21st December : Our Lady Of St. Acheul
21st December
Our Lady Of St. Acheul
Country :
Year : 1218
The church containing the shrine of Our Lady of Acheul, was located near Amiens; in fact, St. Acheul was the mother-church of the cathedral of Amiens. Legend tells that St. Firmin was the Apostle of Amiens and that he arrived there before the close of the third century after Christ. This early church devastated repeatedly by the invasion of the Normans, was totally destroyed in 1218. The present cathedral was not finished until the fifteenth century.
The shrine of the Virgin of St. Acheul is noteworthy for a singular miracle or apparition occurring during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The celebrant, after the consecration, saw a hand take the Sacred Host and drop it into the chalice. Some of the faithful present likewise witnessed the same thing; a certain skeptic was brought to his knees in humble acceptance of the fact that the Holy Sacrifice is truly the same as that of Calvary.
After the erection of the new cathedral at Amiens, St. Acheul was known as the church of Our Lady of Acheul. Miracles took place frequently and pilgrimages continued for many years.
