Blessed Niels Steensen, Saint Nicholas of Flüe, and Anne-Louise Lateau

Niels Steensen was born in Copenhagen on January 1, 1638. From an early age he devoted himself to the natural sciences, eventually being recognized among the founding fathers of crystallography, paleontology, and modern geology. His prolific scientific endeavors took him across Europe. On June 24, 1666, Niels received the grace of conversion to Catholicism in the Italian city of Livorno. His biographers recount that

Portrait of Blessed Niels Steensen

he watched with curiosity and wonder the intense fervor that animated the procession of Corpus Christi. The vast Piazza d'Arme was in festive celebration with brilliant colors and music. The church bells rang joyfully. The young scholar recalled another procession he had witnessed three years earlier in Leuven, Belgium, in which numerous students and dozens of professors in academic regalia had taken part. Here, however, there was something distinct. Perhaps a taste of authentic joy, a new human warmth... or had his own eyes been changed? Long lines of men in white robes processed while singing; banners and tapestries fluttered gently in the sea breeze. Friars and priests processed in solemn vestments adorned with fine lace and ribbons. Other priests wore gold-embroidered copes that gleamed beneath the Mediterranean sun, preceded by altar boys swinging thuribles that sent up clouds of fragrant incense.

Suddenly, a golden canopy appeared, and beneath it a minister of the church, solemnly vested, deeply recollected, holding close to his breast a magnificent monstrance containing the Consecrated Host... The crowds knelt as it passed, their eyes shining with reverent love as they gazed upon that Host, their heads bowed in adoration. From balconies and rooftops all around, flower petals rained down.

For the young Niels, the day unfolded with a profound restlessness stirred in his heart. He recalled the Jesuit priest in Paris with whom he had previously debated the Real Presence of Jesus in the consecrated bread. The Jesuit had emphasized the definitive weight of Jesus' words at the Last Supper: “This is my body,” followed by Saint Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians. That very day, Steensen resolved to enter the Catholic Church. He entered the seminary soon thereafter, and after nine years of theological study was ordained to the priesthood.

Reflecting on that decisive moment, he described his conversion in these moving words: “When I considered the immense mercies of God toward me, they appeared so vast that I could do nothing else than offer myself entirely to Him from the depths of my heart—giving the best of myself in the best possible way… Thus, having recognized the supreme dignity of the priesthood… I asked and obtained permission that I too might offer to the Eternal Father the immaculate Host for myself and for all.”

Saint Nicholas of Flüe, known as Brother Klaus, was proclaimed patron saint of Switzerland by Pius XII in 1947. He was born in 1417 in Flüeli, a hamlet of the municipality of Sachseln in the Obwald region, into a farming family. He married and had ten children. His life followed its normal course until he was fifty, when he felt a strong call from God inviting him to leave everything and follow Him.

He then asked for three graces: to obtain the consent of his wife Dorothea and his older children, not to be tempted later to turn back and, if God so wished, to be able to live without drinking or eating. All his wishes were granted. For twenty years he lived in the forest as a hermit and was nourished only by the Eucharist, as many people testified.

Likewise in Belgium, at Bois-d'Haine, the Servant of God Anne-Louise Lateau lived for twelve years, starting on March 26, 1871, without consuming any food or drink, and without sleeping. On January 11, 1868, she received the holy stigmata of the Lord on her feet, hands, head, side, and shoulders, bearing them until the end of her life. On April 23, 1873, Pope Leo XIII declared concerning her case: “The occurrence at Bois-d'Haine is an extraordinary event. You may state on my authority that medical science will never be able to explain this phenomenon.” Anne-Louise died at the age of 33, on August 25, 1883. Her cause of beatification was officially opened in 1991.

Text and photographs: International Exhibition "The Eucharistic Miracles of the World", by Saint Carlo Acutis. Original panel at miracolieucaristici.org.