The Limpias Miracle of the Cross

The Limpias Miracle of the Cross, Spain

The Lord proved His love for us, His children, through the Limpias Miracle of the Cross, Spain at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. 

It happened during Lent, the end of March, 1919.

Two Capuchin priests were giving a Lenten retreat at their local church in the little village of Limpias, located in the area of Coruña. 

The Lord was blessing the congregation abundantly.  You could feel the Power of His Presence in the church.  You could tell that all was going well.  The homilies were well accepted; the people were responding.  The lines were long for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 

There was a large Crucifix on the back wall of the Church. 

Many in the parish had a great devotion to Our Crucified Lord and paid homage to Him on this Crucifix. 

But on this particular evening, they were coming to the close of the mission, and so the

attention was not on the Crucifix, but on the priests, who were giving their last teachings.

Suddenly a child in the front of the church cried out, “Father, the Holy Christ is moving.  The Holy Christ is looking at me.”  

Everyone looked at the child incredulously, and then looked up at the Limpias Crucifix.  Then, from another part of the Church, another child cried out; and then another. 

Pretty soon, all the adults in the Church were clamoring, some in awe, others in fear.  Some were able to see the living Christ on the Cross.  

The murmuring spread throughout the church: What could it be?  Is it the end of the world?  Is Jesus here to punish us for our sins?  The reported expressions on Jesus’ face varied. 

Some said He looked at them with such love.  Others said He was terribly angry with them.  But they were all of one mind: Instead of a dead Jesus on the Cross, Jesus was alive, and He was sorrowfully suffering the Passion.

One of the priests, in an effort to try to determine if what was happening was truly coming to pass, ran over to the Crucifix and placed his hand on it.  He pulled it away abruptly. 

The body was warm!  He could feel perspiration on the body, the same as if he had touched the body of a living, suffering person!  He shared, it also felt like he was touching flesh, rather than wood. 

He, too, began to perspire!  He didn’t know what to make of the entire situation, nor quite sure how to handle it. 

Actually, the people came to the rescue.  They began to sing hymns to the Lord, such as “Hymn of the Pilgrimage,” “Pardon, O my God,” and other local hymns well-known by the people in the church. 

Soon the sounds of hymns rang throughout the church.  During all this time, lights were out in the Church; the only light was the daylight streaming in from the stained-glass windows. 

O my Lord, they exclaimed!  There seemed to be an aura coming from the image of Our Lord Jesus.  Each person who witnessed the Limpias Miracle of the Cross had a different version of what happened, as truly each person had their own individual encounter with Our Lord Jesus, come to life on the Cross.

Needless to say, word spread like wildfire about the miraculous occurrence with the Cross of Limpias. 

Pilgrimages came from all over the country, and then even outside of Spain - from southern France, to view and venerate the Limpias Miracle of the Cross.  They all shared their individual experiences. 

To some, the statue on the Cross remained dead and motionless the entire time they were at the Church.  To others, Our Lord came to life for short periods of time.  When the Image went from death to life, the Image appeared tortured, wracked with pain. 

The eyes, which depicted a suffering Christ, but a wooden representation, took on a completely different expression when the statue on the Cross seemed to come to life.  The excruciating pain was immediately obvious.  Our Lord’s eyes projected His suffering.  His Head turned from left to right, every move seemed like an eternity of pain.

His Hands and Feet appeared to move painfully in an effort to alleviate the torturous agony inflicted by the nails, which brutally pierced them.  But with all of that, there were those who testified He had smiled at them. 

Can you picture Our Lord Jesus in so much agonizing pain, yet able and willing to smile at His beloved children, as if to reassure them?

Visit our other sites: