Eucharistic Miracle of Stich, West Germany, 1970.
In
these articles on Eucharistic miracles, we have now looked at 10 different
miracles where God changes the bread and/or wine, along with the “accidents”
(sight, touch, taste) into human flesh and blood. (Normally the “accidents”
remain that of bread and wine and do not change, presumably for human
sensibilities.) In those analyzed by modern scientific methods, all were shown
to be the human heart muscle and type AB blood of a person suffering greatly.
Today’s
Eucharistic miracle is a bit different. At the time of the consecration at
Mass, Blood appeared on the cloths on the altar, but completely separate from
the bread and wine which were being consecrated into Christ’s Body and Blood.
Stitch
is a small hamlet located in what was then (1970) called West Germany, in
Bavaria, near the Swiss border. On June 9, during Mass, at the time of the
consecration of the bread, the priest – a visiting priest from Switzerland that
day – suddenly noticed on the corporal cloth, next to the base of the chalice,
a small reddish spot which grew to the size of a coin. At the consecration of
the wine, while the priest held up the chalice now containing the Precious
Blood, he noticed another red spot on the corporal right where the chalice had
previously sat. The priest suspected a leak in the chalice itself, but felt all
around and there was no moisture, no leak.
Two
days later they were re-examined, photographed, and then sent to the
Polyclinical Institute of the University of Zurich for analysis. They were
given to four different persons for analysis, none of whom were told their
origin: the Director of the Chemical Laboratory, the Chief of the Blood Control
Laboratory, a student in medicine in his sixth term, and the chief of the
Laboratory for the Analysis of Hemorrhage and Coagulation. The results from all
four analyses indicated human blood, and in addition, the Director of the
Clinical Laboratory said that “in his considered judgement the blood was most
certainly that of a man in agony.”
As
it happened, five weeks later, on July 14th, that same visiting priest from
Switzerland was again asked to celebrate Mass in the hamlet of Stitch. Before
beginning, the priest carefully examined the altar stone, the altar cloth, the
corporals, and the chalice. He made certain each were absolutely clean and in
good condition. Yet, again, shortly after the consecration, red stains appeared
on the cloths. After Mass, the people – who all knew of the June 9th miracle –
were invited to come up and see the cloths. There were four spots. One of the
stains had expanded to the size of the large Host which the priest consumes at
Mass (about 2") and it had a distinct cross in the stain. Another stain
was the size of the Host the people consume (about 1"), and the remaining
two spots were smaller – however one of them was not near the chalice but near
the book of the Gospels. All were brownish red. All had a cross visible in the
stains. The written testimony of one witness, a nurse and religious sister,
stated, “The outlines of the stains were sharp. They did not disperse along the
strands of the fabric as ordinary liquids do, but went right through the altar
cloths, and it was ‘tacky.’” And, again, all three cloths bore the stains.
The
cloths were also sent for analysis, this time to the District Hospital of
Cercee, and again, the scientists concluded that they were stains of human
blood.
God, who made all creation out of nothing, now twice, at the altar, created the Precious Blood of His dearly beloved Son, visible on the cloths, to send us a message.
Dibby Allan Green