A Truly Suspenseful Day

Short Summary: After a fire consumed the altar in a monastery chapel, the monstrance containing the Holy Eucharist miraculously levitated for 33 hours, witnessed by numerous individuals before descending onto a new altar.

Details

Location: Faverney, France

Year: 1608

Prayer: Lord God, In times of distress and confusion, help me to trust in your larger plan for me and for humanity. When I don't understand the reason for struggles, help me to understand. And without my full understanding, help me to accept all undesired events in my life as coming from you for a greater good in the end. Amen.

Verse: We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. -Rom 8:28

Full Story

Sunday, May 25, 1608: Two oil lamps are left burning overnight in a monastery chapel, beside a monstrance exposing the Holy Eucharist. A fire secretly breaks out on the altar, and reduces the wooden altar to a heap of ashes. A candlestick on the altar melts from the intense heat. Monday, May 26, 3am: A steward, Don Garnier, opens the doors to the church and finds it filled with smoke. He retrieves the monks from the monastery and they work together to extinguish the fire. A young fifteen year old novice named Hudelot notices that the monstrance and Eucharist are suspended in the air above the place of the former altar. A temporary altar is placed underneath the monstrance to replace the burned one. Monday, May 26, afternoon: Crowds hear of the reported miracle. Villagers and priests soon fill the church. Many kneel in awe, while others walk up to examine the floating monstrance up close. Visitors come and go throughout the night. Tuesday, May 27, morning: Many priests from surrounding neighborhoods take turns offering Mass in an unbroken sequence, as the suspension continues. Tuesday, May 27, 10am: During a Mass celebrated by Father Nicholas Aubrey, at the time of consecration, the congregation (number more than one thousand) sees the monstrance carefully descend onto the new altar. The suspension of the monstrance had lasted for an estimated 33 hours. Inside the monstrance, the two Hosts were found intact. In support of the miracle, 54 witnesses affirmed the monstrance was fully unsupported in its levitation, and remained stably unaffected by the people who bustled around it during the 33 hour period. These witnesses gave sworn statements with signatures, with the documentation still preserved in the church today. Investigations also revealed that sensitive elements affixed to the monstrance were spared injury from the fire, including a piece of protective silk, a papal letter, and a relic of St. Agatha. Sadly, the miraculous monstrance was destroyed during the French revolution. However, one of the Hosts inside was carefully protected from harm by the municipal council of Faverney. It has remained incorrupt over the centuries (another miracle), and displayed at the Basilica each year on the Monday after Pentecost.

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