Made Present
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Diocesan approval

Douai

Douai, France · 1254

A dropped host rose, and to the whole church appeared as the face of a child.

What happened

In 1254 at Douai, a consecrated host was accidentally dropped during Communion. As the priest bent to retrieve it, it rose — and, to those present, appeared as the face of a child.

The event was recorded by the Dominican Thomas de Cantimpré, a suffragan bishop, and Douai kept an annual feast of the miracle. The relic is venerated at the Church of St. Peter.

Where it stands

Diocesan approval

Recorded by Bishop Thomas de Cantimpré; commemorated by a long-kept local feast.

Church recognition is a judgment about devotion — not a claim of scientific proof. We keep the two distinct.

Visit it

Collegiate Church of St. Peter, Douai, France

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“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”

John 6:53–54

Sources

The bigger picture

This case is one witness in a much longer story — the Catholic teaching that Christ is truly, substantially present in the Eucharist.