Eucharistic miracles exhibit available for display

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Panels displaying the Eucharistic miracles documented by Blessed Carlo Acutis are available to local Catholic parishes or groups that wish to exhibit them.

CEDAR CITY — A collection of panels showing the 108 Eucharistic miracles documented by Blessed Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old Italian youth who died in 2006 from leukemia, is available for display in Utah.

Michael and Judy Townsend, Christ the King parishioners, put together the exhibit to share it with anyone who is interested, particularly in this year of the Eucharistic Revival.

The Townsends moved to Cedar City from Idaho in 2019, and began to facilitate weekly Bible studies in their new parish.

“Over the course of the years, we covered many topics and also discussed current events in the Catholic Church,” Judy said.

In November 2021, when Pope Francis declared the Year of the Eucharist, “during one of our Bible sessions, participants discussed the fact that a majority of practicing Catholics did not believe in the Real Presence but believed the host and wine were just symbols,” she added.

About six months later, a videotape was made in Mexico about a possible Eucharistic miracle of a pulsating host during Mass and adoration.

That experience led the Townsends to lead a class discussion about Blessed Carlo Acutis, who created a website that documented Eucharistic miracles around the world. He was beatified by Pope Francis on Oct. 10, 2020, two days before the 14th anniversary of his death.

“Upon researching his website, we learned we could download all the miracles that he designed [images for]free of charge and have each of the 108 miracles printed,” Judy said.

Before doing that, the Townsends contacted Jon Kern from St. Margaret Church in Oceanside, Calif., who has a traveling exhibit of these miracles that he makes available to Catholic churches for display, Judy said.

In September, the Townsends went to California to see the exhibit, and were “truly moved,” Judy said, even though Kern could only display a few panels at a time in his church due to space constraints.

Returning to Utah, the Townsends asked their pastor, Father Adrian Komar, for permission to put together a similar exhibit.

“He agreed we should have these miracles printed and displayed,” Judy said.

A local print shop printed 139 PVC panels of all the 108 Eucharistic miracles documented by Acutis. Each panel is 24 inches by 32 inches, and shows the date, location and specifics of the miracle. On one side it is in English, on the other in Spanish.

“One of our parishioners owns a metal fabrication shop and designed two stands on which the panels are hung and displayed in our narthex,” Judy said.

Due to space constraints, the display at Christ the King Catholic Church is limited to six panels at a time; they are displayed in alphabetical order by country. The display began in February, and the panels are changed every two weeks.

“During the course of our research, we learned this international exhibit is being displayed all over the world,” Judy said, adding that they hope to share this exhibit with other Catholic churches in Utah.

“We also feel that by educating our parishioners, they will come to believe that the Eucharist is the body and blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ; that united in his one divine person he is really, truly and substantially present,” Judy said.