A priest presented Pope Leo XIV with a book documenting the pilgrimage of the Divine Child of the Miracle (“Divino Niño del Milagro”) in Lima and Callao in Peru, a devotion encouraged by the pope himself, which was inspired by Peru’s only Eucharistic miracle, dating back to 1649.
Father Edwin Limas Falcón, an Oblate of St. Joseph, presented the Spanish-language book titled “Itinerary of Faith: The Child of Eten Arrives in Lima and Callao” to the Holy Father.
The book summarizes the work of the lay group Eucharistic Miracle Peru 1649, led by researcher Jesús León Ángeles. The presentation took place during an audience held to mark the 150th anniversary of the Canon Law Department of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
The book documents a pilgrimage through 21 parishes in Lima and Callao including the cathedrals of Lima, Carabayllo, and St. Peter in Lurín as well as the parishes of St. John Mary Vianney and St. Luke, among others.
“We have witnessed the grace of God expressed through the piety of thousands of families who come to adore the Lord in the Eucharist. We know well that Pope Leo XIV deeply values each of these steps, for he himself taught us in Chiclayo that Jesus continues to become alive and present among us in every Eucharistic celebration,” Ángeles told EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.
When he was bishop of Chiclayo, Pope Leo encouraged the recognition of Ciudad Eten, the site of a Eucharistic miracle, as a “Eucharistic City.” He personally secured an 11-hectare plot of land (about 27 acres) for the construction of Peru’s first Eucharistic shrine.
In 2024, as Ángeles recalled, during the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress, he received a call from Monsignor Edgar Rimaycuna, personal secretary to the then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, who encouraged them to “seek every possible opportunity to make the miracle known.”
The Eucharistic miracle of Eten
On June 2, 1649, in the town of Santa Magdalena de Eten, during the Mass on the eve of the solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Divine Child appeared within the consecrated host.
The miracle occurred again on July 22 of the same year during the Mass celebrated in honor of the town’s patroness, St. Mary Magdalene. Two apparitions took place that day: first, the Child appeared once more, and in second, three intertwined hearts appeared, symbolizing the Most Holy Trinity.
Although the hosts in which the Divine Child of the Miracle appeared have not been preserved, the then-bishop of Chiclayo told ACI Prensa in 2019 that “the history, the data, and the devotion spanning these 370 years are quite well documented …. It was never submitted to the Vatican for formal Church approval, and we are working on that now.“
Formal approval of the Eucharistic miracle by the Vatican now rests with Pope Leo XIV.
This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.