There
have been various kinds of miracles that make up the patrimony of the Catholic
Church. One category of such miracles is eucharistic miracles. Catholics
believe every time a priest prays the words of consecration over the bread and
wine—“this is my body…this is my blood”—the substance of bread and wine (what
it is) changes into Jesus’ body, blood, soul, and divinity while the accidents
of bread and wine (how it appears) remain. The remaining presence of the bread
and wine’s accidental properties is a miracle in its own right. But this is not
what is normally called a eucharistic miracle.

A
eucharistic miracle occurs when the accidents of bread and wine change into
real human flesh and real human blood. There are numerous documented instances
of such an occurrence in the history of the Church, and we’ll look at some of
them in greater depth later. A eucharistic miracle can also involve the unusual
preservation of the accidental properties of bread and wine over long periods
of time.

Saints’
incorruptible bodies are another example of a miracle type we find in Catholic
history. Such a miracle occurs when a saint’s body, or a part of it, is
preserved in a way that defies the normal process of decomposition. Unlike
mummies, which have dry and hardened skin and bones, some of the saints’
uncorrupted bodies retain soft skin and pliable limbs even centuries after
their death. In another answer we look at some examples of this type of
miracle, too.

Many
of these incorruptibles have been found to give off sweet odors. Others, like
St. Francis Xavier’s body, have produced blood that defies any scientific
explanation. Skeptics try to reduce the incorruptibles to the status of
mummies, but the evidence overwhelmingly points beyond the natural.

Finally,
in Catholic history there are scores of documented healing miracles. For
example, there are the officially recognized miracles associated with the
bathing waters of Lourdes, France (sixty-nine in total). There are also the
healing miracles associated with canonized saints. A fairly recent example is
the healing of Floribeth Moral Diaz of Costa Rica through the intercession of
Pope St. John Paul II. With only a short time to live due to an inoperable
brain aneurysm, she requested John Paul II’s intercession and was healed. This
provided the second miracle needed to solidify his path to sainthood.

Historical
miracles in the Catholic Church serve several purposes. First, they lend
credibility to the claim that the Catholic Church is the original church
founded by Jesus.

Second,
these miracles move individuals to faith in a way that goes beyond internal
experiences and private inspiration. Not everyone has powerful conversion
experiences like St. Paul, who, after seeing the risen Jesus, converted to
Christianity after several years of persecuting Christians. But by working
miracles in history, God continues to give people reason to believe.

Finally,
miracles point to the end of time when all of creation will be renewed. The
healing miracles and incorruptibles focus our attention on the restoration of
the body in the bodily resurrection, about which St. Paul writes, “What is sown
is perishable, what is raised is imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:42). Eucharistic
miracles remind us of God’s sovereignty over physical reality and how he will
transform the material world in the new heaven and new earth (CCC 1043-1047;
Rev. 21:1).

Jesus
did not rob us of the privilege to experience the wonder of his works. He
continues to wow us with miracles in the Catholic Church in order that we may
believe him and his Father who sent him.From 20 Answers: Miracles