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 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.
“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.
Dr. Frederick Zugibe, a forensic doctor at
“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.
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
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
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!