miracle is written in every language and hung up in frames on the walls. The hole made in the ground when the nobleman sank into it is also plainly visible, and the imprint of his fingers upon the altar stone when it softened beneath his touch is also shown.
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The Donatists, in hatred of religion, used to invade the Catholic Churches, pillage them, and throw the consecrated particles to their dogs. One day, in particular, the justice of God overtook them. Their dogs, suddenly becoming furiously mad, rushed upon their owners, almost devoured them to pieces, and so avenged the sacrilege committed against the most Holy Sacrament.
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It was the custom at Constantinople in the sixth century, at times when the Blessed Sacrament was renewed in the Ciborium, to distribute among young and innocent children the Sacred Hosts which remained from the last Consecration. It happened one day that a little Jewish boy was brought from the schools along with other children for this purpose, and received Communion along with them. On reaching home, his father, who was a glass-founder by trade, questioned him as to the cause of his returning so late from school. The child simply related what had happened, whereupon his father, blinded by fury and carried away by hatred of the Christian religion, seized the child and flung him into the red-hot furnace where the glass was melted. The mother, unaware of what had happened, on discovering her loss, filled the house with her cries and lamentations, seeking everywhere for her missing child. On the third day, happening to pass by the furnace door, she beheld her child seated in the midst of the flames, alive and uninjured, and not appearing to suffer the least inconvenience from the raging element. Having clasped him in her arms, she asked him how it was that he was not burnt up in the midst of the red-hot coals. “Mother,” said he, “a lady dressed in purple often came to me during these three days, and threw water round me to put out the fire. She also brought me food.” The whole city was soon filled with the news of this prodigy, which resulted in the immediate conversion of the child and mother. The unhappy father, however, continued hardened in his infidelity, and was condemned to death by the Emperor Justinian for the attempted murder of his child.
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During the cruel persecution which raged against the Christian religion in the kingdom of Tong-Quin under the tyrant Minh Menh, the power and efficacy of the Holy Eucharist in sustaining the courage of the martyrs was manifest even to the infidels. While these glorious champions of Jesus Christ were cruelly racked and scourged, or their flesh was torn off their bones with red-hot pincers, the Holy Name of Jesus was ever on their lips, and they continued to profess their faith with undaunted courage. The Mandarins, amazed at a fortitude so far beyond the power of human nature, attributed it with truth to the Heavenly Food which the Christians partook of in their assemblies. “Truly,” they would say, “this man has been eating of that enchanted bread which casts a spell upon the soul.”
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A Jew was amusing himself in a public square when there passed a priest, who, accompanied by a crowd, carried the most holy Viaticum to a sick person. All the people on bended knees rendered due homage of adoration to the most Holy Sacrament; the Jew alone made no movement, nor gave any token of reverence. This being seen by a poor woman, she exclaimed, “O miserable man, why do you not show reverence to the true God present in this Divine Sacrament?” “What true God?” said the Jew sharply. “If this was so, would not there be many gods, since on each of your altars there is one during Mass?” The woman instantly took a sieve, and holding it up to the sun, told the Jew to look at the rays which passed through it, and then added, “Tell me, Jew, are there many suns which pass through the openings of this sieve, or only one?” And the Jew answering that there was but one sun, “Then,” replied the woman, “why do you wonder that an incarnate God, veiled in the Sacrament, though one, indivisible, and unchangeable, should, through excess of love, place Himself in His true and Real Presence on different altars?” By means of this illustration, he was led to confess the truth of the Real Presence.
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Vitikind, Duke of Saxony, while yet a pagan, being at war with the Emperor Charlemagne, was curious to know what took place in the camp of the Christians. It was the Easter season, when all the Christian army made their Easter duty. Disguised as a pilgrim, Vitikind entered the camp. He witnessed with admiration the ceremonies of the Sacrifice of the Mass, but was very much astonished to see in each Host that the priest presented to the people a most beautiful Infant, surrounded with brilliant light, who seemed to enter the mouths of some persons with great joy, and entered most reluctantly the mouths of others. This miraculous vision, which shows the different dispositions with which Christians receive Communion, caused Vitikind and his subjects to embrace the religion of Jesus Christ.
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Frederick II was attacking the town of Assisi, with an army composed of the lowest ranks of society, and many were infidels. Near the gate of the city stood a convent of nuns, governed by the holy abbess St. Clare. This was the first place these ruffians attacked. They placed ladders against the walls and prepared to ascend, and it seemed as if in a few moments the spouses of Christ would fall into the hands of those wicked men. But Jesus was there to help His servants. In this extremity St. Clare called together her nuns, and going into the chapel, she, by an inspiration from Heaven, caused the ciborium containing the Sacred Body of Our Lord to be carried to the place where the men were already beginning to ascend; then with her eyes raised up towards it, she said: “O my beloved Jesus, save Thy servants whom Thou hast brought hither to serve Thee, and whom Thou dost so often nourish with Thy precious Body.” Her prayer ended, she was interiorly admonished that the protection of Heaven was over her. The soldiers were struck blind, and a panic arose amongst them; they all took to flight as though pursued by an immense army.
