Believe it or not, Amsterdam is sometimes referred to as the ‘Miracle City’ — a nickname which it has earned for an incredible event that rendered it a place of pilgrimage since the Middle Ages.
Tradition has it, that on the 15 March 1345, a man lay seriously ill in his house on the Kalverstraat. Thinking he was about to die he called for a priest to administer the last rites, including the Blessed Sacrament. After receiving the host, the man became sick and finally vomited. As was the custom, what he had brought up was thrown on the fire. The next morning the host was discovered undamaged in the ashes. It was put into a box and taken by a priest to the parish church (the present-day Oude Kerk), but on two occasions miraculously made its way back to the house on the Kalverstraat.
And this is how the tradition of the so-called Miracle Procession began, the same which we will be celebrating together even this year.
The international Living Stones community active at De Krijtberg, have put together this programme (in English) to commemorate the event and to which you are warmly invited:
PROGRAMME: Miracle of Amsterdam
Saturday 16 March 2024
14:00-17:00 – Guided visits at De Krijtberg church (focus on the theme of the Eucharist)
20:00 – Welcome and song practice
(Ignatiushuis, Beulingstraat 11)
20:30 – Introduction: History of the Miracle of Amsterdam
(by Fr Jan Stuyt SJ, at the Ignatiushuis, Beulingstraat 11)
21:30 – Holy Mass followed Adoration
(Ignatiushuis, Beulingstraat 11)
23:00 – Procession Stille Omgang (Silent Walk).
** Would you like to know more about Living Stones and our initiatives? Get in touch here: huis.livingstones@gmail.com
