“The bad are
ready to deny miracles as the good are ready to believe them; as it is a
weakness to give credit to all things, so, on the other hand, to reject
miracles which come to us attested by
pious men of integrity, either savours of infidelity, which supposes them
impossible to God, or of presumption which refuses belief to such a class of
authors.
We give
credit to a Tacitus, a Suetonius, and can we deny it without presumption to
Christian authors of learning and probity.
There is less risk in believing and receiving what is related with some probability by honest persons and
not rejected by the learned, and which serves for the edification of our
neighbour, than in rejecting it with a disdainful and presumptuous
spirit.” St.Alphonse Liguori from
‘The Way to Salvation’, page 93.
GUADALUPE –
SPAIN, WONDERS OF THE BLESSED
SACRAMENT, 1640,
Once, a holy monk of the Order of St.Jerome had some
slight doubts about the Real Presence of Jesus under the sacramental
species. Day after day he was tormented
by these same thoughts of distrust, yet he never gave way or sinned, for, deep
down he believed.
One Saturday morning, whilst celebrating Mass, after
the Consecration, as he was reciting the prayer: “We suppliantly beseech You” …
when he raised his eyes he saw a
wonderful cloud enveloping the altar, and hiding the sacred species from his
gaze.
The good monk was beside himself with amazement. He
felt his blood congeal in his veins, felt so much disturbed that he hesitated continuing
with the Mass. He fervently asked God’s forgiveness. Hardly had he finished his
prayer that the cloud vanished from his sight.
To his wonder he found that the Sacred Host was no
longer on the corporal, nor was there a drop of blood, which he had poured in
the chalice. He again asked God for
pardon for his disbelief and doubts. Then raising his eyes he saw in the air
the brilliant paten, from which proceeded rays of light illuminating the
church. Slowly the paten descended and he saw the sacred Host on it.
As the Host rested in an upright position he saw drops
of blood coming out of the Host and filled the chalice with the same amount he
had poured in. Then the pall, by itself covered the chalice. The holy monk was
completed puzzled, not knowing what to do then.
But he heard a voice saying: “Continue the Mass and
keep as a profound secret what you have just witnessed. God granted this vision
for you personally so that you will no longer doubt about the Real Presence in
the consecrated species.”
The holy monk kept his secret until he was on his
deathbed, when he spoke for the greater glory of God, and to serve as a
reminder to anyone who might be tempted to doubt.
‘Divine Wonders of the Blessed Sacrament’, Paris, 1859
“ O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every
moment Thine.”
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