Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and Saint John Bosco

One of the biographers of Saint Bernard recounts that the saint “had journeyed to Aquitaine to reconcile a powerful duke of that province with the Church. Seeing that the duke obstinately refused reconciliation, the holy man of God proceeded to the altar to celebrate Holy Mass while the duke waited outside the church door, being under excommunication. Following the consecration, Bernard placed the Sacred Host upon the paten and carried it out of the church, his countenance blazing with holy wrath. Approaching the duke, he addressed him with these words:

Portrait of the true likeness of Saint Bernard

We have implored you, and you have despised us. Behold now, the Son of the Virgin, the Lord and King of the Church you persecute, has come to you Himself! Here before you stands that supreme Judge into whose hands your soul must one day fall. Will you dare to despise Him as you have despised His servant? Resist Him now, if you can!

Immediately, the duke's knees trembled and gave way, and he fell prostrate at Bernard's feet. The saint commanded him to rise and hear God's judgment. The duke arose trembling and faithfully fulfilled everything Bernard commanded him.”

Don Bosco's biographers record that in 1848, during a Holy Mass celebrated for the feast of the Annunciation, the saint realized at the time of Holy Communion that only eight Sacred Hosts remained in the ciborium, while 360 boys were present to receive. Everyone noticed this predicament and began wondering what Don Bosco would do. Giuseppe Buzzetti, who later became one of the first Salesian priests, was serving at the altar that morning and was so deeply moved that he felt faint when he watched Don Bosco multiply the Hosts, distributing Holy Communion to all 360 youths.

Don Bosco also recounted his famous prophetic dream of a terrible naval battle, in which an armada of hostile ships attacked a single majestic flagship symbolizing the Church. The flagship, battered by relentless waves and artillery, remained victorious under the guidance of the Pope and anchored securely between two great columns rising from the sea. Atop the taller column stood a large Sacred Host bearing the inscription: “Salus credentium” (Salvation of Believers). Atop the other column stood a statue of the Immaculate Virgin, inscribed: “Auxilium Christianorum” (Help of Christians).

Text and photographs: international exhibition «The Eucharistic Miracles of the World», by Saint Carlo Acutis. Original panel at miracolieucaristici.org.