FERRARA
ITALY, 1171
Eucharistic Miracle of
This Eucharistic miracle
took place in Ferrara, in the
Basilica of Saint Mary in Vado,
on Easter Sunday, March 28,
1171. While celebrating
Easter Mass, Father Pietro
da Verona, the prior of the
basilica, reached the moment
of breaking the consecrated
Host when he saw blood gush
from it and stain the ceiling
vault above the altar with
droplets. In 1595 the vault
was enclosed within a small
shrine and is still visible today
in the monumental Basilica
of Santa Maria in Vado.
n March 28, 1171, the prior of the Canons
Regular Portuensi, Father Pietro da Verona,
was celebrating Easter Mass with three
confreres (Bono, Leonardo and Aimone). At the
moment of the breaking of the consecrated Host,
It sprung forth a gush of Blood that threw large
drops on the small ceiling vault above the altar.
Histories tell of the “holy terror of the celebrant
and of the immense wonder of the people who
crowded the tiny church.” There were many
eyewitnesses who told of seeing the Host take on
a bloody color and having seen in it the figure of
a baby. Bishop Amato of Ferrara and Archbishop
Gherardo of Ravenna were immediately informed
of the event. They witnessed with their own eyes
the miracle, namely “the Blood which we saw
redden the altar ceiling vault.” The church imme-
diately became a pilgrim destination, and later
was rebuilt and expanded on the orders of Duke
Ercole d’Este beginning in 1495.
There are many sourcesregarding
this miracle. Among the most important is the
Bull of Pope Eugene IV (March 30, 1442),
in which the pontiff mentions the miracle in
reference to the testimonies of the faithful and
ancient historical sources. The 1197 manuscript
of Gerardo Cambrense, conserved in Canterbury’s
Lambeth Library is the oldest document that
mentions the miracle. The miracle received
recent attention in the “Gemma Ecclesiastica”
(Budding of the Church) by historian Antonio
Samaritani. Another document which dates to
March 6, 1404, is the Bull of Cardinal
Migliorati, in which he grants indulgences to
“those who visit the church and adore the
Miraculous Blood.” Even today, on the 28th day
of every month in the basilica, which is currently
under the care of Saint Gaspare del Bufalo’s
Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood,
Eucharistic Adoration is celebrated in memory of
the miracle. And every year, in preparation for
the Feast of Corpus Christi, the solemn Forty
Hours devotion is celebrated. The eighth cente-
nary of the Miracle was celebrated in 1971.
© 2006, Istituto San Clemente I Papa e Martire / The Real Presence Association, Inc.
Church of Saint Mary in Vado, Ferrara
John Paul II pauses before
the ceiling vault in Ferrara
The ceiling vault stained with Blood
Bull of Eugene IV (1442)
Interior of the basilica
Bodini, The Miracle of the Blood. Painting on the ceiling
near the shrine
Shrine that encloses the Holy Ceiling Vault (1594).
Right side of the cross
Detail of the ceiling vault stained with Blood
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