Introduction
In the vast tapestry of the Catholic faith, threads of tradition, miracles, and holy lives are woven together to create a vibrant fabric of belief and understanding. One such intriguing thread is the story of St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun and mystic, and her account of a miraculous event that involves the Eucharist taking flight. This event serves as a window into a deeper understanding of Catholic teachings on the Eucharist, divine mercy, and the holiness of saints.
St. Faustina: A Brief Overview
St. Faustina Kowalska was born in 1905 in Poland and joined the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925. She is most known for her role in promoting the devotion to Divine Mercy, a concept central to Catholic belief that emphasizes God’s unlimited and unmerited love for humanity. St. Faustina’s private revelations were recorded in her diary, which later became a significant spiritual text. While her visions and messages have not been declared as universal teachings of the Church, they have received ecclesiastical approval as worthy of belief (though not obligatory).
The Miracle of the Flying Eucharist
One day, as St. Faustina was attending Mass, she witnessed an extraordinary event. During the Consecration, the host (the piece of bread that becomes the Body of Christ) levitated from the priest’s hands and remained suspended in the air before returning to its rightful place. This experience is not a universal teaching of the Church, but it does bring up many aspects of Catholic doctrine for further reflection, particularly around the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the role of saints in witnessing to the faith.
The Real Presence in the Eucharist
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.'” (CCC 1374). What appears to our senses as bread and wine is, in reality, the Body and Blood of Christ, a truth that has been firmly established by the Church and based on Scriptural accounts like the Last Supper where Jesus says, “This is my body” (Matthew 26:26).
In the case of the flying Eucharist as witnessed by St. Faustina, the miracle serves as a visible sign of an invisible reality: that Christ is fully present in the Eucharist. It serves to emphasize the power and majesty of God, who can make Himself present in such extraordinary ways, while remaining humbly hidden under the appearance of bread and wine.
The Significance of Divine Mercy
Another lens through which we can understand this event is through the concept of Divine Mercy. The Catechism states: “The gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God’s mercy to sinners” (CCC 1846). St. Faustina was a major proponent of the devotion to Divine Mercy, emphasizing the need for trust in God’s inexhaustible love and mercy.
The event of the flying Eucharist can be interpreted as a sign of God’s overflowing mercy — an extraordinary manifestation meant to bolster faith and inspire devotion. While this interpretation is not a universally held theological opinion, it dovetails nicely with the themes that permeate St. Faustina’s writings and life.
Saints as Witnesses to the Faith
The lives of saints like St. Faustina offer valuable insights into how we should live out our own faith journeys. As the Catechism says, “By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God’s grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors” (CCC 828).
The story of the flying Eucharist serves as an example of a saint acting as a witness to the faith. St. Faustina’s account invites us to ponder the deeper theological truths that it touches upon, even as we remember that private revelations are not universal teachings of the Church.
Conclusion
The story of St. Faustina and the flying Eucharist serves as a rich anecdote that touches upon various tenets of the Catholic faith. It brings into focus the Church’s teachings on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the significance of Divine Mercy, all while reminding us of the role saints play in bearing witness to the faith. While the tale itself is not a universal teaching of the Church, it offers a glimpse into the mysterious and wondrous reality that our faith invites us to explore.