In the 13th century, the mystery of the eucharistic presence was challenged at Douai as in the rest of Flanders.  So this was a time when many eucharistic miracles were witnessed in response to those who denied the real Presence.  An eye- witness, Thomas de Cantipré has left an account of one of them in his book  De apibus bonum universale.   Inquisitor for the bishop of Cambrai, Dominican friar and  disciple both of Albert the Great and of St Thomas Aquinas, he has this to say : 

« At Easter a priest had just given Holy Communion to the people in the canons’ church of St Amé, when he saw with horror a Host lying on the ground.  He knelt down to pick up the Body of Christ, but at once the Host rose of its own accord into the air and returned to the corporal. 

The priest let out a cry and called the canons ; they came running at his call and saw a Body, alive, in the form of a lovely child, lying on the sacred linen.  They called the people, and they came in and looked upon this miracle, and all without distinction who were there shared this heavenly vision.  Alerted to what had happened by the news which quickly spread abroad, I betook myself to Douai.  Arriving at the house of the Thomas Pikète, dean of St Amé, who knew me well,   I asked him to allow me to see the miracle.  He agreed, and gave orders for me to be permitted. 

The ciborium was opened and the people came . and everyone cried : ‘There you are, I see it, I see it, I see my Saviour .’  I stood there astonished.  All I could see was the form of a very white Host ; I had, however, no fault on my conscience which might have prevented my seeing the sacred Body like all the others.

But this thought did not trouble me for long, for soon I could see distinctly the face of our Lord Jesus Christ at a mature age.  On his head was a crown of thorns and from his forehead two drops of blood were trickling down each cheek.  At once I threw myself to my knees and with tears I knelt in adoration.  When I got up I could not see the crown of thorns or drops of blood any more but only the face of a man …

Our Saviour was seen under different forms : some saw him stretched on the cross, others, coming in judgement, others again – and these were the more numerous – saw him as a child. »

This miracle happened on the very day of Easter itself.  It lasted several days.  It caused Douai to play an important role thenceforth.

Douai was about to be blessed with a second miracle, more akin to other eucharistic miracles, such as that of Faverney.  In a fire on the 6 April 1553 at the monastery of the Dominicains only the ciborium was spared.

Three centuries later, through its university, its 17 religious houses of men and 18 of women, and through its hospitality to English Catholics,  Douai became one of the most important centres of Catholicism and at the same time one of the firmest bastions against the Reformation.  The first Catholic translation of the Bible from Latin to English was to be made at Douai.  2000 English priests would be ordained at Douai, 200 of them dying as martyrs.

The Jubilee of 1754

Each century the anniversary  of the miracle is celebrated, but not with quite the magnificence of its celebration on 21 July 1754.   The municipal authorities rivalled the chapter of St Amé in their enthusiastic determination to offer the greater veneration to the Blessed Sacrament on behalf of the town.

At the request of the bishop of Arras the Holy Father Pope Benedict XIV accorded a plenary indulgence to the participants.   The procession was divided into four stages.  The first represented the first miracle when the child appeared, symbolized by the sacrifice of Melchisedek. ; the second miracle, the vision of the suffering Jesus, was represented by the sacrifice of Abraham ; the third, the judge coming in glory, by the judgement of Cain ; and the fourth stage was the glory of Jesus Christ in the divine eucharist (the dogma of which having been confirmed in the three miracles of St Amé) which was represented by the triumphal entry of the Ark of the Covenant into the holy city of Sion.

Up to the time of the Revolution, the miraculous Host was preserved in the Collegial Church of St Amé.

In 1790 the church was closed .  Three years later a frenzied mob pillaged the altar, shattered the tabernacle and opened the silver pyx containing the miraculous Host.  But God did not permit such a sacrilege : the ciborium was empty, devout hands having already rescued the Blessed Sacrament.

Sold in 1798 to second-hand dealers in in Lille, the church was demolished.  When peace returned to the Church, devotion to the Miraculous Host was restored.

Each year the faithful of Douai took upon themselves the pious duty of accompanying the the Blessed Sacrament to an altar of repose erected where the sanctuary of the church of St Amé once was.

Rediscovery of the Miraculous Host

During the month of October 1854, Canon Héroguer, dean of St Pierre and archpriest of Douai, wanting to put a tabernacle on the Holy Souls’, altar had to move in doing so a small wooden casket whichserved as a pedestal for the altar crucifix ;  there he found various relics which he showed to Mgr Desprez, bishop of the Isle of Bourbon (La Réunion).

On the 19th of that month a learned Jesuit, Fr Possoz, a native of Douai who was passing through, inspected the contents of this casket in minutest detail and found there a note which read :

After reading this note, Fr Possoz’s attention was drawn to the tin box ; he opened it and unfolded the note he found inside.  This note read, in Latin and in the hand of the last canon of the collegial church of St-Amé, M. de Ranst de Berckhem :

The Jubilee of 1855

The official announcement of the jubilee was made on Quasimodo Sunday (now the Sunday of the Divine Mercy).  It was to last from the 14th to the 22nd July and was to conclude with a grand procession at Douai, as also at Cambrai and Lille. Cardinal Archbishop Regnier emphasized that « the ancient festival of the Miraculous Blessed Sacrament was the feast of the whole town. »  It would be accorded the splendour that the town would be pleased to give it.

As had the municipal authorities earlier, the town Council was honoured to associate itself with the feast of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Miracle and to vote it the Feast of the town itself.

The Holy Father Pius IX accorded a plenary indulgence to the participants at the request of the bishop of Cambrai.

The procession was honoured with three statues of our Lady : Our Lady of the Vine from Lille, Our Lady of Grace from Cambrai, and Our Lady of the Miracles of Douai.

Mgr Samihiri, the Patriarch of Antioch, who was later crowned with martyrdom, officiated in the procession of the Blessed Sacrament and was accompanied by the bishops of St-Flour, Angoulême, Soissons, Nevers, Ghent, Arras and Cambrai.

19 banners represented the expressions of eucharistic faith through 19 centuries, eg.

« This bread is the body of our Lord » (St Irenaeus – 2^nd century)

« It  must be believed that the bread is changed into the flesh of Jesus Christ »  (Pascasius Radbertus – 9th century)

« The host is bread no more, but the flesh of the Crucified One ; » (St Bernard – 12th century)

« The flesh of Jesus Christ is food. » (St Thomas aquinas – 13th century)

« The substance of the bread is changed into the substance of the body of Jesus Christ. » (Council of Trent – 16th century)

« In the tabernacle his love holds him chained. » (Cardinal Giraud – 19th century)

The First International Eucharistic Congress at Lille & the first eucharistic pilgrimage to Douai May 1875

« I gladly tell you that I have have made a study of every place where God has shown himself in consecrated hosts to all kinds of people through the centuries,… in order to convey the truth which we think all can appreciate.   At Douai he has given us testimony in the marvellous miracle of his Mercy.  He has chosen to enable us to see with our eyes what we in fact believe of the Blessed Sacrament. » (Abbé Marchant)

It is not surprising, therefore, that the town of Douai was chosen for the first national Eucharistic Pilgrimage, just before the First International Eucharistic Congress was held at Lille.  « In times past France took to pilgrimage, » said the bishop of New Orleans, « to seek the heavenly aid it needed from the saints who are its special protectors and from Our Lady, Queen of saints.  Today, giving full rein to the development of this form of national devotion, such expressions of solemn public worship are  afforded to the Holy of Holies, to God present in the Eucharist.  Supported by the saints and Our lady, France comes before the Divine Mercy, that seat of the infinite majesty of God in the Sacrament of his love for men. »  In this way he stressed during the Congress how the example of the eldest daughter of the Church had even crossed the seas to teach the faithful abroad this salutary and fortifying devotion.

The procession of 27th May was almost 4km long with more than 15000 dignitaries and particpants, and a crowd of more than 100000 was present!

The Miraculous Host and Marthe Robin

Under the impulse of Marthe Robin a group of pilgrims from Lille came to Douai in the 1970s to link up once again with the tradition of adoration of the Miraculous Host.  This continues today on the first Thursday of each month.

Celebration of the 750th anniversary in 2003

Following the hundred-year-old tradition, the parish of St Maurand & St Amé at Douai organized the celebration of the 750th anniversary.  The Miraculous Host was carried in procession through the streets of Douai by Mgr Garnier, archbishop of Cambrai, prior to a solemn Mass for the whole town in the presence of the Host in the Place St Amé, the site of the miracle itself.

The Holy Father John Paul II sent his blessing on this occasion.

Transfer of the Host to the dome chapel of the Collegial Church of St Pierre

Following these events the Confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Miracle was reconstituted in 2007 ; it organises exposition on the first and the third Thursdays of each month.

To give due honour to the Miraculous Host the parish wishes to transfer its reservation to the dome chapel of St Pierre along with the statue of Our Lady of the Miracles.  The transfer will take place on the feast of Corpus Christi 2008.  It is planned to seek to have this chapel of Our Lady of Miracles erected as a basilica.

« And thou, O noble town of Douai, rejoice in thy good fortune, sing aloud thy songs of joy and jubilation !  Thou art the resting place, the city of the Lord, and thou shalt become forever the town of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Miracle !  By thy fidelity, thy gratitude and thy love  mayest thou forever be worthy of this great title!  Amen »

(Mgr Dufêtre, bishop of Nevers, at Douai 22nd July 1855)

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