In Mogoro on the Italian island of Sardinia, on the Monday after Easter in 1604, Father Salvatore Spiga, pastor of he church of Saint Bernard, was celebrating Mass. After the consecration he began distributing Holy Communion to the faithful. At a certain point, he saw in the Communion line two men who were well-known for the dissolute lives they led. The pastor gave them Holy Communion and as soon as they had taken the Host in their mouths, they spit the Holy Eucharist out on the stone floor below the altar rail. The two men justified themselves by saying that the Hosts had become as hot as burning embers, and that the Blessed Sacrament was burning their tongues. Then, taken by remorse at not first having gone to Confession, they ran away. Father Salvatore went to gather the Sacred Hosts that had fallen and saw that the imprints of the Sacred Hosts remained in the stone as if they had been sculpted there. He ordered the stone to be thoroughly washed in the hope that the imprints would be erased. But every attempt failed miserably. Many historians, including Father Pietro Cossu and Father Casu, described the findings made by the bishop at that time, Antonio Surredo, and by his successors.
Among the most important documents that confirm the miracle is a public act written by the notary Pedro Antonio Escano on May 25, 1686, in which the rector of Mogoro stipulates a contract for the construction of a wooden tabernacle over the main altar. At the base of the tabernacle, there was to be an opening for the “stone of the miracle,” which was to be enclosed in a decorative case and placed in such a way that the faithful could see it. The stone bears the imprint of the Hosts to this day.
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