Blessed Carlo Acutis had conceived and created a beautiful traveling exhibition on Eucharistic Miracles. This exhibition continues to travel throughout Italy and the world; all the Eucharistic miracles featured in the exhibition have been compiled in the book Eucharistic Miracles in the World, from which this text is taken.
A priest from Prague, who was traveling in Italy, was celebrating Mass in the basilica of Bolsena (VT) when, at the moment of consecration, a prodigy occurred: the host transformed into flesh. This miracle strengthened the faith of the doubtful priest regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The sacred species were immediately examined by Pope Urban IV and Saint Thomas Aquinas. The Pontiff decided to extend the feast of Corpus Christi to the entire Church “so that this sublime and venerable Sacrament might be for all a memorial of God’s extraordinary love for us.”
Current historical research confirms what the earliest testimonies report: the miracle took place in the summer of 1264. A Bohemian priest, Peter of Prague, came to Italy for an audience with Pope Urban IV, who had moved to Orvieto (TR) for the summer, accompanied by Saint Thomas Aquinas and numerous other theologians and cardinals. Immediately after being received by the Pope, Peter of Prague set out to return to Bohemia. On his way back, he stopped in Bolsena, where he celebrated Mass in the church dedicated to Saint Christina. At the moment of consecration, when the priest pronounced the words that bring about transubstantiation, the miracle occurred, as described by a commemorative plaque: «Suddenly that host visibly appeared to be true flesh sprinkled with red blood, except for that portion held between his fingers: this was not believed to have happened without mystery, but rather so that everyone might know that it had truly been the host which the celebrating priest himself had carried above the chalice.»
Through this miracle, the Lord strengthened the faith of the priest who, despite his proven piety and morality, often harbored doubts about the real presence of Christ under the consecrated species of bread and wine. News of the miracle spread immediately, and both the Pope and Saint Thomas Aquinas were able to personally verify the prodigy at once. After careful examination, Urban IV approved its veneration. He then decided to extend the feast of Corpus Christi, which until then had been only a local feast of the Diocese of Liège, to the entire universal Church. The Pope commissioned Saint Thomas to write the liturgy that would accompany the bull Transiturus de hoc mundo ad Patrem, in which the reasons why the Eucharist is so important to the life of the Church are explained.
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