Discover the Eucharistic Miracle of Rome (595): the Prodigy of Saint Gregory the Great

It is the oldest Roman Eucharistic miracle of which memory survives: it took place in the year 595, during a celebration presided over by Pope Saint Gregory the Great, one of the four great Doctors of the Western Church. A smile of unbelief at the moment of Communion became the occasion of a sign still venerated today — not in Rome, but in the heart of Bavaria.

The Noblewoman’s Laughter

During Mass, as she was about to receive Holy Communion from the Pope’s hands, a Roman noblewoman began to laugh: she had recognised in the Host the bread she herself had prepared and offered for the celebration, and could not believe that this bread had truly become the Body of Christ. Saint Gregory, troubled by her unbelief, decided not to give her Communion: and at that instant, before the eyes of those present, the species of bread changed into flesh and blood.

The Witness of the Sources

The prodigy is narrated in the ancient biographies of Saint Gregory the Great — beginning with the Vita written by Paul the Deacon — and became one of the most frequently depicted episodes of Gregorian iconography, together with the famous “Mass of Saint Gregory” beloved of medieval and Renaissance art.

The Relic at Andechs

According to tradition, the relic of the miracle travelled over the centuries along the roads of pilgrims and princes to the Benedictine monastery of Andechs in Bavaria, the Bavarian “Holy Mountain”, where it is still kept in the celebrated treasury of relics together with other memorials of Christendom. A thread binding Gregory’s Rome to the heart of Catholic Europe.

Historical Clues and “Adventurous” Research:

• The Gregorian Vitae: compare the accounts of Paul the Deacon and John the Deacon: how a hagiographic tradition grows.
• The iconography of the “Mass of Saint Gregory”: catalogue the works of art depicting the prodigy, from Dürer to the Flemish masters.
• The treasury of Andechs: reconstruct the relic’s journey from early medieval Rome to Bavaria.

Useful Information for Pilgrims

• Places: Rome, city of the prodigy; Andechs monastery (Bavaria, Germany), keeper of the relic
• Opening Hours: for Andechs check the Benedictine abbey’s website; in Rome the Gregorian memorials can be visited at San Gregorio al Celio.
• Getting There: Andechs is reached from Munich (Lake Ammersee); San Gregorio al Celio faces the Palatine Hill.

Historical source: the international exhibition “The Eucharistic Miracles of the World” created by Carlo Acutis (miracolieucaristici.org).