Deepertruth: The Eucharistic Miracle of La Rochelle 1461

The Eucharistic miracle of La Rochelle concerns the instantaneous cure of a boy, paralyzed and mute since the age of seven, when he received Holy Communion at Mass on Easter Sunday in 1461. He was completely healed of his paralysis and was once again able to speak. The most authoritative document that visually describes this miracle is the painted-manuscript preserved still today in the Cathedral of La Rochelle. .

During Easter of 1461, Mrs. Jehan Leclerc brought her twelve year old son, Bertrand, to the Church of St. Bartholomew. Bertrand had been paralyzed and mute since the age of seven due to a terrible fall. When the time for Holy Communion arrived, he indicated to his mother that he also wanted to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. Initially the priest did not want to give the young man Communion, because the boy was not able to go to Confession given his muteness.

The young man, however, continued to beseech the priest for Communion and, in the end, the priest did permit him to receive the Blessed Sacrament. From the first moment that Bertrand received the Host, he began to feel shaken by a mysterious force. He was able to move and to speak. He was cured.

According to the hand-written document, immediately after the miraculous event Bertrand’s first words were, “Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini!” (“Our help is in the name of the Lord!”) The most authoritative document that visually describes this miracle is the painted manuscript preserved to this day in the Cathedral of La Rochelle . 

There are two drops of Blood from our Lord, Jesus Christ, collected on Calvary during the Passion, preserved in the church of Neuvy-Saint-Sépulcre in Indre. They were brought to France in 1257 by Cardinal Eudes returning from the Holy Land.