This January 31, 2025, the city of Tumaco, in southwestern Colombia, commemorated the 119th anniversary of the Eucharistic miracle known as the “Miracle of the Wave”. Moreover, this year the celebration was even more special because next April will be the canonization of the young saint Carlo Acutis who documented this event in his famous internet exhibition on Eucharistic miracles in the world.
What happened on January 31, 1906?
On January 31, 1906, an earthquake of magnitude 8.8 shook the Pacific coast and generated a tsunami that threatened to devastate Tumaco. Faced with the imminent catastrophe, the inhabitants turned to the parish for help from the Augustinian Recollect friars Gerardo Larrondo and Julian Moreno. After consuming the hosts from the tabernacle, Friar Gerardo took the Magna Host and, with the Blessed Sacrament in his hands, led the community to the beach. In an act of profound faith, he raised the Eucharist and traced the sign of the cross in the direction of the sea. The gigantic wave, which was advancing with great force, stopped unexpectedly and began to recede, thus saving the lives of the entire population.
Carlo Acutis and the spread of the miracle
The young Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) dedicated part of his life to spreading the importance of the Eucharist. His work included documenting Eucharistic miracles, among them that of Tumaco, on a website that today is known throughout the world. His canonization during this Holy Year underlines the importance and validity of Eucharistic devotion and the need to transmit the faith to the new generations, just as the Augustinian Recollects did more than a century ago in Tumaco.
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“May he deliver us from new storms.”
This year, the Diocese of Tumaco has organized a series of events to commemorate the miracle, including Eucharistic adoration, processions and meetings to reflect on the Eucharist and its importance in Christian life. In addition, a documentary film ‘The Eucharistic Miracle of the Wave’, directed by Father Hevert Lizcano, and released last year, has been screened.
“Just as 119 years ago the threat of the sea was faced with faith, today we continue to cry out to the Lord to deliver us from new storms.”
In a context in which Tumaco faces challenges such as violence and state abandonment, the community finds in this anniversary a reminder that God does not abandon his people. As Monsignor Orlando Olave, bishop of the diocese, has expressed, “just as 119 years ago the threat of the sea was faced with faith, today we continue to cry out to the Lord to deliver us from new storms”.