During his second professorship in Paris, Saint Thomas Aquinas found himself in the midst of an intense intellectual dispute among the masters of the University of Paris (the Sorbonne). The central theological debate concerned the Sacrament of the Eucharist. On the one hand, human senses perceive only the "accidents" (color, taste, weight, quantity, physical extension of bread and wine); on the other hand, Catholic dogma affirms that the true Body and Blood of Christ are substantially present, which seemed to generate an apparent philosophical contradiction.
The Parisian theologians were sharply divided regarding philosophical terminology and the exact formulation of faith. They unanimously agreed to submit the question to Saint Thomas, having long admired both his profound philosophical clarity and his theological sanctity. Each contending faction set down its theses in writing and placed them in Thomas' hands. He withdrew into prayer and deep contemplation, and,
as was his constant custom, he began to pray with immense devotion. Then he committed to writing, as concisely and clearly as possible, that which his intellect had grasped and God had inspired within him.
He returned to the church, approached the main altar, placed his written treatise directly beneath the gaze of the Crucified Lord, and prayed:
Lord Jesus, truly present and wonderfully active in this Sacrament, I seek only to grasp Your truth and teach it without error. Therefore I beseech You, grant me this grace: if the things I have written concerning You and with Your divine aid are true, grant that I may speak and teach them publicly. If, on the other hand, there is anything at variance with revealed truth and alien to the mystery of this Sacrament, prevent me from ever proposing what might lead souls astray from the Catholic Faith.
Such was the humble prayer of the theologian who knew he was dealing with mysteries infinitely greater than himself, bearing a grave responsibility before his disciples. Brother Reginald, his faithful secretary, along with other Dominican friars, were granted the grace of observing Saint Thomas in prayer. They became eyewitnesses to an apparition of Jesus, who pointed to the parchment and declared:
You have written well of this Sacrament of my Body; you have solved the question proposed to you well and according to the truth, as far as it is possible for a man on earth to understand and define these sublime mysteries.
Thomas, overcome with tears of gratitude and joy, prostrated himself upon the floor before the Lord.
Text and photographs: international exhibition «The Eucharistic Miracles of the World», by Saint Carlo Acutis. Original panel at miracolieucaristici.org.