Eucharistic Miracle of Canosio
Italy (1630)
 This
particular Eucharistic miracle features a pastor,
Father Antonio Reinardi, whose deep faith in the
Eucharist was responsible for saving the village
of Canosio from the torrential floods of the Maira
River with a blessing of the Blessed Sacrament.
There were many conversions among those who witnessed
the miracle and to this day the townspeople of
Canosio celebrate a feast during the Octave of
Corpus Christi to commemorate the miracle.
Canosio is a small village in
the region of Val Maira, in the Diocese of Saluzzo.
In 1630, its townspeople had grown cold in their
religious observance due to the spread of the
Calvinistic heresy. A day after the feast of Corpus
Christi, the river at Maira flooded because of
a torrential rainfall. The flood waters were so
violent and powerful that some massive stones
were dislodged from the mountain and threatened
to destroy the valley and the village itself !
Father Antonio Reinardi,the pastor of the town,
assembled the townspeople with the ringing of
the church bells and exhorted them to pray that
the Lord would stop the flood. He vowed that if
the village of Canosio were spared from the flood's
destruction, the townspeople would celebrate in
perpetuity an annual feast of Corpus Christi.
Father Reinardi then took the Blessed Sacrament
and placed It in the monstrance. He then processed
towards the raging flood with some of the faithful
as they all recited the "Miserere" Psalm
51. After he blessed the raging waters, the rain
stopped at once and the flood waters peaked and
returned to their normal level. This incident
revived the faith of the townspeople of Canosio
and to this day they observe the vow that was
made. Unfortunately, many of the documents which
attest to the miracle and which were preserved
in the parish archives from the 17th Century were
burned during the war between France and Spain;
what is extant, however, is a copy describing
the events and which was left by the pastor who
was a witness to what occurred.
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