Blessed Carlo Acutis had conceived and created a beautiful traveling exhibition on Eucharistic Miracles. This exhibition continues to tour 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.
In Ludbreg, in 1411, during Mass, a priest doubted that the body and blood of Christ were truly present in the consecrated Eucharistic species.
Immediately after the consecration of the wine, it was transformed into blood.
Even today, the precious relic of the blood from the miracle attracts thousands of the faithful, and every year, at the beginning of September, the so-called “Sveta Nedilja” (“Holy Sunday”) is celebrated for an entire week in honor of the Eucharistic miracle that took place in 1411.
In 1411, in Ludbreg, in the chapel of the castle of the Batthyany counts, a priest celebrated Mass. During the consecration of the wine, the priest doubted the truth of transubstantiation, and the wine in the chalice was transformed into blood. Not knowing what to do, the priest had this relic walled up behind the main altar. The worker who carried out the work was sworn to secrecy. The priest also kept the secret, revealing it only on his deathbed. After the priest’s revelation, the news spread quickly, and people began to make pilgrimages to Ludbreg. Later, the Holy See had the relic of the miracle brought to Rome, where it remained for several years. Nevertheless, the people of Ludbreg and the surrounding area continued to make pilgrimages to the castle chapel.
At the beginning of the 16th century, during the pontificate of Pope Julius II, an investigative commission was convened in Ludbreg to examine the events linked to the Eucharistic miracle. Several people testified that they had experienced miraculous healings while praying in the presence of the relic. On April 14, 1513, Pope Leo X issued a bull permitting the veneration of the holy relic, which he himself had carried several times in procession through the streets of Rome. The relic was then returned to Croatia.
During the 18th century, northern Croatia was ravaged by the plague. The people turned to God to implore his help, and the Croatian Parliament did the same. During a session held in the city of Varaždin on December 15, 1739, it vowed to build a chapel in Ludbreg in honor of the miracle if the plague ceased. The plague was averted, but the promised vow was fulfilled only in 1994, with the restoration of democracy in Croatia. In 2005, in the votive chapel, the painter Marijan Jakubin painted a large fresco depicting the Last Supper, in which Croatian saints and blesseds were included. In place of Saint John the Apostle is Blessed Ivan Merz, who, during the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist held in Rome in 2005, was included among the eighteen most important Eucharistic saints in the history of the Church. In the painting, Christ holds in his hand a monstrance containing the relic of the Eucharistic miracle.
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