And like you said, we've greatly filled in the story with popular piety, but there are some, like you mentioned, extant truths about Dominic and his relation to the origins of the Rosary.

Right.

So Dominic was an incredible figure in the early 1200s.

He was born around the year 1188, 1164 or so.

He only lived to be about 40 years old, 46 years old.

And like today's Saint, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, he had to deal with a big problem of the time in Lower France, and that was the Cathars, the Albigensians.

Right.

As a religious writer, and frankly, even a poet, what did she have to say, and what references did she make that provided for some sounder testimonies about how we think about the origins of the Rosary?

No, yeah, I'm giving you the free reins

...

so on page four, um...

No, so, so she was...

You know, I, I say this often throughout the book, you know, one of the striking things that I tried to make the cornerstone of, uh, all of the, all of the transitions in her story was that she dis- she wanted to remain secret.

She had this amazing vision, uh, three times of the Blessed Virgin who came to her in an apparition in the chapel at her convent, and she asked her to, to, to put out this medal, to have this medal struck, uh, that it would, uh, glorify, of course, Our Lady as our greatest intercessor, um, and it would help the, the most in need of, of mercy.

And so she did, but she had a problem.

And I think it, she was able to receive this from, from our Blessed Mother.

And

imagine all of that, just something mind blowing that you never thought could even, first of all, be possible, let alone observable.

And this is something he could not keep to himself because he said, hey, I was right.

Copernicus was right.

I told you that this is the way that the universe kind of works with relation to the planets and their moons, but also probably with the Earth in relation to the sun.

And this is why...

It's a great timing and a good segue to to the Gregorian calendar changes.

Like

So what is a Eucharistic miracle, Sean?

Well, I'll answer that.

So we understand the Eucharist, and then the book spends about 20 or 30 pages on miracles in general, too.

So what is a miracle? So a miracle is whenever God chooses miracles.

through his mercy, of course, to do something in the world that defies scientific explanation, through natural explanation.

And Saint Augustine is really prominent on this belief that in order for it to be a miracle, it doesn't mean that It doesn't mean that it can't be explained.

It just means that we don't understand it yet.

What do I make of this? Were there ones in here that left you scratching your head like that were just amazing?

So if it's not a quote-unquote requirement of the faith, what's the best way to understand the Eucharistic miracles in a compendium like this?

Yeah, I would go to John.

I would go to Mark chapter 16.

You know, Christ, in his departure, he says that we will know their power through him by miracles.

And so we see healings.

We see blood pouring from these hosts.

We see the miraculous light and levitating ciboriums and monstrances around the world.

Why is it that miracles for the creatures that we are are so foundational to this help along the way?

But it's still the case, though, that the Church has always proffered its miracles and its Eucharistic miracles for the sake of the faithful Catholic So if it's not a quote-unquote requirement of the faith, what's the best way to understand the Eucharistic miracles in a compendium like this?

Yeah, I would go to John.

I would go to Mark chapter 16.

You know, Christ, in his departure, he says that we will know their power through him by miracles.

And so we see healings.

We see blood pouring from these hosts.

We see the miraculous light and levitating ciboriums and monstrances around the world.

Why is it that miracles for the creatures that we are are so foundational to this help along the way?

Yeah.

Well, the Cistercians.

You know, he was one of those who s- was inspired by these stories and said, "I'm gonna do something, you know, just radical and wild." Um, this is before he had joined the Carmelites in, in, uh, in the Holy Land.

[clears throat] Um, but there's a story in his, uh, in his life where he's, he has constant visitors.

Everybody was so enamored by this young teen, at this point, I believe, uh, young teen who had this ascetic life and he w- also had this brilliant knowledge without, you know, nearly any education of, uh, consoling and helping Christians further their faith.

And one of the, the Eucharistic miracles is that he was on a fast receiving nothing but communion bread and, uh, or a consecrated host, and somebody offers him a cooked fish, and they bring it to him and say, "Here's a cooked fish," you know, "Some nutrients for you." And he denies it and says, you know, "I don't need anything other than, than the body of my Lord." And he takes this cooked fish and throws it into the nearby river and it swims away[laughs] Wow.

Pretty cool.

What, um, what else do you have to say about how science addresses these miracles?