PONFERRADA
SPAIN, 1533
In the Miracle of Ponferrada,
Juan De Benavente decided
to steal the tabernacle
containing a precious silver
ciborium with numerous
consecrated Hosts inside
from his very own parish.
With only the passing of time
and miraculous circumstances
the recovery of the stolen
Hosts, which remained
perfectly intact, was made
possible.
uan De Benavente lived in Ponferrada with
his wife. It was apparent that he was very
devout and religious. In fact every evening
he stopped in church to pray. One day, during his
prayer time, he succumbed to greed and seized
the tabernacle, a simple wooden container, in
which there was a precious silver ciborium
containing some consecrated Hosts. He fled from
the church and headed towards the Sil River in
order to pitch the cheap wooden tabernacle, but
when he tried to launch it into the water he could
not because of its sudden immense weight. So he
returned home where he hid everything and said
nothing to his wife. During the night continuous
flashes of light came from the tabernacle arousing
the suspicion of his wife. So Juan decided to go
out and dispose of his sacrilegious stolen goods.
He reached a place the townspeople called the
Arenal Field and threw the tabernacle and
consecrated Hosts into the middle of the black-
berry patch. The discovery of the crime brought
dismay among all of the population and Juan
became increasingly nervous and anxious, also
because he did not know how to sell the silver
ciborium without getting caught.
Near the Arenal Field,
the owner of the land, Diego Nuñez de Losada,
set up a target practice for entertainment during
the feast days. During the time frame in which
the sacred Hosts were still in the blackberry
patch, eyewitness reported seeing flashes of
light at night and strange doves hovering during
the day. The crossbowmen tried in vain to hit
the doves. The miller Nogaledo decided then to
capture the doves with his hands and ventured
into the blackberry patch discovering the taber-
nacle and the sacred Hosts from where the
intense flashes of light originated. Shook up, he
went straight towards the church where the bells
were ringing in the distance. The return of the
sacred Hosts was organized via a solemn procession.
Juan was overcome with remorse and decided to
plead guilty. In the place of the recovery of the
miraculous Hosts a chapel was immediately
constructed. In 1570 the parish priest planned
the expansion of the building and instituted a
solemn annual procession on the eighth day of
the Feast of Corpus Christi in memory of the
miracle.
© 2006, Istituto San Clemente I Papa e Martire / The Real Presence Association, Inc.
J
Ancient church of St. Peter,
demolished in the 20
th
century,
where the painting of the miracle
was previously housed, Ponferrada
Exact sight where the Hosts
where found
Street named in honor of the recovery of the miracle
Painting that depicts the miracle, currently housed
in the new church of St. Peter
Eucharistic Miracle of
Sil River, near the Arenal Field, where Juan de Benavente
wanted to throw the tabernacle containing the Hosts
New Church of St. Peter,
Ponferrada
The Virgin of the
Evergreen Oak
Church of St. Mary where the miracle took place, Ponferrada