The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano
Of all Eucharistic Miracles, the one at Lanciano, a little town in Italy, just a few kilometers from the Adriatic Sea, is undoubtedly the one that is best known. This Miracle took place at the beginning of the 7th Century.
What
follows is a true story: A Basilicatan Monk, very wise on the things of this
world but much less wise on the things concerning the Faith, was going through
a difficult stage in his perception of the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus
Christ in the Eucharist. He prayed constantly to get relief from his doubts;
and he was filled with fear of losing his vocation one day. His martyrdom was
very painful and he suffered daily from the routine of his vocation. The Divine
Providence did not abandon him, because God the Father, through His Infinite
Mercy, brought him out of this darkness through the same grace granted to Saint
Thomas.
One
morning, during the celebration of Mass, subjected to a great attack of doubts,
he began the Consecration before people from a neighbouring village. Suddenly,
following the Consecration of the Bread and Wine, what he saw on the Altar
caused his hands to tremble. He was dumbfounded, his back towards the faithful,
for a moment that seemed an eternity to the parishioners, then, slowly he
turned towards the faithful and said to them: “O happy witnesses to whom the
Blessed Lord, to refute my incredulity, has deigned to reveal Himself in this
Blessed Sacrament and make Himself visible to our eyes. Come and take a look at
our God so close to us. Here are the Flesh and the Blood of Jesus Christ, our
Beloved.”
In fact,
the Host was transformed into Flesh and the Wine into Blood! The faithful,
having witnessed the Miracle, began to cry, begging for forgiveness and mercy.
Some of the faithful hit their chests, confessing their sins while declaring
themselves unworthy of having witnessed this Miracle; others respectfully
kneeled down thanking God for the great Gift that He had just given them. On
that day, rumours of the Miracle travelled throughout the village like a fire
ablaze in a forest and, just as fast, to the neighbouring villages right up to
the Holy See itself.”
Jesus said:
“In truth I say to you, the one
who eats My
Flesh and drinks My Blood,
has Eternal
Life, and I shall raise him up
on the last
day. The one who eats this Bread
shall Live
Eternally.” (John 6, 53-59)
Undoubtedly,
“the Gift” of Lanciano was given for the good Italian Monk, and for the people
of the small village and for the people of that era in particular, but also
given for the people of all nations of the world and for all the generations to
come, because what is most remarkable, is the continuity itself of this
Miracle, a Miracle which has remained visible for all people to see for a
period of more than 1297 years, without, however, the least use of any product
of preservation or chemical substances whatsoever; allowing the Flesh and the
Blood to remain fresh, because yes, the Holy Host, transformed into Flesh, and
the Wine transformed into Blood, have subsisted completely intact for more than
twelve centuries.
The Blood
is Real. It is made up of five unequal clots, but each clot
weighs
exactly the same than the five clots taken together: 15.85 grams.
In 1970,
1971, and later in 1981, a scientific investigation was encouraged by the
Catholic Church. The illustrious Professor and Doctor, Odoardo Linoli, an
Anatomic Professor of Pathologic Histology, and of Chemistry and of Clinical
Microscopy and Doctor in Chief for the whole of the hospitals of Arezzo, began
a long series of analyses and tests in order to determine the exact nature of
the said Miracle. He was assisted by Doctor Ruggero Bertelli, the highly
skilled Professor from the Department of Anatomy at the Siena University. The
investigations were all carried out with state-of-the-art technological
procedures of which observations were widely confirmed by a series of
photographs taken with a microscope. The analyses, once completed, gave us the
following conclusions:
1. The
blood of the Eucharistic Miracle is real blood and the flesh is real flesh.
2. The
flesh is made up of cardiac-muscle tissues. The way in which this piece of
flesh was obtained through dissection from the myocardium supposes an exceptional
ability on the part of the “Practitioner.”
3. The
blood type is the same in the flesh and in the blood clots, AB.
(Note: The
blood type is identical to the one found by Professor Baima Bollone on the Holy
Shroud of Turin). Several minerals were found in the blood: chlorate,
phosphorous, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and calcium. Proteins were found in
the same-normal proportions that are found in the sero-proteins of ordinary
blood.
4. The
diagram of this blood corresponds to that of human blood that would have
been taken from a human body that very same day. The Blood is Real. It is made up of five unequal clots, but each clot weighs exactly the same than the five clots taken together: 15.85 grams.
5. No
trace of material or chemical agents was detected in the flesh or in the blood.
The Flesh
appeared around the Host. Throughout
the
Centuries, the Host disappeared, leaving only
the Flesh,
identified by scientists as tissues coming
from muscle
of the myocardium. There is no trace
whatsoever
of chemical or preserving agents such
as used for
mummifying.
The preservation of the Flesh and the
Blood, which were exposed in their natural state, without the least means of
whatever form of preserving agents whatsoever, left to the action of
atmospheric and biological agents, constitutes an extraordinary phenomenon,
scientifically inexplicable, and of which all of the results of analyses
constitute an absolute violation of the laws of physics.
The
scientific testimony confirms that which we believe through faith and that
which the Catholic Church has been teaching us for 2000 years, thus echoing the
Words of Jesus Christ: “In truth I say to you, the one who eats My Flesh and
drinks My Blood has Eternal Life, and I shall raise him up on the last day. The
one who eats this Flesh shall Live Eternally.” (John 6, 53-59)
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