The Eucharistic Miracle of Dronero / San Mauro La Bruca

MIRACLES-panels 11/02/08 14:32 Page 25 1631 In 1631, a young farm girl foolishly kindled a fire with dry hay, Because of a heavy wind, the fire spread to the town of Dronero, Every attempt to extinguish the flames proved useless, A Capuchin friar, Maurice da Ceva, inspired by his great love of the Blessed Sacrament, took the monstrance containing the large Host from the Church of St. Brigid and in procession walked to where the fire was raging, The fire at once subsided, At San Mauro la Bruca unknown thieves secretly entered the church and stole several sacred objects; one was the pyx (ciborium) that contained consecrated Hosts, The thieves threw the Hosts aside; a child discovered them, The Hosts are ITALY, 1969 preserved to this day, n the afternoon of Sunday, August 3, 1631, a great fire broke out in the commercial district of Saluzzo in the town of Dronero. A young farm girl foolishly kindled a fire with dry hay at the very moment an upwind was developing into a thunderstorm.

The flames quickly and violently spread to the home of the Borgo Maira. The townspeople desperately attempted to extinguish the fire, but all their efforts proved useless as the fire devel- oped further. Friar Maurice da Ceva, a Capuchin, was inspired to have recourse to the power of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

He immediately organized a procession with the Blessed Sacrament, followed by all the townspeople, to the location of the fire. The moment the Blessed Sacrament arrived, the flames subsided and miraculously were extinguished! This miraculous event is described in details on a stone tablet in the small Church of St.

Brigid. On the Feast of Corpus Christi, the citizens of Dronero keep alive the memory of this miracle with a solemn annual procession with the Blessed Sacrament. n the night of July 25, 1969, some thieves broke into the parish church of San Mauro la Bruca with the intention of stealing some of the more precious objects.

After they had pried open the tabernacle, they took a ciborium containing many consecrated Hosts. Once they left the church, the thieves emptied the ciborium and threw the Hosts on a footpath. On the following morning a child noticed the pile of Hosts at the intersection of the road and gathered up the Holy Eucharist, immediately giving the Hosts to the pastor.

It was only in 1994, after 25 years of detailed analysis, that Msgr. Biagio D'Agostino, Bishop of Vallo della Lucania, acknowledged the miraculous preservation of the Hosts and authorized the cult. The conclusion of any chemical and scientific analysis acknowledges that after just 6 months wheat flour severely dete- riorates and in a few years turns gelatinous and then, finally, to dust.