The Guardian Angel: Eucharistic Miracle Rome 6th Century

Wow we start with a plague that has elements that connect to our plague today, Pope St. Gregory the Great yet like each of us, God can use us for souls for His Kingdom. We start right after he became pope with a terrible plague killing many people. He did not close the churches, but people came from all over Rome to be part of a Eucharistic procession. A miracle occurred that stopped the plague, and then a few years later this Great Saintly Pope was the witness to another Miracle of the Eucharist. Please Share these two miracles from the 6th Century.

Pope St. Gregory the Great and the Plague of Rome posted in plague, Pope St. Gregory Iby Joan Lewis

Days ago at dinner with three friends, we were talking about the need for a very special prayer service or liturgy because of the coronavirus situation. I told them the story of Pope Gregory I who, in 591, for the plague that struck Rome, organized a procession of faithful to pray for an end to the plague I said, for those of us who are believers in Our Lord and in the power of prayer and in miracles, think how inspiring it would be if the Holy Father were to pray the rosary for an end to the coronavirus scourge before the image of his (and our) beloved icon Salus populi romani at St. Mary Major Basilica and have faithful throughout the world pray with him for a miracle! Corona, by the way, means crown in Italian and is also another word for rosary!

This could be done via Vatican media, the Vatican’s YouTube page, Facebook Live and with transmissions by the world’s television. Millions praying with Pope Francis! And here is the story of Pope Gregory….Wow we start with a plague that has elements that connect to our plague today, Pope St. Gregory the Great yet like each of us, God can use us for souls for His Kingdom. We start right after he became pope with a terrible plague killing many people. He did not close the churches, but people came from all over Rome to be part of a Eucharistic procession. A miracle occurred that stopped the plague, and then a few years later this Great Saintly Pope was the witness to another Miracle of the Eucharist. Please Share these two miracles from the 6th Century

POPE ST. GREGORY THE GREAT AND THE PLAGUE OF ROME

Pope Saint Gregory the Great, pope from September 3, 590 to March 12, 604, was both a humble and pious man. It would be an understatement to say he did not want the honor of being the next pope, but he did do everything in his power to try to save his people. He understood that the plague that had struck Rome in 591 was a chastisement from God, and encouraged the faithful to repent of their sins and pray for deliverance while he and the religious cared for the people of Rome.

Finally, Saint Gregory called for a procession to take place at dawn on April 25th. On that day the faithful first assembled in their groups throughout Rome and then walked through the streets of the city praying and singing as they approached the church of Saint Mary Major. The plague was so potent at that time that eighty people collapsed and died as they walked toward the meeting place.

Pope Saint Gregory met them upon their arrival, joining them in prayer as he took his place with them holding aloft the miraculous image of Our Lady painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist. As the procession neared the Vatican the participants all saw Saint Michael the archangel standing upon the cupola of Hadrian’s mausoleum as he sheathed his flaming sword. It was a sign that the chastisement had come to an end, and at once the heaviness in the air abated and the air itself seemed to freshen and clear. Indeed, at that moment the plague ended as the faithful rejoiced and lifted up their voices to thank the Mother of God. “Regina Coeli laetare, Alleluia! (Queen of heaven, rejoice, Alleluia!) Quia quem meruisti portare, Alleluia! (Son whom you merited to bear, Alleluia!) Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia! (He has risen as He said, Alleluia!)

This Eucharistic miracle, whose relic is still preserved in the Benedictine Monastery of Andechs, Germany, is verified by numerous written sources. The authentication took place in Rome in 595 during a Eucharistic celebration presided by Pope St. Gregory the Great. At the moment of receiving Holy Communion, a Roman noblewoman began to laugh because she had doubts about the Real Presence of Christ in the consecrated Bread and Wine. The Pope, troubled by her disbelief, decided not to give her Communion and then the Bread turned into Flesh and Blood.

Among the most important works in which this Eucharistic miracle that occurred in Rome in 595 is mentioned, is Vita Beati Gregorii Papae written by Deacon Paul in 787. It was customary in those times to have the Eucharistic bread prepared by the parishioners.

Pope St. Gregory the Great was a direct eyewitness to this prodigy. One Sunday, while celebrating the Sacred Mass in an ancient church dedicated to St. Peter, the Pope was distributing Communion and saw among the faithful in line, one of the women who had prepared the bread for the consecration and she was laughing out loud. Troubled, the Pope cornered her and asked her to explain her behavior. She justified herself by saying that she could not believe that the bread she made with her very own hands could become the Body and Blood of Christ during the consecration.

St. Gregory denied her Communion and asked God to illuminate her. Having just finished praying, he saw that part of the bread prepared by the woman became Flesh and Blood. The woman repented, knelt on the ground and began to cry. To this day, part of the relic of the miracle is housed in Anechs, Germany, near the local Benedictine monastery.

St. Satyrus 4th Century

In his work, De excessu fratris Satyri, St. Ambrose himself describes this Eucharistic miracle in which his brother Satyrus played a key role. St. Satyrus was able to save himself from shipwreck thanks to the Eucharist.

About his brother, St. Ambrose writes: “What shall I say about his reverence in the worship of God? One episode will suffice. Before being fully initiated into the sublime mysteries (First Communion), he experienced a shipwreck. When the ship on which he was traveling ran aground on some reefs and while, all around, the waves were tearing it apart, he was not afraid of dying but of having to die without having been nourished by the Sacred Mysteries. So he asked for the Eucharist from those whom he knew to be initiated into the Divine Sacrament of the Faithful and placed the Holy Eucharist in a handkerchief, which he hung around his neck.

Then he threw himself into the sea and looked for a plank loosened from the hulk of the ship to hang on to, but did not try to swim away to save himself, because he had put his trust only in the weapons of the faith. Since he was convinced that he was sufficiently protected and defended by this faith, he did not look for any other help.

“Then, as soon as he was saved from the waves and reached land, he paid tribute to the Leader to whom he had entrusted himself. As soon as he was saved and realized all his servants had been saved, he went to the church of God, without complaining about the goods he had lost, to thank Him for having saved him and to get to know His Eternal Mysteries. He said there was no more important duty than that of giving thanks… He who had experienced the great help of the Heavenly Mysteries wrapped in a handkerchief considered it important to consume the Holy Eucharist and receive the Eucharistic Christ into the depths of his heart.”