Italy · 13th Century
Offida
In 1273, in the town of Lanciano in the Abruzzo region of Italy, a woman named Richiarella (also called Ricciarella) was deeply troubled. She believed that she had lost the affection of her husband, Giacomo Stasio (also called James Stasio), and was desperate to win back his love. In her distress, she turned not to the Church but to a sorceress - a woman who practiced witchcraft and claimed to have power to create magical potions and spells.
About this miracle
The witch instructed Richiarella to obtain a consecrated Host from the church and bring it to her. Following these diabolical instructions, Richiarella went to Mass and received Holy Communion. But instead of consuming the Host reverently, she removed it from her mouth and concealed it, committing a grave sacrilege. She took the stolen Host home and delivered it to the witch, who told her to place it in an earthenware pot over a fire. The witch claimed that by burning the Host to ashes and mixing the ashes into her husband's food, Richiarella could create a love potion that would restore his affection.
Richiarella placed the Host in the earthenware pot and put it on the fire. But instead of turning to ash as the witch had promised, something terrifying occurred. The Host was transformed into living, bleeding Flesh. The particles of the Host became actual cardiac tissue, and blood began to flow from it. Richiarella, horrified by what she witnessed and terrified of being discovered, quickly wrapped the pot and the bloodied Host in a linen handkerchief. In her panic, she buried the entire bundle under the manure in her husband Giacomo's stable, hiding the evidence of her terrible sin.
For seven years, Richiarella kept her dark secret, living with the guilt and fear of what she had done. But strange events began to occur in Giacomo's stable that would eventually expose the hidden miracle. Every time Giacomo's donkey (or mule, according to some accounts) entered the stable, the animal would genuflect - bending its front legs in a posture of reverence - toward the specific spot where the miraculous Host was buried beneath the manure. The donkey did this consistently, day after day. At first, Giacomo and others simply found it curious, but eventually the animal's repeated behavior could not be ignored. The donkey, though lacking reason, was responding to the Real Presence of Christ hidden in the stable, showing more reverence than the humans who had committed the sacrilege.