Eucharistic Miracle of Wallduern

The Story

The Eucharistic Miracle of Walldürn is a Catholic tradition connected with the town of Walldürn in the Odenwald region of Germany, where the Basilica of St. George preserves a venerated corporal — the altar linen on which the chalice rests — associated with an event dated to about 1330. According to the traditional account, a priest named Heinrich Otto accidentally overturned the chalice after the consecration, spilling the Precious Blood across the corporal. On the stained cloth there appeared, tradition holds, the image of the crucified Christ surrounded by smaller heads of Christ crowned with thorns. Frightened, the priest hid the corporal beneath the altar stone and revealed what had happened only on his deathbed. The cloth was then recovered and enshrined for veneration. News of the Blood Miracle spread through the surrounding country, and Walldürn grew into one of Germany's major pilgrimage destinations. In 1445 Pope Eugene IV formally acknowledged the pilgrimage, granting indulgences to those who venerated the holy corporal, and in 1962 Pope John XXIII raised the pilgrimage church of St. George to the rank of minor basilica. The devotion of Walldürn is centered on the Precious Blood of Christ, truly present in the Eucharist under the appearance of wine. The reported image of the crucified Lord on the corporal has long been understood as a reminder that every Mass makes present the sacrifice of Calvary. Each year the great pilgrimage season, the Wallfahrt zum Heiligen Blut, opens on Trinity Sunday and continues for four weeks, drawing tens of thousands of pilgrims — many arriving on foot in traditional processions — for Masses and devotions before the shrine of the holy corporal. The pilgrimage, sustained for nearly seven centuries, remains one of the most vigorous expressions of Eucharistic devotion in Germany.

Church Recognition

A recognized devotion: Pope Eugene IV acknowledged the pilgrimage and granted indulgences in 1445, and Pope John XXIII raised the pilgrimage Church of St. George to the rank of minor basilica in 1962.

Catholic Teaching

The devotion honors the Precious Blood of Christ and the truth that the Mass makes present the one sacrifice of the cross (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1362–1367; 1373–1381).

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

The Basilica of St. George in Wallduern preserves the corporal and hosts an annual pilgrimage.

Go Deeper

The shrine's official pilgrimage website, Wallfahrt Walldürn (https://www.wallfahrt-wallduern.de), provides the history of the Blood Miracle and the annual pilgrimage. The tradition is also documented in the 'Eucharistic Miracles of the World' exhibition compiled by Blessed Carlo Acutis; see Catechism of the Catholic Church 1362–1381.