Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published May 25, 2007

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Emmanuel Ssemakula (left) and Sarah Zydeck, parishioners at Resurrection Parish in Canton, are encouraging local parishes to host an exhibit of Eucharistic miracles. The exhibit, created at the Vatican in 2004, has been in thousands of parishes worldwide, and will be at Resurrection Parish June 1-3 and St. Anastasia Parish in Troy June 9 and 10.   The Exhibit What it is: 160 panels depicting 126 miracles officially recognized by the Vatican. Where it will be: At Resurrection Church, 48755 Warren Road, Canton, during the day Friday, June 1, and after weekend Masses on June 2 and 3; at St. Anastasia Church, 4571 John R Road, Troy, following weekend Masses June 9 and 10. How it started: The exhibit was created by the Vatican in the Year of the Eucharist, which started October 2004, and was displayed at 500 parishes in Rome before being promoted around the world. Locally: The Real Presence Association of Michigan is trying to have parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit display the exhibit. For information: Visit The Real Presence Association of Michigan website or call (734) 416-9798.

Canton – Since the Last Supper, the Lord has occasionally given Christians glimpses into divine reality through miracles involving the true Body and Blood of Christ which has been consecrated from the host and wine during the Mass.

Now, a small group of local Catholics are joining others around the world to spread the word about Vatican-confirmed miracles surrounding the Eucharist. Parishioners at Resurrection Parish in Canton and St. Joan of Arc in St. Clair Shores have acquired an extensive exhibit of Eucharistic miracles — originally assembled by the Vatican during the Year of the Eucharist, which began in October 2004 — to display in Churches around the Archdiocese of Detroit.

"The hope is that people begin to deepen their understanding of what the Eucharist is about," says Emmanuel Ssemakula, a parishioner at Resurrection. "If you take communion every week, or if you are an every-day communicant, you can take it for granted. But when you see something like this, it helps to sort of wake you up and say, 'Yes, something special is going on here.'"

The display, called a Vatican International Exhibit, is made of 160 panels, which tell the stories of 126 miracles that happened involving the Eucharist. They also include historical accounts, photographs and artwork. The panels are to be displayed at Resurrection Parish from June 1-3, then at St. Anastasia Parish in Troy from June 9-10. They're available for other parishes upon request, as well.

In one account of a miracle, a young lady in Italy in the 16th century took a communion host from Mass at the request of a sorcerer. Upon unwrapping it from a cloth, she found the host had turned into a real piece of bleeding flesh, which caused her to repent.

Another miracle had a priest in Spain taking communion to the poor. He stumbled and fell in a stream, spilling the consecrated hosts into the water. Down shore, a fisherman called to him — revealing that he had caught several fish, each with a host in its mouth.

Still other miracles depict communion wine that turned physically into the Blood of Christ and consecrated hosts that became incorrupt, defying the explanations of scientists.

Such panels have circulated throughout the United States through an Illinois-based ministry called the Real Presence Association.

Carol Seydel, who promotes the panels for the Real Presence Association, says more than 200 Catholic institutions have hosted or plan to host the exhibit. Most of them, she says, will print their own panels. Five panel displays are circulated to parishes via the organization.

"We only started this in January," Seydel says. "And we've grown so fast here that it's difficult to keep up."

In Canton, Ssemakula was joined by fellow parishioner Sarah Zydeck — the two have organized Resurrection Parish's Eucharistic adoration for the past six years — and St. Joan of Arc parishioner Margy Nagel to create a new copy of the exhibit. They received help from an anonymous donor who gave $5,000, and from Canton-based AlphaGraphics printer, which printed the panels at cost.

The three have even started and maintain a Web site for the Real Presence Association of Michigan, to encourage local parishes, schools and other Catholic organizations to host the display.

They hope it strengthens faith in the Eucharist in whomever takes time to reflect on the miracles.

"For children, it's going to be really important, too," says Zydeck, who has three boys, the youngest of whom is 16. "I think that's what keeps our children Catholic when they grow up and begin to search in their life or discover their own faith in God and their own spirituality.

"The real presence will keep them always Catholics."

Fr. John Riccardo, pastor of St. Anastasia, says the Vatican display is being promoted at a time when many Catholics lack an understanding that the Eucharist is the real Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ.

"The Eucharistic miracles have kind of a dramatic way of maybe awakening us from our ho-hum approach of receiving the Lord in communion because we do it so often," Fr. Riccardo says.

Because of space restrictions, both Resurrection and St. Anastasia parishes will host about 60 of the panels.