Amsterdam's own miracle of 1345
Published on : 24 March 2010 - 1:57pm
On 13 March 1345 an honest-to-God miracle occurred in Amsterdam. On that day, a dying man sent for a priest to administer the last sacraments. However, the man was so sick that he regurgitated the Host (the wafer that represents the body of Christ) and then died.
The Host returns
His vomit, including the Host, was thrown into the fire. The next day, the maid was surprised to find that the Host had remained untouched by the fire, and took it to the priest of Amsterdam's Old Church. Much to everyone's surprise, the Host reappeared at the dead man's house the next day. The maid again took it to the priest, but the host returned to the man's house twice. This wondrous sequence of events became known as the Miracle of Amsterdam.
The miracle was officially recognised by the Roman Catholic Church and considered proof of the actual presence of Jesus Christ in the Host. An annual procession was held to commemorate the Miracle of Amsterdam until all public expressions of the Catholic faith were banned in the 16th century.
The annual pilgrim's walk through Amsterdam, the Silent Procession (Stille Omgang), was held this year for the 129th time since its reintroduction in 1881.
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What I want to know is where is this Host today? Is it preserved somewhere similar to those mysterious "archives" where was saw the Ark of the Covenant stashed inside an anonymous wooden crate at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark?" Did someone take it in Holy Communion hundreds of years later? Was it destroyed during the Protestant revolts in the 1600s? Is it still on display inside a glass case, miraculously preserved and pristine white (except for some dried puke?) Or did the Host finally get tired of magically rescuring itself from the fire and decide to walk away and hide in the forest - where it remains hidden to this day...
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