Miracles of Wine and Drink

Accounts of wine and drink extend the themes of hospitality and provision, but they use an element charged with biblical, liturgical, and social meanings. A pitcher may remain full, water be said to change into wine, a cellar receive an unexpected provision, or a drink be offered to workers and travelers. The page must not reduce all these episodes to an imitation of the wedding at Cana: their context may be monastic, charitable, or local. It also distinguishes ordinary drink from the Eucharistic miracle, centered on the host, the Mass, or the consecrated species. Water that springs from a source pertains first to the theme of sources, unless the account insists on its transformation into a drink. The collection shows how a material need becomes, in texts, an image of generosity and communion, without encouraging a uniform literal reading.

Accounts

86

Saints

75

Period

1st century – 20th century