Examples of Miraculous Communion of the Eucharist in Church History

The following examples are taken from Butler’s Lives of the Saints, Volumes I-IV, published in 1996 by Christian Classics, a division of Thomas More Publishing, Allen, Texas

1.  Bd. Frederick of Regensburg (1329)

“Among the marvels related of him is that he received holy communion at the hands of an angel.” 

2.  St. Laurence of Brindisi (1619)

“The crushing defeat of the Turks was attributed on all hands to St. Laurence.  There is a story that on his way back from this campaign he stayed with his brethren at Gorizia, where our Lord appeared to them in choir and gave all holy communion with His own hand.”

3.      St. Agnes of Montepulciano (1317)

“Numerous were the extraordinary graces conferred upon Mother Agnes.  Once, in a vision, she was allowed to hold the Infant Savior in her arms, on several occasions it was reported she received holy communion from an angel, and her nuns declared that they had many times seen her in ecstasy uplifted from the ground.” 

4.     St. Paschal Baylon (1592)

“He could not always get to Mass, but when he was unable to leave his charge in the early morning he knelt for long spaces of time absorbed in prayer, his eyes fixed upon the distant sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Sierra where the holy sacrifice was being offered.  Fifty years afterwards an aged shepherd who had known Paschal in those days deposed that

on such occasions the angels more than once brought to the lad the Blessed Sacrament suspended in the air above a chalice, that he might gaze upon and venerate It.”

The following examples are taken from Eucharistic Miracles by Joan Carroll Cruz, published in 1987 by Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., Rockford, Illinois

5.     St. Bonaventure (1274)

“During the brief period in the life of St. Bonaventure, the saint’s humility sometimes prevented him from receiving the Holy Eucharist—this despite his great desire to communicate.  But his fears were completely overcome one day, as is recorded in the acts of his canonization:

Several days had passed, nor durst he yet presume to present himself at the heavenly banquet.  But whilst he was hearing Mass and meditating on the Passion of Jesus Christ, Our Savior, to crown his humility and love, put into his mouth by the ministry of an angel part of the consecrated Host, taken from the hand of the priest.” 

From this time his Communions were without scruple and were sources of great joy and grace.

6.     Three children in Fatima, Portugal (1917)

“In one of the first visions seen by the children of Fatima, an angel appeared to them holding a chalice and a Host.”

7.  St. Stanislaus Kostka (1568)

“After Stanislaus had prayed to St. Barbara, the saint appeared to him, accompanied by an angel.  In answer to his prayers St. Barbara brought him the Holy Eucharist.  After communicating, St. Stanislaus slowly recovered his health.”

8.      St. Honoré (Sixth Century)

“Les Patits Bollandistes disclose that St. Honoré journeyed to the abbey of St. Acheolus to assist in the celebration of Holy Mass in the chapel of the Holy Virgin.  During the Mass, Jesus Himself appeared and gave him Holy Communion.  In memory of this event, an image of the hand of Christ is emblazoned on the abbey’s coat of arms.”

9.     St. Catherine of Siena (1380)

The Saint received Communion from Our Lord and also from angels.

10.   St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi (1607)

Twice in 1585, on Holy Thursday and the feast of St. Albert of the Carmelite Order, and once in 1592, on Holy Thursday, the Saint received Holy Communion at the hands of the Savior Himself.

11.   St. Therese Neumann (1962)

“Often at Communion time Therese Neumann, in ecstasy, would see Our Lord Himself approach to give her Communion.  Priests witnessed Therese in ecstasy on various occasions as she received Holy Communion from Our Lord.”

12.   St. Clement, Bishop of Ancyra (Fourth Century)

“During one of these nights (in prison) the assembled group saw the cell become illuminated by an extraordinary light.  Through this light stepped a handsome young man clothed in shining garments.  Walking toward the bishop, the heavenly being gave him a chalice and a large Host, and then disappeared.  St. Clement divided the Host among the astonished witnesses and shared the contents of the chalice.  History relates that the following day all went joyfully to their execution except St. Clement, who suffered still more before he was eventually beheaded.”

(Note:  In addition to the above examples, there have been many other cases where the Eucharist was miraculously brought from the Mass or the tabernacle in a church.  It seems important to note that, even in the cases where the Consecration by priests was not clearly mentioned, because such Consecration was not denied, it is possible that the Eucharist was brought by the angel after the Consecration by a priest.  This observation should also apply to the miracles in Naju, where the Consecration by priests was mentioned in the first miraculous descent of the Eucharist but was not mentioned in the accounts of the remainders.)

Prepared at Mary’s Touch By Mail
Gresham, Oregon, U. S. A.
November 21, 2008