A Basilian monk, wise in the ways of the world, but not in the
ways of faith, was having a trying time with his belief in the real
presence of Our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist. He prayed constantly for relief from his doubts, and from the fear that he was
losing his vocation. He suffered through the routine of his priesthood day after day, with these doubts gnawing at him.
The situation in the world did not help strengthen his faith.
There were many heresies cropping up all the time, which kept
chipping away at his faith. They were not all from outside the
church either. Brother priests and bishops were victims of these
heresies, and they were being spread throughout the church. This
priest couldn't seem to help being more and more convinced by the
logic of these heresies, especially the one concerning his particular
problem, the physical presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
One morning, while he was having a strong attack of doubt,
he began the Consecration of the Mass for the people of the town.
He used the same size host which is used in the Latin Rite masses
today. What he beheld as he consecrated the bread and wine
caused his hands to shake, indeed his whole body. He stood for a
long time with his back to the people, and then slowly turned
around to them.
He said: "0 fortunate witnesses to whom the Blessed God, to
confound my disbelief, has wished to reveal Himself in this Most
Blessed Sacrament and to render Himself visible to our eves.
Come, brethren, and marvel at our God so close to us. Behold the
Flesh and Blood of our most beloved Christ."
The host had turned into Flesh. The wine had turned into
Blood.
The people, having witnessed the miracle for themselves, began to wail, asking for forgiveness, crying for mercy. Others began beating their breasts, confessing their sins, declaring themselves unworthy to witness such a miracle. Still others went down
on their knees in respect, and thanksgiving for the gift the Lord
had bestowed on them. All spread the story throughout the town
and surrounding villages.
Jesus even allowed Himself to be crucified again. After the
miracle, the Host was pinned down to a wooden board, so that
when it dried, it would not curl up, as scabbed flesh does. So
here He was again, with nails in His Body, nailed to a piece of
wood.
The miracle that occurred in 700 was just the beginning.
That was 1250 years ago. Had that miracle taken place, and then
the flesh and blood disintegrated, as would have been normal,
the miracle would have been none the less a miracle. The
priest's faith had been renewed. The entire town, the whole
country for that matter, became aware of the miracle. Pilgrims
flocked to Lanciano to venerate the Host turned flesh. Belief in
the Eucharist had been reborn. The gift from the Lord was
complete.
But that's not all. The miracle is ongoing. The Host-turned-Flesh, and the Wine-turned-Blood, without the use of any form
of preservative, is still present in the reliquary. In 1574 testing
was done on the Flesh and Blood and an unexplainable phenomenon was discovered. The five pellets of coagulated Blood
are different sizes and shapes. But any combination weighs the same as the total. In other words, 1 weighs the same as 2, 2 weigh the same as 3, and 3 weigh the same as 5.
From the very beginning, the local church accepted this
miracle as a true sign from heaven, and venerated the Eucharistic Flesh and Blood in processions on its feast day, the last Sunday of October. The fame of the shrine spread throughout the
region quickly, and soon all of Italy came to the Church in Pilgrimage.
Analysis of Still Existing Evidence
A pilgrim, born and baptised Catholic, shared with his convert wife, after venerating the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, "I never believed in the physical presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. To me, it was strictly `in memory of Him'. Now, I truly believe that my Jesus comes alive to me personally in the Consecrated Host that I consume at Holy Mass."
On one occasion, after the priest had shown all our pilgrims the Eucharistic Miracle, he came down to the foot of the altar, and made the following observation:
"Remember, this miracle that you are witnessing now, and
that you have traveled so far to witness, happens every day in
every church in the world, at the consecration of the Mass."
How many tests have been made over the years, how
many times Our Dear Lord Jesus allows Himself to be prodded
and cut, examined under microscopes, and photographed. The
most recent, an extensive scientific research done in 1970, used
the most modern scientific tools available. The results of the
tests are as follows:
- The flesh is real flesh. The blood is real blood.
- The flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart (myocardium)
- The flesh and blood belong to the human species.
- The flesh and blood have the same blood type (AB).
- In the blood, there were found proteins in the same normal
proportions as are found in the scro-proteic make up of
fresh, normal blood.
- In the blood, there were also found these minerals: Chlorides,
phosphorous, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium.
- The preservation of the flesh and of the blood, which were
left in their natural state for twelve centuries (without any
chemical preservatives) and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remains an extraordinary phenomenon.
As part of this most recent investigation, the following
comment was made: "Though it is alien to my task strictly
speaking, I feel I should insert the following reflection into the
study just completed: the clarification, which comes through in
these studies, of the nature of the flesh gives little support to
the hypothesis of a `fraud' perpetrated centuries ago. As a matter of fact supposing that the heart may have been taken from a
cadaver, I maintain that only a hand experienced in anatomic
dissection would have been able to obtain from a hollow internal organ such a uniform cut (as can still be glimpsed in the flesh)."
What the doctor, a scientist and not a theologian, is saying
in simple language is that although it's not his task to speculate,
it would have been difficult, next to impossible, for anyone to
have cut a slice of the heart in the way that it was done. He also
states that it's highly doubtful that there was any fraud involved.
Another unusual characteristic of the blood is that when
liquified, it has retained the chemical properties of freshly shed
blood. When we cut ourselves and stain our clothes, the chemical properties of the blood are gone within 20 minutes to a half
hour. If blood is not refrigerated within an hour maximum, the
composition rapidly breaks down. If blood were taken from a
dead body, it would lose its qualities quickly through decay. This
blood is over 1250 years old and still contains all its properties,
chemicals and protein of freshly shed blood. And yet in the
testing, it was determined that no preservatives of any kind were
found in the blood.
The Above Information is extracted from:
This Is My Body,
This Is My Blood
Miracles of the Eucharist
by Bob and Penny Lord
Catholic Books of Interest
HOME Site Map
E-MAIL: 
Editor
Copyright © 1993-2000 by Father David C. Trosch - All Rights Reserved
Permissions granted for non-profit purposes.
Books and Religious Gift Items
Document provided as a service of:
LIFE ENTERPRISES UNLIMITED
(A 501-c-3 Non-Profit Organization)
P. O. Box 850307
Mobile, AL 36685
U. S. A.