Eucharistic Miracle of O'cebreiro, Spain.

The Eucharistic miracle of
O’Cebreiro – During the
Mass the Host changed to
Flesh and the wine changed
to Blood and was expelled
from the chalice, staining the
corporal. The Lord performed
this prodigy in order to
sustain the little faith of the
priest who did not believe in
the Real Presence of Jesus in
the Eucharist. To this day, the
Sacred Relics of the miracle are
guarded near the church
where this prodigy took place
and numerous pilgrims go
there annually to honor them.
ne icy winter in 1300 a Benedictine priest
was celebrating the sacred Mass in a chapel
beside the church of the convent of
O’Cebreiro. On that miserable day of unceasing
snow and unbearably freezing wind, he thought
that no one would dare show up for Mass. He
was wrong. A farmer from Barxamaior by the
name of Juan Santín, left the convent to attend
Mass. The priest saying Mass, who did not
believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Most
Holy Sacrament, despised in his heart the
farmer’s sacrifice of good will. He began in this
way to celebrate the Mass, and immediately after
having professed the words of the consecration,
the Host changed to Flesh and the wine changed
to Blood, and was expelled from the chalice and
stained the corporal. At that very moment, it
seemed that even the head of the wooden statue
of the Madonna was leaning in adoration. The
people today call her the “Madonna of the
Sacred Miracle”. The Lord had wanted to open
the eyes of the incredulous priest who had
doubted and to compensate the farmer for his
great devotion. For almost two hundred years
the Host-changed-to-Flesh was left on the
paten until Queen Isabella learned about the
miracle when she passed through O’Cebreiro
while on pilgrimage in Santiago de Compostela.
The queen immediately had
a precious crystal shrine custom-made to hold
the miraculous Host, the chalice and the paten,
which to this day, can be admired in this
church. Every year on the feast days of Corpus
Christi, August 15th, and September 8th, the
relics are taken in procession along with the
Madonna. Among the most documented testimonials
of the miracle are the bull of Pope Innocent
VIII of 1487, that of Pope Alexander VII of
1496, and an account by Father Yepes.