A tsunami recedes before the Blessed Sacrament

San Andrès de Tumaco is a small island in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Colombia. On 31 January 1906, at 10:36 in the morning, the earth began to shake. The earthquake was extraordinarily violent and long-lasting, but despite the considerable damage, it was not the real danger. Just as the fervent local population had spontaneously gathered in front of the church, a fisherman came running with terrifying news: the ocean was receding far out to sea. Everyone understood what it meant: a tsunami was forming that would soon sweep across the island, devastating everything in its path. The only hope of survival would have been to seek higher ground, out of the waves' reach, unfortunately, Tumaco is completely flat, and its highest point is two metres above sea level! In other words, there was no escape. The people screamed in fear and panic. It was then that the parish priest of the village of Nario, Father Gerardo Larrondo de San José, came up with the idea of a procession carrying the Blessed Sacrament to the beach. The priest raised Jesus in the Eucharist in front of the sea and, to everyone's astonishment, the letal wave stopped moving and flowed back out to sea.

Unsplash / Karsten Winegeart

Reasons to believe:

The earthquake of 31 January 1906 is a well-known and well-documented disaster. This undersea earthquake, which struck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, lasted ten minutes, which is a very long time. Even though the Richter scale was not introduced until 1935, seismologists have estimated, considering the extent of the damage, that it must have had an intensity of 8.8 on the scale.

Nor can we question the devastating force of the tsunami triggered by the earthquake. During his stay in Panama City, Father Bernardino Garcia della Concepcion left an account in which he describes the ships at anchor in the harbour being propelled out of the dock and found in the centre, the streets devastated and the central market ravaged at rush hour.

At least a thousand people died in Colombia and Ecuador. Given Tumaco's geographical position (off the coast of Colombia, to the south, not far from the Ecuadorian border) and the island's very flat topography, this highly exposed point should also have suffered the ravages of the tsunami. Over hundreds of kilometres of coastline, the wave spared nothing, except Tumaco, the place of all places where it was logically supposed to wreak the worst havoc, and the only one on which it did not break.

The two Augustinian monks, Father Gerardo de San José Larrando and his vicar, Father Julian de San Nicola Moreno, who served Tumaco, were certainly men of faith - as all the evidence showed - but they were also clear-sighted and prudent, as demonstrated by their precaution of using up the Eucharistic reserve to prevent it being washed away when the wave broke.

Father Gerardo admitted the terrible fear he felt when he realised what was happening. It was when he turned to God, in an act of faith and surrender, and that he heard a clear instruction. His fear then disappeared and was replaced by a heroic courage that drove him to go down to meet the tsunami head-on.

The entire population of the island can testify to the wonder of the halting and receding of a monstrous wave that was supposed to engulf them. Everyone in the church gave thanks until late at night. One of the witnesses commented, with humour: "The bottom of the priest's cassock did get a bit splashed."

The prodigious story of the Eucharistic miracle at Tumaco spread around the world, striking those who heard about it with amazement or admiration, so much so that for months Father Larrando received a huge amount of mail from all over the world asking for details and confirmation of the event.

Even today, when Tumaco has become a popular seaside resort, the beach where the miracle took place is still known as "Miracle Beach". The Archdiocese of Tumaco solemnly celebrated the centenary of the event in 2006, and commemorates it on every anniversary.

Summary:

San Andrès de Tumaco is a small fishing island in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Colombia.

In 1906, at 10.36am on 31 January, an underwater earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale shook the island for ten interminable minutes. It was felt all along the Pacific coast of Central America and as far away as California, as well as in Japan. Damage was extensive everywhere.

The people of Tumaco were dismayed to see that the church had suffered a great deal: paintings had come down, statues had fallen to the ground and been smashed. They had no time to mourn the damage; a fisherman came running to them, shouting that the sea was receding at a prodigious speed over a distance of more than a kilometre and a half. Having heard of this relatively frequent phenomenon, everyone understood that the earthquake has triggered a tidal wave that would sweep across the island in the next few minutes. There would be no escape, because Tumaco is absolutely flat and its "peak" is two metres above sea level.

Aware that they were about to die, the people were seized with panic. The parish priest, Father Larrondo, was no less terrified, but his first reaction was to ask for heaven's help in the face of something so beyond human control. He prayed and heard a distinct answer to the only barrier against the impending cataclysm. He entered the church, followed by his assistant pastor Father Julian, went to the tabernacle and, in a show of prudence, began by consuming the Eucharistic reserve to prevent it from being swept away by the flood. Then, without taking the time to place it in the monstrance, he respectfully took hold of the large consecrated host used for Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

He later said that at that moment, a supernatural peace filled him, reassuring him that he was really holding the Body of Christ in his hands and that Jesus could work any miracle. He thought, "I'll never be afraid again. God's will be done." Turning to his parishioners, he exclaimed: "Let's all go down to the shore, my children, and may God have mercy on us!" Followed by the entire population, the parish priest, brandishing the Blessed Sacrament, set off in procession towards the beach. There, they saw the first damage caused by the tsunami: countless wrecks washed up on the shore. But the worst was yet to come: a few hundred metres from Tumaco, a gigantic wave, more than ten metres high, rushed towards the shore, rising out of a sea rendered brown by marine sediment. People instinctively backed away, leaving the priests standing alone to face the violent flood that was about to engulf all of them.

Slowly, solemnly, standing in front of the tsunami, Father Arrondo raised the large host with his hands and traced a large sign of the cross with it above the waves. Then he stood there, unable to move, unable even to believe his eyes. Behind him, a cry resounded, taken up in chorus by his faithful: "A miracle! A miracle!" The priest realised what was happening. Instead of coming crashing down on him, the liquid wall had stopped in its tracks and remained suspended for a few seconds before receding towards the ocean, which calmed down and gradually returned to its usual appearance.

Tumaco, the most exposed spot on the coast, was the only place spared by the cataclysm, which caused thousands of deaths and terrible material damage elsewhere.

The consecrated host was brought back to the church amidst songs of thanksgiving, placed in the monstrance and exposed for solemn adoration to the faithful until late at night. Father Arrondo intoned Psalm 145: "Lord, one generation to the next speaks of the power of your awsome acts and recounts your great deeds, etc." To this day, the Eucharistic miracle at Tumaco remains one of the most spectacular in the history of Catholicism.

Anne Bernet is a Church History specialist, a postulator of a cause for beatification, and a journalist for a number of Catholic media. She has written more than 40 books on the topic of holiness.

Beyond reasons to believe:

As the memory of the miracle of Tumaco was probably beginning to fade outside the island itself, Blessed Carlo Acutis was instrumental in making it famous again through his website and the traveling exhibition of Eucharistic miracles around the world it inspired.