MIRACLES of the EUCHARIST

 

Every time a Mass is said and the bread is changed into the Body of Christ and the wine into His Blood, a miracle takes place.  How many each day across the globe?

Perhaps few have heard of Eucharistic miracles, and if so, believe they happened centuries ago and yet the last few decades have seen a surge in Eucharistic miracles which cannot be explained by science. In most of these recent miracles, the Eucharist turns into human flesh and blood.

Modern scientists began a thorough examination of the miraculous substances, and in 1973, the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations began their own barrage of five hundred tests, which took fifteen months. The scientific tests revealed:

 The coagulated substance is human blood, AB blood type, with the same protein distribution as found in normal, fresh blood.

 (Image:  The Body of Christ- The Eucharist-Jerry Bacik)

The Host is human muscular striated tissue of the myocardium, left ventricle (heart); arteries, veins, the branch of the vagus nerve and adipose tissue all can be identified.

Like the blood, the flesh is also fresh, living tissue, because it “responded rapidly to all the clinical reactions distinctive of living beings.”

The blood is divided into five unequal-sized parts, and yet each part weighs exactly 15.85g, and all parts together also weigh the same 15.85g.

 After their tests, the Medical Commission of WHO and UN published the results in 1976, stating:

“Science, aware of its limits, has come to a halt, face to face with the impossibility of giving an explanation.”

We are more and more being made aware of these miracles, since there is more and more emphasis on the Eucharist.  These miracles have no scientific explanation but can be scientifically verified, and help us go beyond the visible and perceptible to the existence of something beyond, or even supernatural.

While there are hundreds of documented Eucharistic miracles, most were not tested with modern scientific equipment and methodology. In the 1990s, this changed, right as there was a sudden surge of Eucharistic miracles. The results continue to be astounding.

What are some of the miracles and why are we seeing them now?  Here are some which have been accepted as authentic.  Many more are still being investigated.

In 1992  in Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA, consecrated particles left on the corporal were put into water to dissolve and locked in the tabernacle, as the Church prescribes for disposing of consecrated hosts. One week later, they had changed into a red substance. Then again in 1996 after a consecrated host fell to the ground and was also put in water to dissolve, it was found a few days later to have turned into a bloody substance. Both cases were sent to be tested by the archbishop of Buenos Aires, who was none other than our future Pope Francis.

Dr. Frederick Zugibe, a forensic doctor at Columbia University who examined the Argentinian miracle, did not know the source of the sample and told the doctor who brought it to him:

“If white blood cells were present (in the heart tissue), it is because at the moment you brought me the sample, it was pulsating.”

When he learned the source of the sample, he was shocked and deeply moved.

 In 2006 in Tixtla, MEXICO, during a retreat, a religious sister who was distributing Communion looked down and noticed that one of the Hosts had begun to bleed and transform. The Host was sent for analysis. The scientific research conducted between October 2009 and October 2012 found that  the reddish substance analyzed corresponds to blood in which there are hemoglobin and DNA of human origin.

Two studies conducted by eminent forensic experts with different methodologies have shown that the substance originates from the interior, excluding the hypothesis that someone could have placed it from the exterior.The blood type is AB, similar to the one found in the Host of Lanciano and in the Holy Shroud of Turin. A microscopic analysis of magnification and penetration reveals that the superior part of the blood has been coagulated since October 2006. Moreover, the underlying internal layers reveal, in February 2010, the presence of fresh blood. The event does not have a natural explanation.

In 2008 in Sokolka, POLAND, a consecrated Host fell from the hands of one of the priests during the distribution of Communion. The priest picked up the host, and, in accordance with liturgical norms, placed it in a small container of water. The host was expected to dissolve in the water, which would later be disposed of properly.

A week later, on October 19, Sr. Julia noticed a delicate aroma of unleavened bread. When she opened the container, she saw, in the middle of the still intact Host, a curved, bright red stain, like a blood stain, yet the water was untainted by the color.

A piece of the Host was taken and analyzed independently by two experts in order to ensure the credibility of the results.

The results of both independent studies were in perfect agreement. They concluded that the structure of the transformed fragment of the host is identical to the myocardial (heart) tissue of a living person who is nearing death. The structure of the heart muscle fibers is deeply intertwined with that of the bread, in a way impossible to achieve with human means. 

Again in POLAND (Legnica) in 2013, a consecrated Host fell and was put in water and locked in a tabernacle. Two weeks later a red spot covered one-fifth of the undissolved Host. After the investigations, the Department of Forensic Medicine statedAfter the investigations, the Department of Forensic Medicine stated:

In the histopathological image, the fragments of tissue have been found containing the fragmented parts of the cross striated muscle. The whole  is most similar to the heart muscle with alterations that often appear during the agony. The genetic researches indicate the human origin of the tissue.

The most common reason for such miracles seems to be doubt in the Real Presence. Perhaps this is why Eucharistic miracles seem to have greatly increased in number in the last thirty years or so.

 Eucharistic miracles, particularly those involving the Precious Blood, really help to encourage faith and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. And just perhaps it is a "wake-up call" for all of us!