Jarrett Knox Mrs. Aldrich Theology 9 Per.

F 12-9-11

The Miracle of Ettiswil

Jarrett Knox

There are thousands and thousands of Eucharistic Miracles all over the world; some are documented over and over, being traditional tales told repeatedly. Throughout all the nonbelievers of Christianity, miracles involving the host are cold hard facts proving the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Other miracles, however, have only recently been documented and are not very well known in the Catholic society. The miracle at Ettiswil is one of those unheard of miracles, but its astonishing story is one that is unforgettable. The Miracle of Ettiswil takes place in the town of Ettiswil in Switzerland, a small village with a mixed population of solid Christians and heretics. in 1447. Around this time, many heresies had being going around and satanism was a problem in the Catholic society. Anne Vgtli was a satanist herself, and one day decided she was going to steal the host from the tabernacle. Vgtli ran off with it, but could no longer carry it and threw it into a bush of nettles. Vgtli stated in a confession to the police, the host became extremely heavy and I could no longer carry it. Being unable to go forward or to go backward, I threw away the host into a bush of nettles by a fence. The person who discovered the host was Fraulein Margaret Shulmeister, a swineherd. She told the people in the village of Ettiswil that none of her cattle would go near a spot in the fence, so she went to investigate. Near the nettles, she found the Eucharist split into seven pieces, six going around like a flower and one in the middle. The whole village came down to see such a wondrous sight, as documented in the painting on the title page, and picked up the six surrounding pieces to be put back in the church for safekeeping. However, the oddest phenomena of all is that the seventh middle piece was unable to be moved at all. Taking this as a sign from the heavens, the village constructed the shrine over the actual place of the miracle. The shrine itself is a church, obviously called the church of Ettiswil. It was constructed right after the miracle took place, but was not consecrated until December of 1448. Many popes throughout history have granted indulgences to tourists of the miracle, and the shrine is often

visited by people in the surrounding countries of Switzerland. The shrine is very average, with candles and crosses abundant, but the most important thing in the shrine is several pages from the Protocol of Justice, written by Hermann von Russeg, lord of Buron, which documented officially the happenings, confessions, and reports of the miracle, making it pure fact. The reason why this miracle happened is somewhat vague; most likely it was a satanist stealing the host in the first place. In Anna Vgtli's confession, she stated that as soon as she went beyond the cemetery walls, the host became heavy. So its plausible that crossing into the cemetery triggered the miracle. However, there truthfully is no reasonably explanation for the middle segment of the host not moving; yet the pastor of the village took its immovability as a sign from god to build the shrine directly on top of the piece. The documentation of the happenings that fateful day being written by a highly respected lord make this miracle much more believable than if it had just been an old wives tale. The hard proven confessions and irreligious practices of Anna Vgtli, the satanist who stole the host, give the theft motive and serves as a catalyst for the miracle itself. After the miracle happened, countless, less documented stories of healing and signs from god came from the very six pieces of host that were left. Despite all the controversial stabs trying to disprove the existence of God and the validity of Christianity, Eucharistic Miracles are the number one source to finding proof of God. The Miracle at Ettiswil is one of the most provable miracles, and will stand the test of time to be told from generation to generation forever.

Works Cited
, and First Last. The Miracle of Ettistwil. 2006. Photograph. therealpresence.org, San Clemente .

Paray Le Monial. Ettiswil. 1448. Painting. therealpresence.org, Museum Hiron.

exodei, Libero. "Digilander.liberto.lt." Eucharistic Miracles. n/a, 10 3 2008. Web. 11 Dec 2011. <http://digilander.libero.it/rexur/miracoli/inglese/sacrilegio.htm>.