The Guardian Angel: Eucharistic Miracle of Glotowo, Poland 1290
Please remember that our faith is not founded on Eucharistic miracles, but on the proclamation of the Lord Jesus, received with faith through the action of the Holy Spirit.
We believe because we have believed in the preaching (see Gal. 3:5; also in Rom 10:17): “Faith depends on hearing and hearing by the word of Christ; and, in turn, preaching depends on the word of Christ.” “Believing is an act of the intellect, which under the influence of the will moved by God through grace, gives its consent to divine truth.” St. Thomas, Summa Theologiae.
Our faith in the Eucharist has as it center Christ. A Christian is not obliged to believe in Eucharistic miracles or any Private Revelations. In principle, however, the believer must not exclude the possibility that God may intervene in the extraordinary way in any given moment, place, event or person. The prudence of the Church is fully justified, since some may think God forgot to tell us something, attributing excessive importance to the miraculous and extraordinary, and easily and excessively believing suggestions or illusions.
Eucharistic Miracles can be useful and fruitful aids to our faith. For example: They help us go beyond the visible and the perceptible and admit the existence of something beyond. Also, they can give us an opportunity, to speak of public Revelation and of its importance to the Church and to Christians.
In 1290, due to the invasion of the Lithuanians, a priest from the village of Glotowo buried in a field a silver Ciborium plated in gold, with a consecrated Host still in it which he missed by mistake. The Lithuanian’s troops destroyed the village and the church. None of the survivors knew about the hidden Host.
Only a number of years later, while plowing the field in the spring, a farmer found it by chance, thanks to the strange behavior of his oxen. They had bowed to the ground in adoration of the Host which was emanating a very bright light.
The most ancient documents describe how the miracle happened. The oxen were pulling the plow, behind which the farmer was walking.
The sun was setting at the horizon, creating long shadows. The man lifted his eyes and prodded the animals which were going slowly up the hill. All of sudden, the plow got stuck, the oxen pulled harder and on the side they turned over a big clod of earth.
The animals stopped as if frozen. At first the farmer scolded the beasts, yet paused surprised at the sudden change around him.
The light on the field was as if it were noon and a very intense light was coming from the ground shining on the kneeling oxen.
The farmer began to dig and noticed that the bright light was coming from a little Ciborium covered with dirt. It contained a perfect Host as white as snow.
The news of the extraordinary event spread rapidly among the people, who rushed immediately to the site.
The local authorities organized a solemn procession to bring the Host to the church of Dobre Miasto, though according to an ancient chronicle, inexplicably, the Host disappeared and was found at the same spot as the first time.
The event was interpreted as a sign from above and a little church dedicated to the Corpus Christi was built on that location.
The popularity of Glotowo grew through the centuries and in the eighteenth century the old medieval church was enlarged and consecrated by the bishop Krzysztof Potocki, on July 24, 1726. Even today, every year, the shrine of Glotowo attracts numerous pilgrims who come to venerate the relic.
