Deepertruth: Eucharistic Miracle of Rimini, 1227

This Eucharistic miracle was performed directly by Saint Anthony after he was challenged by a certain Bonovillo to demonstrate the truth of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The most ancient biography of Saint Anthony, L’Assidua (The Untiring), carries Bonovillo’s exact words: “Father! I tell you before all these people: I will believe in the Eucharist if my mule, after fasting for three days, adores the Host which you offer him rather than eating the fodder which I give him.” The mule, despite the fact that it was exhausted by hunger, knelt before the Host and refused its food.

In Rimini, it is still possible today to visit the church that was built in honor of the Eucharistic miracle performed by Saint Anthony of Padua in 1227. This episode is also cited in Begninitas, considered one of the most ancient sources regarding the life of Saint Anthony.

This saintly man was speaking with a faithless heretic who was opposed to the sacrament of the Eucharist and whom the saint had nearly led to the Catholic faith. But, after numerous arguments, this heretic declared: ‘If you, Anthony, produce a miracle and demonstrate to me that the Body of Christ is truly Communion, I will completely renounce my heresy and immediately convert to the Catholic faith. Why don’t we have a wager? I’ll keep one of my beasts locked up for three days to feel the torments of hunger. Then I will bring it forth in public and show it food. You will stand in front of it with what you maintain is the Body of Christ. If the beast, leaving aside its food, hurries to adore its God, I will share the faith of your Church.