Onil

On November 5, 1824, Nicolas Bernabeu stole the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament and other objects from the church of Onil, Spain. When he tried to sell the stolen goods in Alicante, a suspicious shopkeeper alerted authorities and Bernabeu was arrested, but he had already hidden the loot in a field of vegetables in an area called 'La Pedrera'.

About this miracle

On November 28, Mrs. Teresa Carbonell from the nearby town of Tibi found the monstrance in the middle of the vegetable field with the Host still intact. The miracle relates to the supernatural preservation of the Host. Exactly 119 years later, on November 28, 1943, Don Guillermo Hijarrubia, delegate of the Archbishop of Valencia, confirmed the authenticity of the miracle, verifying the complete preservation of the Host.

Despite being abandoned in a field and exposed to the elements, the consecrated Host remained remarkably preserved over time, a testament to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Host continues to be preserved intact more than 200 years after the event, defying all natural laws of decomposition.

Scientific analysis

The consecrated Host has remained intact and preserved for over 200 years (from 1824 to present) without an identified natural explanation for its preservation. Normal unleavened bread would deteriorate within months or a few years at most.

Church recognition

Formal Church documentation has not been located for this event. This means we cannot verify its ecclesial recognition status. The absence of documentation neither confirms nor calls into question the event's authenticity — it simply means the formal record has not been found.