The Holy Blood miracle
Around the year 1400 the so-called blood miracle took place in the parish church of Boxmeer where sacramental wine, spattered on the altar cloth, coagulated into a red blood clot. This miracle changed Boxmeer into a place of pilgrimage. Soon after many pilgrims came to worship the Holy Blood. Especially the Procession Week with the Holy Blood Processions, starting fourteen days after Pentecost, attracted many visitors.
About 1995 the Procession Week was reduced to the feast of Corpus Christi on the second Sunday after Pentecost.
The altar cloth is preserved and stored away in a silver reliquary. Every year the reliquary is exhibited during the Holy Blood Procession. The procession still attracts many visitors.
© photos: Bea and Dick Hoeks-De Laat, 2007
Read more about the Holy Blood Miracle (in Dutch) or about the project Places of Pilgrimage