Ida Peerdeman’s “Eucharistic Experience”
The apparitions of the Lady of All Nations to Ida Peerdeman have not been denounced by the Church and so, on Friday, July 17, 1992, when I was in Amsterdam for a meeting of the Scientific Committee of the World Aids Foundation, I visited the home and private chapel of Ida, then in her late eighties. As I entered the hallway she told me that the day of my visit was the anniversary of her “Eucharistic experience,” which occurred in 1958 when, before the celebration of the Mass began, she suddenly saw a huge and almost blindingly white Host in front of the altar: “It was white fire – magnificent.” The vision slowly faded away and the altar was then bathed in a beautiful light. It all lasted for a moment.
(Taken from My Daily Eucharist II by Joan Carter McHugh, and an excerpt contained there from A Scientist Researches Mary: The Ark of the Covenant, by Dr. Courtenay Bartholomew.)
St. Juliana Falconieri
St. Juliana Falconieri was on her deathbed. She sought to receive Holy Communion one final time, but it was not allowed. She had been ill and her stomach could not hold anything down. She then asked that the Eucharist might be brought to her so that she might at least greet it with a kiss. This request too, however, was declined. She then requested that the Blessed Sacrament at least be placed upon her chest so that she could be near it as she passed. This was done. As she drew her final breath, the Host disappeared and could not be found by anyone there. Those present could not avoid the thought that the Lord had disregarded her illness and, in His own way, permitted her to receive Him as she had wished.
Taken in substance from The Blessed Eucharist, Our Greatest Treasure, by Michael Muller (New York and Cincinnati, Fr. Pustet, 1880) p. 80.
St. Anthony and the Mule
A well-known story of St. Anthony dates back to 1227. In an Italian town on the Adriatic coast called Rimini, St. Anthony was party to a certain challenge with a man named Bonovillo. Bonovillo was ardently opposed to any belief that the Eucharist constituted the actual presence of Christ. Although St. Anthony tried to persuade him with various arguments, Bonovillo would not be swayed. At last, he came upon a test for St. Anthony to prove what he had been saying.
Bonovillo would not feed one of his mules for three days. At the end of that time, he would bring the animal to the town square. There, he would place some food before him and St. Anthony could bring one of the wafers that supposedly were so holy. If God was present, the beast would reverence Him. If not, it would simply eat the food in front of him.
On the appointed day, St. Anthony did appear with the Eucharist. After announcing that his words to follow were being offered in the name of God, he instructed the animal to come forward any pay homage to the Lord. The mule not only passed over the food, it came before the Eucharist, knelt on its fore legs and bowed its head.
This story can of course be dismissed, since we were not there. On the other hand, it could be that something miraculous occurred, precisely because the Eucharist is exactly what it is supposed to be, the Real Presence. Bonovillo thought so. He converted then and there.
The people of Rimini thought so as well. They erected a small chapel to commemorate the spot of the miracle, in the Grand Piazza of the town, now the Piazza Tre Martiri. To this day, tourists can visit the Tempietto di Sant’ Antonio, pictured below.
To Make all of You Free of Care
Nicole Gausseron was a wife, mother and head of a homeless shelter for men in Chartres France. During the 1980s and 1990s she kept little notebooks of on ongoing dialogue she had with Jesus. She struggles with the death of her father and husband, the seeming absence of Jesus and other difficulties. Through it all, He is her consolation. From such notebooks, the following is taken.
“June 5 (chapel). This evening the Lord is neither standing nor sitting. We are united. It’s good to pause with Him.
— Where are you, Lord?
— ‘In you, in Pierre. I’m at home in you.’
I wait. At the moment Pierre raises the Host, the image of Christ’s face from the Holy Shroud appears on the Host.
— Lord, is what I’m seeing really true? I feel very calm but I can hardly believe what I’m seeing, nor do I say it.
— ‘Dare.’
I tell it to the others.
— Why are you giving me all this, Lord?
— ‘To make all of you free of care so that you care only for me.’”
(Taken from My Daily Eucharist II by Joan Carter McHugh, and an excerpt contained there from The Little Notebook, by Nicole Gausseron.)
The Likeness of a Human Face
Fr. Johnson Karnoor was a parish priest in southern India when he witnessed certain events for which he later had to give a deposition. In that deposition, he described them as follows: “On April 28, 2001, in the parish church of St. Mary of Chirattakonam, we began the Novena to St. Jude Thaddeus as we did every year. At 8:49am, I exposed the Most Holy Sacrament in the monstrance for public adoration. After a few moments I saw what appeared to be three dots in the Holy Eucharist. I then stopped praying and began to look at the monstrance, also inviting the faithful to admire the three dots. I then asked the faithful to remain in prayer and reposed the monstrance in the tabernacle. On April 30th, I celebrated the Holy Mass and on the following day I left for Trivandrum. On Saturday morning, the 5th of May 2001, I opened the church for the usual liturgical celebrations. I vested for Mass and went to open the tabernacle to see what had happened to the Eucharist in the monstrance. I immediately noted in the Host, a figure, to the likeness of a human face. I was deeply moved and asked the faithful to kneel and begin praying. I thought I alone could see the face so I asked the altar server what he noticed in the monstrance. He answered: ‘I see the figure of a man.’ I noticed that the rest of the faithful were looking intently at the monstrance.
“We began Adoration and as the minutes went by, the image became more and more clear. I did not have the courage to say anything and I began to cry. During Adoration, we have the practice of reading a passage from Holy Scriptures. The reading of the day was the one from Chapter 20 in the Gospel of John, which narrates the story of when Jesus appeared to St. Thomas and asked him to look at the wounds. I was only able to say a few words in my homily, and, having to leave for the nearby parish of Kokkodu to celebrate Mass, I immediately summoned a photographer to take pictures of the Holy Eucharist with the human face on it. After two hours all the photos were developed; with the passing of the time the face in every photo became more and more clear.
(Taken in substantial part from “The Eucharistic Miracles of the World,” a Vatican international exhibition, as reported by The Real Presence Eucharistic Adoration Association, http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/engl_mir.htm)
No Need for a Walker
Linda Callaghan reluctantly joined Paul, her husband, for Mass at Marytown on August 1, 1996. She felt the presence of Our Lord and Our Lady in a way she had not experienced since childhood. She made Paul bring her back the next day. And the next. Four days in a row she attended Mass at Marytown, and now she found herself unable to remain separated from the Eucharist.
On Saturday, August 4, 1996, Linda prayed, “Please hear me God. I’m so sorry for not having gone to confession. But I’m going to go up for Holy Communion anyway. Please forgive me. I want you so badly.” … “I had such a burning desire that I was actually sweating. I had no thoughts except my desire for the Eucharist.” Her eyes closed and her smile widened as she remembered the crucial event.
“And I inched to the end of the pew and headed up the aisle. I was near the altar as I realized that I had left my walker in the pew. And I was walking!”
Linda’s body froze upon discovering what was happening. “I just stopped, feeling trapped. I can still see myself glancing back over my shoulder. I was looking back at the pew, thinking about whether or not to head back for the walker. But I had to trust God, and I just kept walking towards the priest and that Eucharist, which I received. And I haven’t stopped walking since.”
(Taken from My Daily Eucharist II by Joan Carter McHugh, and an excerpt contained there by Carrie Swearingen from the March/April 1997 edition of Immaculata magazine.)
relationship
I have been in a relationship for 4.5 years but now our relationship has run into some troubled waters .I caught my boyfriend lying to me and this has caused so much of troubles between us and part of it is my fault please pray that we can make things right between us cause now he wants to walk away please let him remember all the good times we had and know how much i love him and let him want us to work out as much as i want us to .Please let him come back to me and let us start our relationship a new and grow stronger in our relationship .Lord Please bing us closer Please put me on his mind, put us being together on his mind & let him follow through with that thought with confidence that we will be good together & we can make it Remove any & all negative doubt he may have about our relationship or me. Help him to see that it was a beautiful relationship, Lord I truly feel that he is my soulmate, please guide him back to me Lord. Lord please speak to his heart & mind right now, in the name of Jesus. Fill him with your Holy Spirit! Lord please help us, you are the only one that can. Please Lord lend your ear to this prayer, please hear my cry & this prayer.Also I Have been without a job for over 7 months and have only enough money left to take me through this month i am a single mother and only earning member of my house please pray that i find a job soon
For Employment
Please pray for my employment ….. a source of steady income to pay my bills and my auto expenses.
Thank you so much,
God Bless you,
Rick