Many of you may have heard this story. I had not, most
likely as I was busy doing other things in the early 1980s.
Apparently, when St. John Paul II was visiting the USA in one of his early visits, he expressed a
desire to go to the seminary in Baltimore .
The secret service and those who had to secure every place the Pope was going
to see tried to dissuade him as they had not scoured the seminary.
However, what John Paul II wanted to do, he did and
convinced the security that a seminary visit would be safe. However, the
security fellows went ahead with dogs to make sure there were no bombs or
hidden nasties in the seminary.
They went through every room, every closet, the kitchens,
the pantries. Finally, two men with dogs entered the chapel. Suddenly, the dogs
came alive, fully alert, acting like they were trained to do when sensing a
person. The two security men search every nook and cranny of the chapel, but
found nothing. They then got the rector, and asked him to come down to the
chapel. The rector complied and watched as the dogs stood in front of the
tabernacle in the sanctuary and barked.
“Ah, I understand, “ he said. “They sense the Presence of
the Person of Christ in the Eucharist.”
This was considered a small Eucharistic miracle. The priest
who shared this story Sunday at Mass said that a recent survey indicated that
70% of Catholics who go to Sunday Mass no longer believe in the Real Presence,
but, these two dogs experienced this Person….