During the weekend of 25th to 27th June, the parish of St Joseph’s in Malvern, in association with St Wulstan’s in Little Malvern, hosted the exhibition designed by Blessed Carlo Acutis on the Eucharistic miracles of the world.
The exhibition was designed, researched and devised by the young Italian Carlo Acutis. He learned about the known sites of the Eucharistic miracles around the world and to help others learn and grow in devotion to the Eucharist. He used his digital media skills to develop a website to catalogue each of these miracles before he suddenly died of leukaemia in 2006 at the age of 15. A 7-year-old Brazilian boy was healed from a rare pancreatic disorder after coming into contact with a piece of one of Carlo’s T-shirts. Following this, Carlo was beatified on 10 October 2020 at the basilica in Assisi.
This popular exhibition never fails to surprise, even to astound the onlookers: not only are there over 160 such miracles documented and approved by the Church over the past centuries, but also those that have happened over the last recent decades have been critically and thoroughly investigated using the most extensive scientific testing, and all the results converge. The blood is always type AB positive, as in the Shroud of Turin; the tissue is always from the myocardium; there are living white blood cells within the tissue, which reveal that the tissue is taken from a living man who is undergoing extremely painful agony. Even the WHO (for the case of the Lanciano miracle which occurred in 750 AD and scientifically studied in 1971), insisting that a further 500 tests be done under their supervision, had to agree, in 1976, with the initial conclusions. These are not hoaxes, and they confirm what Catholics have always taught, that Jesus Christ himself becomes physically present under the appearances of bread and wine, after these have been consecrated by the ordained priest at Mass.
Over the weekend more than 200 people visited from all over the region from Worcester, Evesham, Bristol, Cheltenham and Birmingham. Donations of nearly £170 will be sent to the orphanage in Egypt being supported by the Acutis family.
Anna Johnstone, the governess to the Acutis family, was on hand all weekend giving tours and talks, and seeing quite a few one-to-one, or in small family groups.
People left with tears in their eyes. The feedback and comments were extremely positive. One person said: It was like having a little mini pilgrimage very close to home. And another: Having a person like Anna talking to people gives an unusual insight into the life of Blessed Carlo. All the feedback was filled with thankfulness and emotion.
If you missed the exhibition there is a collection of useful links on the St Joseph’s website here: https://www.stjosephsmalvern.org/j/index.php/articles/blessed-carlo-acutis-exhibition-of-eucharistic-miracles.
The exhibition has been displayed in several languages throughout the world, and is available to any school, parish or other organisation that wishes to feature it in their area see www.ukmiracles.com for more information.
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For media comment or further information contact:
Anne Harriss tel: 01684 560729 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Charlotte Carver tel: 01684 592179 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Notes:
Blessed Carlo Acutis has earned the nicknames “God's influencer” and “cyber apostle of the Eucharist” due to his pioneering work transforming new technology into a tool to talk about God.
His life was brief but made a tremendous impact. He designed the website miracolieucaristici.org. There he sought to show and explain to the world the principal Eucharistic miracles. The website is available in 17 languages, among them Swahili, Urdu and Vietnamese.
Using photographs and historical descriptions, the exhibition presents parts of the Eucharistic miracles that have taken place in many different countries and that the Church recognises. It also explains the Eucharist's impact on the lives of different saints. It's a collection that's made its way around the globe. It's the legacy of a young man who clearly understood that his path to heaven was the Eucharist.