Guardian Angel: Eucharistic Miracle of Alboraya-Almacera Spain 1348

Mary, Mother of my Lord, my Mother, please love your Son through Me. Jesus, my God and my Savior, please love your mother through me. May the Holy Spirit give me the strength to deny myself daily, and give myself unreservedly to Jesus through Mary. All creation honors the creator, please share with those you love and those put into your path. To Jesus through Mary, GregoryMary

In 1348, a priest on his way to visit some sick people in order to bring them Communion, slipped in the waters of a small river that he was crossing and overturned the ciborium which contained some consecrated Hosts. The poor priest, who had by now resigned himself to the loss, heard himself being called by some fishermen a short distance away, asking him to come closer to the shore in order to see several fish with discs in their mouths which appeared to be Hosts. The Hosts were immediately recovered and brought back to the church in a solemn procession in which the whole village participated.

In 1348, in the town of Alboraya-Almácera, a Eucharistic miracle occurred which seemed to recall episodes in the life of Saint Francis that demonstrate how, if men were to fully live in the grace of God, all God’s creatures would live in harmony. A priest, carrying a Ciborium containing the Viaticum (Eucharist) destined for some sick people, was crossing a river on mule-back when he was suddenly swept off his mount by a rushing wave. The priest tumbled into the water along with his Ciborium, which was emptied of its precious content. The Hosts fell out and were being carried away by the current toward the mouth of the river nearby.

The priest, barely saving himself, full of remorse, and lamenting what had occurred as he tried to free himself from the mud and the waters, was approached by some fishermen who were stunned to have witnessed, in the place where the river water flowed into the sea, three fish, each with a little white disc resembling Communion Hosts, in its mouth.

The priest immediately ran to the church and returned to the river bank with another Ciborium. He did everything in such a hurry that he didn’t even stop to ask himself if the fishermen’s story was believable. Great was his joy when he saw that the three remarkable fish were there, almost completely out of the water, lifting the Hosts intact with their mouths, like little trophies.

He fell to his knees, and extending his chalice, prayed as he had never prayed before in his entire life; and thus, he saw the fish deposit the Hosts in the chalice, one after the other, and then dive and slither rapidly back into the water to disappear into the sea. Only at that moment did the priest notice that he was surrounded by a group of men and women who had witnessed the entire scene.

Today it is still possible to consult numerous documents testifying to the miracle. There even exists a small church, with two fish sculpted on the door, built on the site of the miracle, and two paintings reproducing the entire event.

Eucharistic Quotes

"If we but paused for a moment to consider attentively what takes place in this Sacrament, I am sure that the thought of Christ's love for us would transform the coldness of our hearts into a fire of love and gratitude."

- St. Angela of Foligno

"Christ held Himself in His hands when He gave His Body to His disciples saying: 'This is My Body.' No one partakes of this Flesh before he has adored it."

- St. Augustine

"Recognize in this bread what hung on the cross, and in this chalice what flowed from His side... whatever was in many and varied ways announced beforehand in the sacrifices of the Old Testament pertains to this one sacrifice which is revealed in the New Testament."

- from the writings of St. Augustine, Sermon 3, 2; circa A.D. 410 {original translation}

"O Lord, we cannot go to the pool of Siloe to which you sent the blind man. But we have the chalice of Your Precious Blood, filled with life and light. The purer we are, the more we receive."

- St. Ephraem

"When the bee has gathered the dew of heaven and the earth's sweetest nectar from the flowers, it turns it into honey, then hastens to its hive. In the same way, the priest, having taken from the altar the Son of God (who is as the dew from heaven, and true son of Mary, flower of our humanity), gives him to you as delicious food."

- St. Francis de Sales

"When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence."-

St. Francis de Sales

"What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble Himself like this under the form of a little bread, for our salvation"

"...In this world I cannot see the Most High Son of God with my own eyes, except for His Most Holy Body and Blood."

- St. Francis of Assisi

AT THE FEET OF CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST

From the writings of Saint Faustina

O Jesus, Divine Prisoner of Love, when I consider Your love and how You emptied Yourself for me, my senses deaden. You hide Your inconceivable majesty and lower Yourself to miserable me. O king of Glory, though You hide Your beauty, yet the eye of my soul rends the veil. I see the angelic choirs giving You honor without cease, and all the heavenly Powers praising You without cease, and without cease they are saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.

Oh, who will comprehend Your love and Your unfathomable mercy toward us! O Prisoner of Love, I love up my poor heart in this tabernacle that it may adore You without cease night and day. I know of no obstacle in this adoration: and even though I be physically distant, my heart is always with You. Nothing can put a stop to my love for You. No obstacles exist for me...

O Holy Trinity, One and Indivisible God, may You be blessed for this great gift and testament of mercy. Amen.

I adore You, Lord and Creator, hidden in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I adore You for all the works of Your hands, that reveal to me so much wisdom, goodness and mercy, O Lord. You have spread so much beauty over the earth and it tells me about Your beauty, even though these beautiful things are but a faint reflection of You, incomprehensible Beauty. And although You have hidden Yourself and concealed your beauty, my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You and my souls recognizes its Creator, its Highest Good, and my heart is completely immersed in prayer of adoration.

My Lord and Creator, Your goodness encourages me to converse with You. Your mercy abolishes the chasm which separates the Creator from the creature. To converse with You, O Lord, is the delight of my heart. In You I find everything that my heart could desire. Here Your light illumines my mind, enabling it to know You more and more deeply. Here streams of grace flow down upon my heart. Here my soul draws eternal life. O my Lord and Creator, You alone, beyond all these gifts, give Your own self to me and unite Yourself intimately with Your miserable creature.

O Christ, let my greatest delight be to see You loved and Your praise and glory proclaimed, especially the honor of Your mercy. O Christ, let me glorify Your goodness and mercy to the last moment of my life, with every drop of my blood and every beat of my heart. Would that I be transformed into a hymn of adoration of You. When I find myself on my deathbed, may the last beat of my heart be a loving hymn glorifying Your unfathomable mercy. Amen.

"Do grant, oh my God, that when my lips approach Yours to kiss You, I may taste the gall that was given to You; when my shoulders lean against Yours, make me feel Your scourging; when my flesh is united with Yours, in the Holy Eucharist, make me feel Your passion; when my head comes near Yours, make me feel Your thorns; when my heart is close to Yours, make me feel Your spear."

- St. Gemma Galgani

I hunger for the bread of God, the flesh of Jesus Christ ...; I long to drink of his blood, the gift of unending love.

- St. Ignatius of Antioch