To the good people of God:
Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever!
On Monday, September 14, I celebrated the Holy Mass for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church in Hopkins, MN. Present were Chesterton Academy students, faculty and staff and parishioners of the parish. During the Mass, I had a private spiritual experience while praying the Eucharistic prayer over the bread and wine and I want to humbly share and clarify what I experienced all for God’s glory and praise. In doing so, I also want to correct any misinformation as the Mass recording is being shared online.
To clarify up front, my experience was NOT what the Catholic Church considers a “Eucharistic miracle.” The forms of bread and wine retained their accidents (i.e., their appearance and taste) during this entire experience. Never did I see real blood or human flesh with my eyes.
My experience was this:
During the consecration prayer over the wine at the altar, as I spoke the words, I was given what I believe to be internal knowledge of the power of these words being spoken and the reality of their effect to the point that I had difficult speaking. With each word, I became more physically overwhelmed as seen in the video. At the same time, I was given sensory knowledge of the weight of God’s power coming down upon the altar, and I felt the heaviness of Jesus’s substantial presence in the chalice in my hands. The chalice became too heavy to hold as I felt it pulled down to rest upon the altar. I felt my hands fixed to the chalice of the Precious Blood, and I could not physically move it. Attempting to elevate the Precious Blood, which I was not able to do for a period of time, I believe I was given grace to understand more deeply the bitter sweetness of Our Lord’s Passion and how much blood Christ shed for the immense weight of all our sins. I believe I experienced this weight in the chalice. This spiritual experience emotionally and physically overwhelmed me as evident in the Mass recording.
Lastly, private spiritual encounters with God like these are completely unmerited gifts and signs of God’s abundant love for all his people. They are not necessarily signs of any person’s holiness.
I pray this brief testimony moves all our hearts to contemplate more deeply the mysteries of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and the Precious Blood.
Peace in Christ,
Fr. Brent Bowman
You may watch the Monday Mass from Saint Gabriel here.
Please direct all related inquiries and questions to the Communications team at the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis by emailing mediainquiries@archspm.org
