Italian priest discovers hosts miraculously preserved after earthquake

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More than a year after the earthquake, the hosts remain intact

On October 30, 2016, central Italy was hit by a 6.6-magnitude earthquake, devastating many cities, including the municipality of Arquata del Tronto. The church in that parish has been reduced to rubble and only recently has the ciborium been recovered.

And what was discovered was something “miraculous”.

According to the National Catholic Register , “wafers recovered from the ruins of the parish church of Arquata del Tronto do not have bacteria or mold, as usually occurs after a few weeks.”

The ciborium was next to a tabernacle and contained “40 hosts, whose color, form and aroma remained unchanged.”

The local priest considered it a miracle. The local bishop recommended caution, admitting that the fact does not need “words”.

The discovery of the hosts after a long time recalls a Eucharistic miracle that happened in another Italian city, Siena. It was on August 14, 1730, when thieves invaded a basilica and stole the ciborium with 351 consecrated particles. Three days later, the 351 hosts appeared in the alms box of the shrine of Santa Maria de Provenzano, where they had been thrown.

Even over the years, the hosts did not show signs of deterioration. On April 14, 1780, the Superior of the Franciscan Order, Father Carlo Vipera, consumed one of the hosts and realized that the particle was fresh and incorrupt. Since some of them had already been distributed in previous years, the superior ordered the remaining 230 to be kept. To this day they remain in the church and retain the freshness of the day they were made.

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