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."
Used by permission from Eucharistic Miracles by Joan Carroll Cruz
© copyright 1987 TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.