Eucharistic Miracle of Santarem
Eucharistic Miracle of Santarem
Javier’s Catholic website
Santarem is a city belonging to Portugal, well known for the Eucharistic miracle that occurred in 1247, which even today allows us to clearly see the Sacred Host with the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. That is why they say that the miracle continues.
Several fifteenth-century historians claim to have read the original document, now missing, in which the miracle occurred on February 16, 1247. Other documents date the miracle in the year 1266, the date recorded in the copy commissioned by the king Alfonso IV in 1346. The disparity in dates may very well be due to the well-known fact that the same Host has been the cause of innumerable miracles in different years.
the first miracle
Between the years 1225 and 1247 there lived a woman in Santarem who was very unhappy because she was convinced that her husband was unfaithful to her. She used all the cunning she was capable of to lure her husband away, but she had no results. Desperate at her situation, she visited a village sorceress, who promised her that her husband would love her again as before her on the condition that she bring him a Consecrated Host as payment.
This greatly frightened the woman, because she knew that it would be a great sacrilege, but she finally agreed. Upon receiving Communion from her in the parish church of St. Stephen, he did not consume it but immediately left the church, removed the Host from her mouth and put it in a knot in her headscarf.
On the way to the sorceress’s house, the Sacred Host began to bleed. The woman did not realize what was happening until other passers-by told her, thinking that she was the one bleeding. Panic shook the woman’s heart. She went to her house and put the Host, still wrapped in the handkerchief, at the bottom of a cedar trunk where she kept her belongings in her room. There he stayed, in great fear, all day until nightfall.
When her husband came home late that night, they went to sleep, although she most likely would not get much rest. The guilt of her sin tormented her, and she also wondered if the Host was still bleeding.
In the total darkness of that room, another great miracle happened. Brilliant lightning flashes came out of the trunk, causing the couple to wake up. They then saw a spectacular vision of angels adoring the bleeding Host. The woman couldn’t take it anymore and confessed the great sin to her husband. The two repented and spent the rest of the night kneeling in adoration and reparation before the Miraculous Host.
In the morning they informed the parish priest, who went to the house and listened to the story related by the woman. The priest returned the Host to the church of San Esteban in solemn procession, accompanied by many of the clergy and laity. The Host continued to bleed for three days. Finally it was decided to put her (still bleeding) in a beeswax locket. The Sacred Host remained there for a long time until a second miracle occurred.
Second Miracle, around 1340.
The priest enclosed the Sacred Host in a wax container and placed it in the tabernacle. It was then that another miracle occurred. When the priest opened the door of the tabernacle, the wax container had broken into many pieces. In its place was a glass container containing the blood of the Host mixed with the wax. This can still be seen next to the main reliquary, which is from 1782. At present, the Sacred Host is kept on a Eucharistic throne from the 18th century, on the main altar. The Church of San Esteban is also known as the Sanctuary of the Holy Miracle.
miracles continue
Through the centuries, the Host has emitted blood again and in it several images of Our Lord Jesus Christ have been seen to appear. Among the witnesses is Saint Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies, who visited the sanctuary before leaving on a mission, as well as an archbishop of Lisbon.
Eucharistic procession with the bleeding Host.
Since the miracle occurred until today, every year, on the Second Sunday of April, The Eucharistic Miracle goes out in procession from the house of the spouses where the miracle occurred, in the Via delle Stuoie, to the Church of the Miracle. The house has been a chapel since 1684.
The Eucharistic Miracle of Santarm is considered the most important after that of Lanciano.
Canonical studies and investigations have been commissioned, the most relevant being those of 1340 and 1612, which proved without a doubt the authenticity and antiquity of the Eucharistic Miracle.
The Eucharistic Miracle of Santarm only left the city once, when Napoleon’s troops invaded Portugal in 1810. Fearing that the Miracle would be profaned in the hands of the French, they were taken away and ended up in Lisbon, in the Church of Pacao. Later, when the Miracle was not returned to Santarm, the citizens of that city made a mass protest. The Eucharistic Miracle was quietly returned to Santarm, to avoid resistance from the residents of the capital, who were not informed of the move until December 2, 1811.
The sanctuary was restored by D. Antonio Francisco Marqus, Bishop of Santarm, and solemnly opened its doors on March 7, 1996. Today it has a small museum behind the main altar. The Miracle of Santarm is exposed when the pilgrims request it in advance. So you can look at it very closely. The Blood is still in a liquid state, almost 800 years after the miracle occurred.
index of eucharistic miracles
Back to the Eucharist section
Xavier’s Catholic Web Index
Sign in the guest book
Subscribe to Javier’s Catholic Web mailing list for free to receive weekly updates.