THE EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE AT LANCIANO, ITALY
This is a true story of a Basilicatan Monk, very wise on the things of this world but much less wise on the things concerning the Faith |
This Miracle took place at the beginning of the 7th Century at Lanciano, a little town in Italy, just a few kilometers from the Adriatic Sea and of all Eucharistic Miracles, this one is undoubtedly the best known.
This is a true story of a Basilicatan Monk, very wise on the things of
this world but much less wise on the things concerning the Faith. He 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 the 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 knelt, 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.”
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 weight of the five clots
weighed together, be it 15.85 grams.
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In 1970,
1971, and later in 1981, a scientific investigation was encouraged by the 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 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 weight of the five clots weighed together, be it 15.85
grams.
5. No
trace of material or chemical agents was detected in the flesh or in the
blood.
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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