Canosio
In 1630, the Maira River flooded and threatened the small village of Canosio in northwest Italy. The pastor of the town, Father Antonio Reinardi, led a procession to the river with the Blessed Sacrament. He urged the villages to pray and vowed that, if the village was saved, it would hold an annual feast in honor of Corpus Christi. When they arrived at the river and he blessed the raging waters, the rain imediately stopped and the river then returned to its normal level.
To this day, the pledge to honor the Body of Christ every year has been kept.
Source: “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/english_pdf/Canosio.pdf.
If There Were Only Someone to Whom I Might Distribute Them
Blessed Balthasar Alvarez used to visit the Blessed Sacrament often and sometimes would spend whole nights there. Once when kneeling before the altar, he was given a vision of the Lord, who appeared within the Host in the form of a little child. His hands were full of precious stones and He said, “If there were only someone to whom I might distribute them.”
How great His desire must be.
Sources: Mueller, Michael, C.S.S.R., The Blessed Eucharist Our Greatest Treasure (Charlotte, N.C., Tan Books, 2011) p. 55; Liguori, St. Alphonsus M., Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament, etc. (London, T. Jones, 1849) p. 61.
A Wonderful Peace
On May 9, 2011, on a blog site for Catholics in New Zealand, someone posted the following account:
“I recall an experience many years ago when, and while still a lapsed catholic, I went to mass for some comfort, during a particularly anxious and difficult time of life. I went forward for communion (despite my skepticism with catholicism. I recall very clearly the wonderful peace I experienced after I had taken communion which was very welcome but unexpected, in the midst of my emotional turmoil. I hadn’t even had an experience quite like that during my Catholic youth. “
There is no authentication for this, nor could there be for such a private account. Even if true, it does not seem particularly dramatic. It was dramatic enough for the person writing it, however, for him or her to remember it “many years” later. Lastly, to continue a skeptical approach, one might say that such an episode could always be explained as the working of the person’s own psyche, some outgrowth of inner desires. One indication to the contrary, though, is that the feeling was so “unexpected.”
While many other stories to be found here include miraculous healings or other such extraordinary events, this story seems quite small indeed. Perhaps that makes it all the more special. It may be that we need to understand He can speak to all of us. We do not have to be the recipient of some amazing encounter. Sometimes a whisper can have just as powerful an impact.
Source: http://www.beingfrank.co.nz/reason-to-believe
Blessed Anna Maria Taigi
One day, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi was given Holy Communion, but was intentionally given an unconsecrated host. She instantly realized the absence of the Presence. She also felt something else, a never-ending sadness that she later disclosed to her confessor.
What kind of sadness? Why the need to tell her confessor? Was it a sadness over not feeling an never- ending Love that she had felt before? Was there some level of guilt over not always trusting in Him? How much more is there to feel than we normally do when receiving Communion?
See Manelli, Fr. Stefano M, Jesus Our Eucharistic Love (New Bedford, MA, Immaculate Mediatrix, 2008), p. 70).