WILSNACKGERMANY, 1383

During a terrible fire thatexploded in the village ofWilsnack in 1383, among the ruins of the parish churchwere found three completelyintact Hosts, which bledcontinuously. Pilgrims beganto flow there in great numbers, and for that reasona church was built there inhonor of the miracle. Its veneration was approvedby two Bulls of Pope Eugene IV in 1447.

n August, 1383, the village of Wilsnack wassacked, robbed and set afire by CountHeinrich von Bulow. Among the ruins of

the parish church were found three perfectlyintact Hosts, from which Blood flowed. Afterrecovering the bleeding Hosts, numerous miraclesbegan to be verified. For example, CountDietrich von Wenckstern, who nurtured manydoubts regarding the bleeding of the Hosts, losthis vision which was restored only when herepented of having doubted the authenticity ofthe miracle.

This news spread rapidly, and already in 1384 the Bishop of Havelburg hadconfirmed the miracle of the “bleeding” Hosts ofWilsnack. Pope Urban VI contributed an endow-ment for reconstruction of the church, to which

was added offerings by the Archbishop ofMagdeburg, and of the Bishops ofBrandenburg, Havelberg, and Levus. Until the1500s, Wilsnack became one of the mostimportant places of pilgrimage in Europe.Thanks to numerous offerings left by pilgrimswho came to venerate the miraculous Hosts, itwas possible to finance the construction of theenormous Church of St. Nikolai, dedicated tothe Miracle. Even today the church offers oneof the most important examples of the gothicstyle in fired brick typical of northern Germany.The monstrance containing the relics of thethree Hosts was destroyed in the fire of 1522.However, numerous written testimonials aboutthe miracle and works of art depicting it survive.

© 2006, Istituto San Clemente I Papa e Martire / The Real Presence Association, Inc.

Eucharistic Miracle of

Antique prints depicting the phases of the Miracle

Count Dietrich von Wenckstern recovers his vision after repenting for having doubted the truth of the Bleeding HostsChurch of San Nikolai (St. Nicholas) in Wilsnack

Interior of the Church

Stones honoring the threeMiraculous Hosts of Wilsnack

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