The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, Italy.
It
was somewhere between AD 700 and 750. A monk of the Order of St. Basil, who was
also a priest, was not very steadfast in his faith and had been doubting the
Real Presence of Christ’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist. But he did pray to
God constantly for resolution of His doubt. One morning at Mass, as he prayed
the Eucharistic Prayer and spoke the words of consecration, to his great
amazement, after he, as a priest with the ordination of Apostolic Succession,
doing the same acts and words as Jesus and the Apostles did, behold! The bread
in his hands physically became Flesh. He could see and feel it – Flesh, no
longer bread. The wine in the chalice, again, after the words and actions of
the Eucharistic Prayer, he could see had now become physical Blood. The
appearance of both had physically changed into the reality that duly
consecrated bread and wine always become, even if retaining the appearance of
bread and wine: the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus. The monk was so moved at
the sight that he began to shout to the Lord for mercy and tears flooded down
his face. Many people in church came up to see the miracle.
Just
a pious story? You decide. Here are further facts.
In
the 1960's, the Franciscans, in whose custody the Eucharistic Miracle has
remained, wanted a robust modern scientific examination to be done, and it
occurred in November of 1970. Although the container had a seal, it was
discovered that it was not airtight. The Flesh was covered with white, dry
stains of mold, easily removed under the microscope. Also, small residue of
insects and maggots were found. The Blood clots were free of contamination, but
were of hard and uniform texture. Both the Professor making the examination and
the Franciscan friars in attendance were rather downcast. Maybe this wasn’t
real? Just a medieval legend?
The
local archbishop who was present gave permission for the professor to take very
small pieces of both the Body and Blood for further study. The professor
engaged a second professor for a thorough study. In Mach of 1971 the final
report found: (1) the Blood is true human blood and the Flesh is true human flesh.
(2) The Flesh is made of heart muscle tissue. (3) The Blood and the Flesh
belong to the same human species. (4) The Blood group is AB, and is identical
in both the Blood and the Flesh; hence, very likely both belong to the same
Person. (5) Blood proteins could be fractionated in the ratios of normal fresh
[note, fresh] blood. (6) Chloride minerals, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium,
and sodium were detected in reduced quantities in the blood, while calcium was
present in excess [believed to be likely due to environmental contamination].
(6) The structure of the Flesh was so neat a slice of a thin cross-section of a
heart muscle that it does not lend itself to be a fake. (7) Both specimens, but
the Blood in particular, would have rapidly undergone putrefaction if
originating from a corpse [hence, they were from fresh, living tissue]. (8)
Salts of preservative substances were never detected in the tissue samples. (So
not only is the physical transformation miraculous, the preservation for 1300
years is as well.)
In
1981 the Franciscan asked the professor to do further studies on the Flesh. A
new sample of the tissue was taken, and upon examination, the myocardial
structure of the muscle fibers was even more clearly delineated. New details
could be seen: the endocardium, the internal lining of the heart, areas of
adipose tissue, arterial and venous blood vessels, and bundles of vagus nerve
fibers. Taken as a whole, this fragment of Flesh outlined the picture of a
complete human heart.
Just a pious story? Pretty amazing scientific analysis.
Dibby Allan Green