St. Peter's RC Church to host international exhibition: 'Miracles of the Eucharist Across the World'

St. Peter’s R.C. Church in Lewiston will present a special program this month.

“Miracles of the Eucharist Across the World” is composed of 27 panels created by Italian 15-year-old Blessed Carlos Acutis describing Eucharistic miracles that span the globe. On his website, he wrote, “The more we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth, we will have a foretaste of heaven."

Among the recorded miracles: On July 25, 1535, while celebrating Mass in Asti, Italy, a holy priest by the name of Domenico Occelli came to the breaking of the host and noticed that, along the entire break, the host became red with living blood. In St. Mary, Buenos Aires, between 1992-96, Pope Francis had pieces of consecrated hosts that had fallen on the ground on May 1, 1992, which he put in a vessel of water in the tabernacle to dissolve. On Friday, May 8, they had turned a reddish color that looked like blood.

As a 9-year-old, Acutis loved playing video games on a Play Station or PS2. Diagnosed with leukemia, he was devoted to the rosary as a young teenager, and dragged his parents and relatives to daily Mass offering his suffering for Pope Benedict XVI. Carlos died on Oct. 12, 2006, and was buried in Assisi in jeans, Nikes and a T-shirt – the casual clothes he preferred in his life.

His cause for canonization began in 2013. He was designated "venerable" in 2018 and then “blessed” on Oct. 10, 2020. His heart, now considered a relic, is displayed in a reliquary in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. The family wanted to donate his organs when he died, but were unable to due to his leukemia.

All are invited to come and view the exhibition from 4-6 p.m. Saturday, March 11, and from 8:30 a.m. until noon on Sunday, March 12, in the St. Peter School cafeteria (which is accessible from the North Sixth Street entrance). Refreshments will be served.

This exhibit is sponsored by St. Peter's Parish, Morning Star Family Holy Hour, and Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels in Olean.