Poland Eucharistic Miracle

Eucharistic miracle in Poland is approved for veneration...

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/check-out-this-eucharistic-miracle-in-poland-96162/

On Christmas Day 2013, a consecrated Host fell to the floor, the bishop said. It was picked up and placed in a container with water. Soon after, red stains appeared on the host.
Then-Bishop of Legnica, Stefan Cichy, created a commission to monitor the host. In February 2014, a small fragment was placed on a corporal and underwent testing by various research institutes.

The final medical statement by the Department of Forensic Medicine found: “In the histopathological image, the fragments were found containing the fragmented parts of the cross striated muscle. It is most similar to the heart muscle.” Tests also determined the tissue to be of human origin, and found that it bore signs of distress.

See link above for more.

Bleeding Host in Salt Lake City, UT is under investigation...
http://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/eucharistic-miracle-under-investigation-after-host-begins-to-bleed-on-the-t

The Real Presence - Part 1

The Real Presence

First reason to believe, The miracles…

Yes it’s a miracle in the change from bread and wine to the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord but I’ve always wondered why such a miracle is not visible as all the other miracles our Lord did like those described in the Bible as the lame walk and the blind could see. Why is it that the greatest miracle of all, our Lord and God making Himself present to us in such a way as being visible and concrete to our senses, is only seen as ordinary bread and wine? To answer this, I guess we’ll first need to have a closer look as to why miracles happened in the first place.

A miracle was most commonly performed by God for the purpose of convincing the listeners of the authority of the message. That the message does indeed come from God. The splintering of so many different denominations believing differently on key salvific issues is an important factor in showing the most obvious problems of finding the one who is truly speaking God’s Word (In this particular case whether the consecrated bread and wine turns into the actual Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ).

One possible solution to this dilemma in determining who’s got it right is by recognizing that the individual that is being sent directly by God will perform miracles so as to authenticate his message. You see, because there is a definite possibility that many will be deceived into believing that they, themselves, were sent by God, there must be a way to verify their ‘pedigree’, as you can appreciate the difficulty in finding someone teaching God’s Word amidst a sea of different ideologies and beliefs. Indeed, we find many examples of these in the Bible where these individuals, who are sent directly by God, performing supernatural signs to prove they were speaking God’s Word.

Examples like in the Book of Exodus where we find Moses performing miracle upon miracle to convince the Pharaoh to release the Jewish people.

Or in the first Book of Kings, chapter 19, verses 36 through 39 we read:

“Then at the time of the offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be seen this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things by your order. Give me an answer, O Lord, give me an answer, so that this people may see that you are God, and that you have made their hearts come back again. Then the fire of the Lord came down, burning up the offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and drinking up the water in the drain. And when the people saw it, they all went down on their faces, and said, The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God.”

But most notably in the Gospel of John, specifically in John 10:37-38 where even Jesus admitted “Do not believe me, then, if I am not doing the things my Father wants me to do. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, you should at least believe my deeds, in order that you may know once and for all that the Father is in me and that I am in the Father."

So why am I speaking of miracles to prove that a message is from above? Because throughout history, our Lord has shown us that he is really present in the Blessed Sacrament. Catholics believe that the consecrated Host is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord, under the appearance of bread and wine. Therefore, Jesus, through many Eucharistic miracles, manifests His Presence in a more tangible way through visible and undeniable miracles. So, in the case of Eucharistic miracles, the miracle itself is the message.

Miracles like in Sienna, Italy on August 17, 1730 where the consecrated Hosts remain unprotected and yet perfectly preserved for over 250 years.

Or in Amsterdam, Holland in 1345 where a Eucharist is thrown into fire overnight and is miraculously unscathed.

Or in Blanot, France on March 31, 1331 where the Eucharist falls out of a woman’s mouth unto an altar rail cloth. The priest tries to recover the Host but all that remains is a large spot of blood the same size and dimensions as the wafer.

Or in Bolsena-Orvieta, Itatly. A priest has difficulties believing in the Real Presence, and blood begins seeping out of the Host upon consecration. Because of this miracle, Pope Urban IV commissioned the feast of Corpus Christi, which is still celebrated today.

As a last example we can look at the Eucharistic miracle which happened in the eighth century in Lanciano, Italy. Again, a priest has doubts about the Real Presence; however, when he consecrates the Host it transforms into flesh and blood. This unexplained event has undergone extensive scientific examination and can only be explained as a miracle. The flesh is actually cardiac tissue which contains arterioles, veins, and nerve fibers. The blood type as in all other approved Eucharistic miracles is type AB!

The analyses were conducted with absolute and unquestionable scientific precision and they were documented with a series of microscopic photographs. These analyses sustained the following conclusions:

The Flesh is real Flesh. The Blood is real Blood.

The Flesh and the Blood belong to the human species.

The Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart.

In the Flesh we see present in section: the myocardium, the endocardium, the vagus nerve and also the left ventricle of the heart for the large thickness of the myocardium.

The Flesh is a “HEART” complete in its essential structure.

The Flesh and the Blood have the same blood-type: AB

In the Blood there were found proteins in the same normal proportions (percentage-wise) as are found in the sero-proteic make-up of fresh normal blood.

The preservation of the Flesh and Blood, which were left in their natural state for twelve centuries and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remains an extraordinary phenomenon.

To read further about these and other Eucharistic miracles please go to therealpresence.org

So we do in fact have extra-ordinary events, by that I mean unexplainable by scientific means, that prove the message of the True Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. But as the Lord said to ‘doubting’ Thomas when he finally touched the wounds of Christ and believed: “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

Many have done just that, they have believed even when their senses tell them otherwise. And so I come to my second reason to believe, its history.

Next week, we will look at the history of this belief.

God Bless
Nathan

St. Clare of Assisi

St. Clare of Assisi was placed in a monastery by St. Francis.  Besides being the founder of the "Poor Clares" she is known for a miracle in 1240 wherein as Muslims were invading and attacking the monastery she prayed to Jesus before the Blessed Sacrament and for "reasons unknown" the Saracen mercenaries turned and fled.  This happened again in 1241 when troops of Vitalis d'Aversa attacked Assisi and were turned away after Clare prayed before the Blessed Sacrament.  Legend has it that she held up the monstrance before the attacking troops and they fled, thus she is often portrayed holding a monstrance.

http://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2012/08/st-claire-of-assisi-contemplative.html

http://prayers-miracles.blogspot.com/2005/08/st-clare-of-assisi-prayer.html

St. Clare's feast day is August 11.

Miracle at Lanciano

Lanciano, Italy gets its name from the centurion, Longinus, who pierced the side of our Lord while He hung on the Cross.  "Lanciano" means "the lance."  It is said that Longinus had poor eyesight, and after piercing the side of the Lord and being sprayed by the water from His side, he was healed - his eyesight restored completely.  After this Longinus left the Roman army and converted to Christianity.  He was later martyred for his faith in Cappadocia, and his feast day is celebrated on March 15th.  Let us take a moment to remember St. Longinus on this day.

In the year 750 a priest at Lanciano, Italy, after pronouncing the words of consecration of the Eucharist had a strong temptation to doubt the Real Presence of Jesus.  Before his eyes the Sacred Host visibly changed into a circle of Flesh and the consecrated wine transformed into bright red Blood, coagulating into five small clots, each different in form and size.

There have been four authentications performed on these consecrated Hosts throughout the centuries, with the latest being performed in 1970.  Microscopic studies document that:

• The Flesh is real human flesh and the Blood is real human blood.
• The Flesh is composed of cardiac muscular tissue (myocardium), having no trace whatsoever of any materials or agents used for preservation of flesh.
• Both the Flesh and Blood belong to the same blood type, "type AB."
• The proteins in the Blood are in the same proportions as those found in normal fresh blood. 

This on-going miracle can be seen to this day!  After more than 1200 years, without any attempt to preserve, the Host still appears rose-colored when backlighted and the five clots of coagulated Blood are a brownish-red hue, tending toward yellow.  

Cards relating information can be purchased through St. Joseph Catholic Radio:

For further reading I suggest:
http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/lanciano.html
http://www.ewtn.com/library/CHISTORY/ZLANCIAN.HTM

Eucharistic Miracle of Herentals

Eucharistic Miracle of Herentals - Belgium 1412

In 1412, a certain Jan van Langerstede who obtain their living by stealing sacred objects from the churches who then resold around Europe, went to the nearby village of Poederlee, entered the church and stole the chalice and ciborium containing five consecrated hosts. While returning to Herentals, where he was staying at a hotel in the area known as the 'De Hegge "the hedge", felt restrained by a mysterious force that kept him from continuing the journey, then hid in a field in the Hosts a large rabbit hole and then returned quietly to Herentals. Jan was sentenced to hang by Judge Gilbert De Pape, as the police searching his luggage found the stolen goods, but before his death the prisoner pointed to where he had hidden the consecrated Hosts, then the court suspended the sentence and ordered to Jan return to the crime scene to verify the authenticity of the confession. A multitude of crowd followed them and wonder just came in, saw the radiant Hosts all arranged so as to form a cross. The Hosts miraculously remained intact, despite the weather (it had been raining). Were immediately reported in procession, partly in Herentals, and partly Poederlee, where they remained until the sixteenth century. On January 2, 1442, the miracle was declared authentic by the magistrate of Herentals and place of discovery of Hosts was built a small chapel.

This text and more like it:
http://digilander.libero.it/rexur/miracoli/inglese/ostia.htm

Eucharistic Miracle St Mary of Egypt

This Eucharistic miracle
is related in the life of
St. Mary of Egypt who lived
in the desert for 47 years.
The account of her life was
written by the Bishop
Sofronio of Jerusalem in the
6th century. St. Mary is said
to have walked on the Jordan
River to reach the opposite
bank and receive Communion
from the Monk Zosimus.

We are told that when St. Mary was 12 years of age she left her parents and went to Alexandria. There she led a very dissolute life for 16 years. One day she came upon a ship about to set sail with different groups of passengers.  She inquired who they might be and where they were going. She was told they were pilgrims sailing toward Jerusalem for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. She decided to join them. When on the feast day she tried to enter the church, she was seized by a mysterious force.  Fearfully she raised her eyes to an image of the Holy Virgin and was overcome with a deep sorrow for the sinful life she had led until that day.  Only then was she able to make her way into the church and worship the True Cross.

She did not remain in Jerusalem. “If you go across the Jordan you will find peace” was the message of the Madonna. The following day after her confession and Communion she made her way across the Jordan to the desert of Arabia.  There she lived for 47 years in solitude encountering neither men nor beasts. Her skin shriveled, her hair was long and white, but the promise of the Virgin proved true, she found her peace of soul.

One day she met up with the Monk Zosimus and asked him to bring her Communion each year. One year Zosimus arrived with the Eucharist, but Mary did not show. In great sorrow Zosimus prayed: “Lord, my God, King and Creator of all, do not deprive me of my desire, but grant that I may see this holy woman.” Then he thought, “Now what will I do if she appears, there is no boat around to get me across? I will not achieve my wish.” While he gave into these thoughts, Mary appeared on the opposite shore and Zosimus was consoled. Then he saw her make the sign of the Cross over the water and walk out on it as though it were dry land. 

When 12 months had passed Zosimus returned but was unable to find the remains of the saintly penitent. A lion had dug her grave and buried the body.

(Original text from: http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/english_pdf/Maryegypt.pdf)

Eucharistic Miracle at Sienna

In the 18th century, while preparing for the Feast of the Assumption, there was a lot of Hosts preconsecrated for the celebration.  Then, on the vigil of the Assumption, August 14, 1730, thieves broke into the Church of St. Francis, they picked the lock on the tabernacle and stole the golden ciborium which was filled with Hosts.  Two days later at another parish a priest noticed something protruding from the offering box (poor box) which was only emptied about once per year.  He opened the box and found someone had dumped the consecrated Hosts into it.  Being that the box was not opened often, it had lots of dust and cobwebs in it - some of the Hosts were suspended in the cobwebs.  The Hosts were compared to others at St. Francis and they were identical in size and iron marks from the baking process - these were indeed the stolen Hosts.  The Hosts were put into another ciborium and not used, for they had been dirtied by the thief/thieves - but since they were consecrated, they were not destroyed.

"Okay," you say, "so where's the miracle?"  Well, fifty years had passed and the Minister General of the Franciscan Order came to investigate - and not only had the Host not deteriorated in the least, upon tasting one he commented that it was fresh and incorrupt.  They even had a pleasant smell.  In 1789 the Archbishop of Sienna, with a number of other religious and dignitaries, had the Hosts examined under a microscope and further confirmed no sign of deterioration.  Keep in mind, bread will start molding and deteriorating within days, or in best conditions (without freezing, which was not even plausible in the 18th century) a week or two.  After more than fifty years, there should have been little resemblance to bread at all.  What's more, is this miracle can be witness to this day!

More reading:
http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/siena.html

I am also making this a short series on Eucharistic Miracles... stay tuned!