EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE (read in catechesis for children last Friday)
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The monk and the peasant (miracle of Cebreiro Spain)
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As the year 1000 approached, mankind lived in anxiety thinking that the end of the world was near, and each in his own way tried to live with great spirituality [Susana's note: this was not a superstition since aproximately by the year 1000 the "Pentecost sequence" was composed, that prayer where the Holy Spirit is invoked to "come" and we know from Our Lady of the Roses that by doing so one is forcefully invoking demons upon oneself. Probably in the exorcisms that were done at that time the demons were boasting that they were going to destroy the Church soon. About 150 years later, the Pope had a dream that the Church was tilting to fall, but that a little man was holding it up and when St. Francis of Assisi came to an audience, the Pope recognized that St. Francis of Assisi was the little man who stopped the Church from crumbling. We have to be grateful that Jesus Christ renewed His purity and Love in St. Francis of Assisi and the Blessed Virgin renewed Her purity and Love in St. Clare of Assisi to repair so much evil].: the peasants worked their fields trying to obtain good harvests, the settlers ploughed new lands, the feudal lords dominated over their serfs, the artists sculpted images of the birth and sacrifice of Christ and the redemption of mankind, the monks in their monasteries encouraged and preached the fear of God. Many churches and abbeys were built and the pilgrimage movement to various centers of faith arose. One of the most important of all was Compostela, in northern Spain, where in 813 the tomb of the apostle St. James, disciple of Jesus, was found.
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[It was indeed discovered in Santiago de Compostela the tomb of the apostle Santiago el Mayor who, in a stone tomb had arrived miraculously to Santiago by the sea. During the reconquest of Spain, Santiago appeared on a white horse with a multitude of angels who helped the Christians and made tremendous havoc in the Muslim army, the Muslims were terrified to see the fighters that Heaven sent and so many Muslims who were killed.]
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On the routes to Santiago, small towns and villages like Cebreiro, Barxamaior, Astorga, León, Oviedo and many others grew up.
Fortunately in Cebreiro where the Benedictine monks built a temple, a certain day of harsh winter occurred... on the altar of the side chapel was celebrating the Eucharist a Benedictine priest who thought that because of the snow and the unbearable wind no one would attend Mass... but he was wrong! A simple and humble peasant from a nearby village called Barxamaior, enduring the cold and snow, had walked to participate in the celebration and fervently desired to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.
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God, attentive to the great faith of the peasant and the little faith of the monk, wanted to manifest Himself with a great miracle. At the moment of the consecration, the Host became flesh sensitive to the sight and the chalice became blood which, gushing out of the cup as if it were boiling, dyed the corporals red.
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This miracle changed not only the lives and faith of the two witnesses, but of the entire population of Cebreiro, Barxamaior and all the neighboring villages forever.
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When in 1486, the Catholic Monarchs [It is about "the Catholic kings Fernando and Isabel" many say that she is a saint and are campaigning to beatify her. I read the testimony of a woman who with a friend rented two horses and went for a ride, but without knowing how to ride well, at one point the horses became wild and one began to run out of control. The woman invoked Queen Elizabeth (who had been an excellent horsewoman) and the horse calmed down immediately], pilgrims to Compostela, stayed with the monks in the abbey, they were able to contemplate the miracle and visit the tomb of the monk and the peasant who are buried in the church. They then donated the reliquary where the Miracle is kept to this day.