The island was about to be wiped off the map when a priest raised Jesus Christ Eucharist before the sea in fury. And the miracle happened.
The word “tsunami” became popular in Portuguese mainly from December 2004, when a powerful earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale on the Indonesian island of Sumatra generated giant waves up to 30 meters high that devastated coastal regions of 14 countries, killing 230,000 people and entering history as one of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded.
In 2010, a tsunami hit the coast of Chile. In 2011, the phenomenon again attracted the eyes of the entire planet by destroying coastal regions of Japan, causing, among many other serious damages, the Fukushima nuclear accident.
However, tsunamis are far from being “new”.
112 years ago, the small Colombian island of Tumaco found itself surrounded by a tsunami surrounded by extraordinary events.
On January 31, 1906 , at 10 o’clock in the morning, the inhabitants of this tiny island in the Pacific Ocean felt a strong earthquake that lasted about 10 minutes. All the people rushed to the church to beg their priests, Gerardo and Julian, to immediately organize a procession with the Blessed Sacrament .
The sea, meanwhile, continued to recede, in the typical movement that precedes the formation of an enormous wave. Frightened, Fr. Gerardo Larrondo consumed all the consecrated hosts of the ampule and conserved only the Magnetic Host. Then, addressing the people, he exclaimed:
“Come, my children, let us all go to the beach, and may God have mercy on us!”
Feeling secure in the face of the presence of Jesus the Eucharist , everyone walked, with tears and acclamations to God. When Fr. Gerardo reached the beach, went boldly to the bank with the custody in his hands.
At the moment the wave was coming, he raised the consecrated Host , with a steady hand and a heart full of faith, and, before all, drew the Sign of the Cross . It was a moment of solemnity.
The wave continued to advance, but before Fr. Gerardo and Fr. Julian could perceive, the people, moved and amazed, was already shouting:
“Miracle! Miracle!”
In fact, as if it had been stopped by an invisible force and superior to nature, the powerful wave that threatened to wipe out the island of Tumaco had begun its retreat as the sea returned to its normal level .
The inhabitants of Tumaco, amid the euphoria and the joy of being saved from death thanks to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament , manifested their gratitude.
The miracle of Tumaco has become known all over the world. The feet. Gerardo Larrondo received from the Continent numerous letters from people asking for his prayers.
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From “Augustinian lovers of the Holy Eucharist”, from Fr. Pedro del Rosario Corro
