Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires of 1992.
On Friday, May 1, 1992, a lay
Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion noticed two crescent-shaped Host
fragments lying on the corporal – the cloth where the Eucharistic Host is placed. The
minister brought them to the priest’s attention, who then did the proper
procedure for consecrated Hosts that are no longer edible: he immersed the
fragments in water. The Church’s understanding is that when the appearance of
bread is gone from a consecrated Host (as with dissolution in water), that the
Presence of Jesus Christ is also gone, and then the water can be returned
directly to the earth on the consecrated ground of the church. Until
dissolution happens, the Hosts in water were locked in the Tabernacle, kept
with other reserved consecrated Hosts.
On May 8, the priest checked on the Hosts
and found three blood clots in the water, along with blood streaks on the walls
of the ciborium (the container for consecrated Hosts, used here to hold the
water and Host fragments) as if they had been produced by some sort of
explosion of the Hosts themselves. The priest brought it to the attention of
the diocese and was instructed to have a medical evaluation. The priest also
had a professional photographer document the changes. Then after some time the
water evaporated and only a small little red crust remained in the bottom,
which remains to this day.
On May 10, a Sunday, during two separate
Masses held at different times, each paten (plate which holds the bread), now
holding the consecrated Body of the Lord, had stains of Blood on each. The
Blood was shiny, bright red, without the slightest smell.
For the medical evaluation, the doctor
removed part of the reddish streak on the side of the ciborium. A hemoglobin
detection test came out positive indicating the substance was blood. The doctor
claimed she had seen muscle cells and living fibrous tissue under the microscope,
but no further documentation or examination of this was done (and that doctor
was unable to continue).
Two hematologists then examined the small
little red crust remaining at the bottom of the ciborium. It was stuck to the
container (but detached itself in following years), so in 1992 could only be viewed
under microscope. The appearance was of a dried blood clot and the hematologist reported, “One of the times I observed it, I noticed an area that
seemed to be rhythmically beating.” Unfortunately, no picture nor video was
taken.
Of the blood that appeared on the paten on
May 10th, it was examined three days later. Standard blood smear tests were
done yielding a full differential white cell count. The analysis of the various
kinds of white blood cells revealed abnormal blood suggestive of a “state of
suffering,” and the doctor certified the blood was of human origin.
In 1999, a new sample was taken and DNA
profiling attempted but could not be done.
Net result from examination of the 1992 miracle: what had been a consecrated Host (formerly bread), now immersed in water, had transformed into human Blood indicative of a state of suffering and compromised immune system of the Person. The Church’s understanding is that in each species – initially, the bread and wine – that in EACH, after the consecration, is the whole Christ: body, blood, soul, and divinity. In this 1992 miracle we have a transformation of what was bread, then is consecrated as Christ’s Body, when placed in water, by itself transformed into Blood – a confirmation that Christ’s Body and Blood are both present in each species.
Dibby Allan Green