THE MASS AT BOLSENA

 

celebrated by a Bohemian priest - at the moment of consecration the blood of Christ trickled from the host, staining the corporal and thus dismissing the doubts of the celebrant on transubstantiation (changing of the substance of the bread and wine into that of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist). The miracle led to the establishment of the feast of Corpus Christ and the construction of the cathedral of Orvieto, to which the corporal was transferred. and is still visible today. Julius II (pontiff from 1503 to 1513), witnesses the miracle kneeling to the right of the altar, with cardinals Leonardo Grosso della Rovere and Raffaello Riario, Tommaso Riario and Agostino Spinola, his relatives and the chair bearers of the group.