Famous Eucharistic Miracles

The oldest and best known Eucharistic miracle. During Mass, a doubting monk saw the host turn into flesh and the wine into blood. The relics are still preserved, and a 1971 study by Doctor Odoardo Linoli reported the flesh to be heart muscle and the blood to be type AB.

A priest troubled by doubts saw the host bleed onto the corporal (altar cloth) during Mass at Bolsena. The stained corporal is kept in Orvieto Cathedral, and Raphael painted the scene on a wall of the Apostolic Palace.

A consecrated host began to bleed after being taken from Mass. It is venerated to this day in the Church of St Stephen (the Church of the Holy Miracle) in Santarém.

Consecrated hosts were stolen from a church and later recovered. Remarkably, they have remained intact and unspoiled for centuries, defying the natural process of decay, and are still preserved in Siena.

A host that had been cast into a fire was found intact among the flames. The event gave rise to the Miracle of Amsterdam and the tradition of the Stille Omgang, a silent procession still held each year.

Hosts placed in water to dissolve developed red staining instead. Jorge Bergoglio, later Pope Francis, was an auxiliary bishop at the time and quietly took charge of the evidence. Scientists who examined the 1996 sample reported inflamed heart muscle, though the Church still calls it a sign rather than a miracle.

During a parish retreat, a host was seen to exude a reddish substance. A lengthy investigation followed, and studies reported the substance to be consistent with human blood.

A priest carelessly placed a consecrated host in his breviary to bring to a sick person. When he opened the book, the page was stained with blood in the shape of the host. The relic is honoured in Cascia.