Miracle of the Eucharist of El Escorial Spain
What is El Escorial?
El Escorial was originally a large monastery, the Royal Monastery of Spain in honor of the Spanish martyr, San Lorenzo or San Lorenzo. The concept for this masterpiece of Spanish architecture came to King Philip II while he was fighting a fierce battle against the French at San Quentin, France, in 1557. He swore that if he was victorious, he would build a splendid monastery in honor of the Holy , on Spanish soil. Actually, he accomplished a double task with a single action. She had also promised his father, Carlos V, that she would provide a burial place for him and his ancestors to come. The first stone was laid on April 23, 1563. Four years later, on the feast of the Holy Innocents in 1567, the first six religious brothers were admitted to the Monastery as custodians.
It became the pet project of King Philip of Spain.
Several queens and princesses were the first to be buried within the tombs of the Monastery. During a visit by the King to the Monastery, on June 14, 1575, the foundations of the main church were started. The same month, the King donated the Library to the Monastery. It contained 4,000 volumes. And then the King received a special Gift, which he in turn delivered to the Monastery of El Escorial. It was a Miracle of the Eucharist.
The Story of the Miracle of the Eucharist at El Escorial
Heretics broke into Gorcum Cathedral with the intent to desecrate the Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in any way they could.
They sneaked into the Tabernacle. They opened the Monstrance and took out the Consecrated Hosts. The more despicable and horrible their vile deeds became, the more aroused they became, the more scandalous their conduct became. It was a growing madness, a madness that accelerated the more they desecrated the Eucharist.
They built this great fever and crushed the Hosts with a vengeance. It was the scourging of Jesus once more, on the Pillar, the crowning with thorns, the mockery that He and His Mother endured on Calvary.
The final blow came when one of the heretics threw a Consecrated Host on the ground and trampled it under his boots. The bottom of the boot had spikes in the sole to help grip the road when there was mud on the ground.
The spikes pierced the Host in three places, and small drops of Blood emerged from the Consecrated Host.
The attacker went into shock.
He couldn’t believe his eyes, the sight before him.
He looked around. His companions behaved in the same way, looking in amazement at what had happened. He knelt down to pick up the Host, but he was afraid to touch it.
Now I knew that there was a living Being inside that Host, and that Being was God.
He began to sob loudly. She got up and ran as hard as she could. She wanted to put as much distance as possible between him and what she had done. His friends did the same, and within minutes, the Cathedral was as empty and silent as it was before the abuse occurred.
Now there was only one big difference; a resplendent Host lay on the ground, with three drops of crimson blood slowly flowing from it.
Once in the vestibule of the Cathedral, the heretics and perpetrators could go no further.
I didn’t want to be here; His friends didn’t want him to be here. They kept warning him that they needed to escape or the authorities would be here soon.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t bring himself to leave the Lord alone in that condition. He had to do something; Tell someone. The Lord was melting his stony heart. Did you see the Lord bleeding instead of a Host? He ignored the warnings of his friends and went in search of a priest. He found John Van der Delft, a dean of the church. He confessed to his crime to the Dean. Together they returned to the Altar, where the Body of the Savior lay on the floor, gleaming in the light, the red stains of blood glistening against the moonlight streaming in through the window. Both men realized that it would not be safe to leave this miraculous Form of the Body of Christ here in this church. The climate of the city was so anti-Church that they were sure that the Host would be harmed.
They mounted their horses and left the city, the Miraculous Host carefully wrapped in a sack. They went in the dark night to the imperial city of Mechelen and to the convent of San Francisco.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Miracle of the Eucharist in Holland became very famous. People came to the Franciscan convent from all over the country to pray before the Blessed Sacrament in this miraculous way. That was the lucky part. The unfortunate part is that he became too famous, too well known for his own safety. The custodians of the Miraculous Host knew that they had to protect it from those who would destroy it and the Church.
