Most Recent Investigations of Eucharistic Miracle of Sienna Published -- Full Indulgence

Ostensorium with the Hosts

(Siena) The results of recent scientific studies of the Hosts of the Eucharistic Miracle of Siena, which are kept in the Church of the Minorites have been published. It is not scientifically explainable, since  300 year old bread shows no signs of mold or decay.

The first scientific studies of the sacred particles of 1730, preserved in the Church of Saint Francis in Siena were done a century ago. Pope Saint Pius X i allowed the investigations that were carried out with the knowledge and the methods then known in 1914.

Science has made great strides since then, which allowed new investigations, which were allowed by Archbishop Antonio Buoncristiani of Siena and the CDF.

1730 Robbed

The consecrated hosts were stolen from  the Basilica of St. Francis on Aug. 14, 1730.   The whole town was so shaken that the traditional horse race held on 16 August, the Palio di Siena, was canceled over the sacrilege. Three days later, the Hosts were found again on the dirty in a sacristy floor of St. Mary's Church of Provenzano. The perpetrator or perpetrators seem to have been plagued by   conscience about the crime, which is why they got rid of the Hosts in the way that they were found.

The wafers were cleaned and returned in solemn procession to the church of Saint Francis. The restoration was organized by faithful people in gratitude into a great feast. It was decided not to use the consecrated, stolen and recovered hosts for Communion, but to retain them for Eucharistic adoration.

No Signs of Change or Decay

Over the years, it was found that they remained unchanged, neither were they moldy or rotten. Since then, the news spread among the faithful about the Eucharistic Miracle of Siena.

Several occasions over time unconsecrated communion wafers were put in an identical container and placed it next to those with the consecrated communion wafers and retrieved. While those that were not consecrated disintegrated with time, the consecrated remained unchanged intact. After six months  flour begins to change, it changes to pulp and within two years to dust.

Time left no trace on the consecrated hosts of Siena, not even an expected yellowish discoloration, although no special storage methods were applied, let alone atmospheric aspects were taken into account, as they are used today for secure storage and preservation of art treasures.

Pope John Paul II. visited the miraculous Hosts on 14 September 1980 by his pastoral visit to Siena.

225 Hosts

Overall, there are today 225 hosts and some fragments. The report on recent studies show that they are unchanged and their conservation status "excellent."

Originally there were 351 hosts. Over the centuries, and from new studies, the others were given as Communion, in order to examine whether changes in taste could be detected or if they were corrupt and unfit for human consumption because of their age. All subjects did not detect any abnormalities.

In recent months, the wafers were subjected to investigations in three groups. These included surface investigations under the digital microscope, the determination of the nucleotide adenosine triphosphate (ATP), culture test, photogrammetry to create 3D models of the hosts for  documentation. A culture test showed no growth of microorganisms, neither after seven days nor even after fourteen days. 

They were examined and cleaned by professionals of Monuments Office under the supervision of the National Research Council and the Crystal Shrine, in which the wafers are kept.

Full Indulgence From 1 November 2014 to October 4, 2015

In its opinion, the investigation report, the Archdiocese of Siena writes: "The Blessed particles remain unchanged in a miraculous way. An obvious sign that strengthens the faith of the people of God in the Eucharist, the source and summit of the entire life of the Church, the sacrament of unity and bond of love among Christians."

The Year of the Eucharist of the Archdiocese of Siena begins with the Feast of All Saints. Pope Francis granted a plenary indulgence at the request of Major Penitentiary, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, which can be gained from 1 November 2014 to October 4, 2015 by all the faithful who pray before the Blessed Sacrament in the Hosts of the church of Saint Francisin  Siena and in all other churches, in which Hosts were to be issued at this time with the usual conditions (sorrow, conversion, sacramental confession, creed, resolute turning away from sin, attendance at Holy Mass, Communion, prayer for the Holy Father, the fulfillment of the prescribed good work by a designated prayer or the visit of a particular church).

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Cantuale Antonianum

Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires -- Archbishop Bergolio and the Scientific Analysis

Edit: when an alleged Eucharistic Miracle was explored in Minnesota recently, I don't get the impression it was investigated with this level of care.

(Buenos Aires) Pope Francis had as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires to conduct a scientific investigation into an alleged Eucharistic miracle, as the Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires became known and is said to have taken place between 1992 and 1996. He himself went several times a year to St. Mary's Church, to keep in the visible signs of the miracle and to hold Eucharistic adoration there.

The event is little known, because the pastor and his flock, probably without consultation with the Archbishop, wanted no media furor. Since the election of Cardinal Bergoglio as successor to the Apostle Peter, the message is still spreading slowly. In the German-speaking Catholic internet forum, Viaveritas the first to report about it was in 2009.

The Facts

The event began in 1992 in the same year and month, as Jorge Mario Bergoglio was called by Pope John Paul II from the Argentine Province and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires. Everything has happened in the parish of Santa Maria y Caballito Almagro in the quarter in the Old City of Buenos Aires. On May 1st, 1992, a Friday, two consecrated hosts were found on the corporals of the Tabernacle. At the direction of the pastor, Father Alejandro Pezet, they were placed in a water container and sealed in the tabernacle, as is usual in such cases. After several days, the hosts had not dissolved. A week later, on Friday the 8th May 1992 were soaked with blood as the two hosts. On Sunday, the 10th Were discovered in May 1992 during the evening service on the paten drop of blood on which the consecrated host is placed during the Eucharistic celebration. The blood was examined by a doctor and several hematologists. All found beyond reasonable doubt that it was human blood.

On the 15th, 1996, the Solemnity of the Assumption, when the Communion during the Mass was over, a woman approached Pastor Pezet and told him that she had found on the back of the church an apparently desecrated host. The priest hurried out to pick them up and put these in a glass of water to dissolve them. Instead of dissolving, however, the host turned into a bloody piece of meat. From this metamorphosis, Cardinal Antonio Quarracino (1990-1998), then Archbishop of Buenos Aires and his Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio were immediately informed. They instructed the priest to have a photographer photograph everything. The pictures were made on the 6th of September, 1996 and sent to Rome.

Scientific Research

As several years passed there were no signs of visible decay, the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires who is the present Pope conducted a thorough investigation. A tissue sample piece of meat into which the Host in the tabernacle had changed in 1996, was examined medically by a forensic examiner. It was noted that it is certainly the part of a human heart. As the pathological institute further noted that it had to be the heart of a living man. These are living cells. The coroner had not been instructed on the origin of the sample, so as not to affect the outcome in any direction.

In the same year the well-known, among other things, German trained, Neuropsychopharmacology Physiologist Castañon Ricardo Gomez from Bolivia, was commissioned to carry out some further investigations. This time on two alleged Eucharistic miracles, that of 1992 and that of 1996. On the 6th of October 1999, Castañon took a blood sample in the presence of representatives of the Archbishop and of a notary, and sent it to the  Analytical Forensic Institute Forence  of San Francisco in the United States. The withdrawal was cleared by the Archbishop with Rome. Direct contacts were the Canon Lawyer and Current Curial Bishop, Gianfranco Girotti, the private secretary to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine and the Faith. On the 28th of January 2000, the result was announced. The Institute noted that it was human blood, confirming the previous studies. The DNA code is uniquely human. The samples were also sent to Professor John Walker of the University of Sydney in Australia. Independently of any other studies it was found that the muscle cells and white blood cells originate from a human and are perfectly intact. The studies also showed that the tissue was inflamed, which means that the person to whom it belongs, had suffered a trauma. In 2003, Walker told Castañon that the samples comply with an infected male, according to the signs also still alive according to the state of the heart.

To make matters deeper, then the samples were sent to the specialists for heart disease, Frederic Zugibe of the Columbia University of New York, one of the most renowned practitioners in the U.S. Court. On the 26th of March, 2005, he presented the results of his investigations. He presented the analyzed material as a definitive fragment of the heart muscle, which originates from the left ventricle near the aortic valve. The left ventricle pumps the blood to all body parts. The investigated heart muscle, says Zugibe, is located in an inflamed condition and contains a large number of white blood cells. The example then that the heart was living when the sample was taken from him, because white blood cells die off outside a living organism. More, the white blood cells have penetrated into the tissue, which indicates that the heart has suffered a great stress situation. Also, Zugibe and his scientific team were not informed about the background and origin of the samples from consecrated Hosts.

Witnesses of the studies were the attorney Ron Tesoriero and Mike Willesee, one of Australia's best known journalists, then converted to the Catholic faith. As Zugibe later learned that one sample a month the others were stored in distilled water even for three years, he was completely taken aback. He was even more surprised when he learned of the origin of the samples from wafers. The "living" part of it is a male heart fragment came from a piece of consecrated bread. Zugibe was stunned: How could the fragment of a piece of bread be a part of a human heart? How was it possible that these samples he examined, which must have been taken from 1996, for those who do not believe in miracles, could be from a dead man, still remain "alive" years after removal, meaning that the tissue cells were active and moving?  Within 15 minutes, the white blood cells break down in a dead organism. How was it possible it was still observable in 2005?  Zugibe's response, "How and why can the consecrated Host can mutate and become the flesh and blood of a living human being, remains an inexplicable mystery for science, a mystery that lies outside its competence."

Comparison with Lanciano and the Shroud of Turin

The results of the analysis of the New York Institute were finally compared with those of another Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano that, the earliest known of its kind in Lanciano, both the remains of a bloody Host and preserved human heart, which was transformed from a consecrated Host. The Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano is already 1300 years old, and yet are still remains a Host and part of the heart muscle can be seen and is exhibited in the local Franciscan Church. The miracle occurred in the first half of the 8th Century, when the area of Lanciano in southern Italy was Lombard. From Byzantium many monks fled West due to the iconoclast controversy under Emperor Leo III. (717-741). One of them, a Greek Basilian, doubted while he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Real Presence of Christ. He doubted that the bread and wine would actually convert into flesh and remain the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. During the consecration, the bread turned in his hands and under his eyes actually into flesh and blood. Recent scientific studies have also confirmed it has been a revered relic for almost 1,300 years as human blood and human heart tissue. There were no preservatives found that could explain such a long preservation.

None of the scientists were informed about the origin of the two samples from Italy and Argentina when comparing the studies of Lanciano and Buenos Aires. The comparison showed that the studied samples come from the same person in both cases. The blood type is AB + for each, which occurs in about five percent of all people worldwide. The DNA is the same in the both cases. In addition, there are features that the man came from the Middle East. Further comparisons showed the same agreement with the grave cloth of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo.

The Vatican has yet to recognize the Eucharistic Miracle of Buenos Aires. The Church can thus usually take enough time and not be rushed. Nevertheless, Argentina seems to be ripe with a long series of Eucharistic miracles that run through the course of time in Church history in a very special way, against the doubts of priests, recalling for religious and laity that transubstantiation is quite real and vivid in the memory.

Text: UCCR / Giuseppe Nardi
Image: UCCR / Giuseppe Nardi
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD

Eucharistic Miracle in Argentina: The Parish and the Parish Priest

Edit: previously we addressed an alleged Eucharistic miracle confirmed by Pope Francis. One of the readers requested to know where the priest and his parish. It's Fr. Alejandro Pezet of the parish of Jesús Misericordioso de Rosario de Lerma in Buenos Aires. Here are some photos we present without comment which were taken from his Facebook profile, although we will say that it does seem that he’s very interested in a kind of Lifeteen Ministry.

One thing we will note is that the Host fell to the floor while someone was receiving It in the hand, as noted by the Diocesan investigator Doctor Zugibe. We still don’t know what became of the “sample” or of any further miracles associated with this phenomenon.

Pope Investigated and Possibly Confirmed a Eucharistic Miracle

Edit: a friend sent a link to this Liturgical design blog  which reports the possibility of a Eucharistic miracle in Argentina, which Pope Francis, then Cardinal Bergoglio, investigated to reveal that the Host which did not disintegrate, was possibly human heart tissue.  A similar occurrence took place in St. Paul Minnesota in June of 2011.  It’s interesting to note the contrast in the way the way the investigation was handled in the two respective locations.  In the case of Cardinal Bergoglio’s instigation, he seems to have been more directly involved and kept the possible miracle secret while he immediately investigated it, while in the case in St. Paul, the event received immediate publication.  When the St. Paul Archdiocese eventually engaged lab tests, they determined that it wasn’t even Serratia Macescens, but a “fungus”.  The Diocese did not comment on what the “fungus” was, and it was unclear whether the sample is still extant, for more testing.

In any case, this is much more encouraging and miraculous.  It’s even more interesting because of the current Pope’s involvement with it.  This is from a website by a Fr. M. Piotrowski, SChr.


A consecrated Host becomes flesh and blood

At seven o’clock in the evening on August 18, 1996, Fr. Alejandro Pezet was saying Holy Mass at a Catholic church in the commercial center of Buenos Aires. As he was finishing distributing Holy Communion, a woman came up to tell him that she had found a discarded host on a candleholder at the back of the church. On going to the spot indicated, Fr. Alejandro saw the defiled Host. Since he was unable to consume it, he placed it in a container of water and put it away in the tabernacle of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.

On Monday, August 26, upon opening the tabernacle, he saw to his amazement that the Host had turned into a bloody substance. He informed Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who gave instructions that the Host be professionally photographed. The photos were taken on September 6. They clearly show that the Host, which had become a fragment of bloodied flesh, had grown significantly in size. For several years the Host remained in the tabernacle, the whole affair being kept a strict secret. Since the Host suffered no visible decomposition, Cardinal Bergoglio decided to have it scientifically analyzed.

On October 5, 1999, in the presence of the Cardinal’s representatives, Dr. Ricardo Castañón Gomez ("Castanon", sic throughout) took a sample of the bloody fragment and sent it to New York for analysis. Since he did not wish to prejudice the study, he purposely did not inform the team of scientists of its provenance. One of these scientists was Dr. Frederick Zugibe, ("Zugiba", sic throughout) the well-known cardiologist and forensic pathologist. He determined that the analyzed substance was real flesh and blood containing human DNA. Zugiba testified that, “the analyzed material is a fragment of the heart muscle found in the wall of the left ventricle close to the valves. This muscle is responsible for the contraction of the heart. It should be borne in mind that the left cardiac ventricle pumps blood to all parts of the body. The heart muscle is in an inflammatory condition and contains a large number of white blood cells. This indicates that the heart was alive at the time the sample was taken. It is my contention that the heart was alive, since white blood cells die outside a living organism. They require a living organism to sustain them. Thus, their presence indicates that the heart was alive when the sample was taken. What is more, these white blood cells had penetrated the tissue, which further indicates that the heart had been under severe stress, as if the owner had been beaten severely about the chest.”

Two Australians, journalist Mike Willesee and lawyer Ron Tesoriero, witnessed these tests. Knowing where sample had come from, they were dumbfounded by Dr. Zugiba’s testimony. Mike Willesee asked the scientist how long the white blood cells would have remained alive if they had come from a piece of human tissue, which had been kept in water. They would have ceased to exist in a matter of minutes, Dr. Zugiba replied. The journalist then told the doctor that the source of the sample had first been kept in ordinary water for a month and then for another three years in a container of distilled water; only then had the sample been taken for analysis. Dr. Zugiba’s was at a loss to account for this fact. There was no way of explaining it scientifically, he stated. Only then did Mike Willesee inform Dr. Zugiba that the analyzed sample came from a consecrated Host (white, unleavened bread) that had mysteriously turned into bloody human flesh. Amazed by this information, Dr. Zugiba replied, “How and why a consecrated Host would change its character and become living human flesh and blood will remain an inexplicable mystery to science—a mystery totally beyond her competence.”

Only faith in the extraordinary action of a God provides the reasonable answer—faith in a God, who wants to make us aware that He is truly present in the mystery of the Eucharist.

The Eucharistic miracle in Buenos Aires is an extraordinary sign attested to by science. Through it Jesus desires to arouse in us a lively faith in His real presence in the Eucharist. He reminds us that His presence is real, and not symbolic. Only with the eyes of faith do we see Him under appearance of the consecrated bread and wine. We do not see Him with our bodily eyes, since He is present in His glorified humanity. In the Eucharist Jesus sees and loves us and desires to save us.

In collaboration with Ron Tesoriero, Mike Willesee, one of Australia’s best-known journalists (he converted to Catholicism after working on the documents of another Eucharistic miracle) wrote a book entitled Reason to Believe. In it they present documented facts of Eucharistic miracles and other signs calling people to faith in Christ who abides and teaches in the Catholic Church. They have also made a documentary film on the Eucharist—based largely on the scientific discoveries associated with the miraculous Host in Buenos Aires. Their aim was to give a clear presentation of the Catholic Church’s teaching on the subject of the Eucharist. They screened the film in numerous Australian cities. The showing at Adelaide drew a crowd of two thousand viewers. During the commentary and question period that followed a visibly moved man stood up announcing that he was blind. Having learned that this was an exceptional film, he had very much wanted to see it. Just before the screening, he prayed fervently to Jesus for the grace to see the film. At once his sight was restored to him, but only for the thirty-minute duration of the film. Upon its conclusion, he again lost the ability to see. He confirmed this by describing in minute detail certain scenes of the film. It was an incredible event that moved those present to the core of their being.

Through such wondrous signs God calls souls to conversion. If Jesus causes the Host to become visible flesh and blood, a muscle that is responsible for the contraction of a human heart—a heart that suffers like that of someone who has been beaten severely about the chest, if He does such things, it is in order to arouse and quicken our faith in His real presence in the Eucharist. He thus enables us to see that Holy Mass is a re-presentation (i.e. a making present) of the entire drama of our salvation: Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. Jesus says to his disciples, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe” (Jn 4: 48). There is no need to actively seek out wondrous signs. But if Jesus chooses to give them to us, then it behooves us to accept them with meekness and seek to understand what He desires to tell us by them. Thanks to these signs, many people have discovered faith in God—the One God in the Holy Trinity, who reveals His Son to us: Jesus Christ, who abides in the sacraments and teaches us through Holy Scripture and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.

A mystery that surpasses our understanding

The Eucharist—the actual presence of the risen person of Jesus under the appearances of bread and wine—is one of the most important and most difficult truths revealed to us by Christ. Eucharistic miracles are merely visible confirmations of what He tells us about Himself; namely, that He really does give us His glorified body and blood as spiritual food and drink. Jesus established the Eucharist on the eve of His passion, death, and resurrection. During the Last Supper, He “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks,and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins’” (Mat 26: 26-28). When Jesus took and gave the apostles the bread and wine, He said, “this is my body….this is my blood” by which He clearly meant that the bread and wine which He gave them to eat and drink really was His body and blood, and not some sort of symbol.

Earlier, in the famous Eucharistic sermon recorded by St. John the Evangelist, Jesus said to the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (Jn 6: 53-56). Shocked by Jesus’ words, the Jews said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (Jn 6: 52). Many of Jesus’ disciples were also scandalized. “This saying is hard,” they objected, “who can accept it?” Knowing that the truth of the Eucharist was a shock and a scandal to many of His listeners, Jesus responded not by retracting His words, but by raising the stakes: “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life”” (Jn 6: 62-63). Here Jesus goes to the heart of the mystery by anticipating the glorification of His humanity through His death, resurrection, and ascension. He will give His flesh and blood as food and drink after the Ascension; that is, when His flesh and blood have been glorified and divinized, for, unglorified, “flesh” is indeed “of no avail.”

Not all Jesus’ listeners accepted His teaching of the Eucharist. Thus He turned to them, saying, “‘But there are some of you who do not believe.’ Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him” (Jn 6: 65). Judas’ betrayal began with his rejection of Jesus’ teaching about His real presence in the Eucharist. In confirmation of this fact, Jesus said, “‘Did I not choose you twelve? Yet is not one of you a devil?’ He was referring to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot; it was he who would betray him, one of the Twelve” (Jn 6: 70-71). The Eucharist is the Risen Jesus Himself in His glorified, and thus invisible, humanity. This is the essence of His teaching of the Eucharist (Jn 6: 62-63). By its death and resurrection, the humanity of Jesus takes on a divine nature; it assumes a new order of existence: “For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity, bodily” (Col 2: 9). In His glorified humanity, the Risen Jesus, becoming omnipresent, gives of Himself in the gift of the Eucharist. He shares with us His resurrected life and love that we may even here on earth experience the reality of heaven and partake of the life of the Holy Trinity.

Confronting the mystery of the Eucharist, human reason feels its impotence and limitations. In his encyclical devoted this sacrament, John Paul II writes: “‘The consecration of the bread and wine effects the change of the whole substance of the bead into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. And the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called this change transubstantiation.’ Truly the Eucharist is a mysterium fidei, a mystery which surpasses our understanding and can only be received in faith, as is often brought out in the catechesis of the Church Fathers regarding this divine sacrament: ‘Do not see—Saint Cyril of Jerusalem exhorts—in the bread and wine merely natural elements, because the Lord has expressly said that they are his body and his blood: faith assures you of this, though your senses suggest otherwise’” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 15).

The Eucharist is Christ’s supreme gift and miracle, for in it He gives us Himself and engages us in His work of salvation. He enables us to participate in His victory over death, sin, and Satan, share in the divine nature, and partake of the life of the Holy Trinity. In the Eucharist we receive “the medicine of immortality, the antidote to death” (EE, 18). For this reason, Mother Church holds that every deliberate and freely willed absence from Holy Mass on Sunday is an irretrievable spiritual loss, a sign of loss of faith, and hence a serious sin. Let us also remember that if “a Christian’s conscience is burdened by serious sin, then the path of penance through the sacrament of Reconciliation becomes necessary for full participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice” (EE, 37).

Fr. M. Piotrowski SChr

There will be further report on the validity of this.

Archdiocese Claims No Miracle at St. Augustine's

Miraculous Host at Lanciano

Edit: a few months ago in July it was alleged that it might be possible that a Host which was consecrated at the celebration of an English liturgy by the parish of St. Augustine's assistant pastor, Father Grabner, might be a real Eucharistic miracle.  Such miracles, scoffing in the media and contempt from journalists and politicians notwithstanding, happen. Father Echert, the parish's pastor, said that he'd never seen anything like it in his thirty years of experience.  The Host fragment, which had been sitting in water but didn't dissolve as is usually the case, was sent to the University for "tests" as is usual in cases like this.

The Anti-Clerical journalist from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, cited another such occurrence which took place in Dallas, but he didn't cite any examples which were proven true and are the subject not only of immense popular devotion, but great literature and beautiful art.   One such miracle takes place regularly every year on the same day, usually, in San Jenaro, Italy on the feast of St. Januarius or at Lanciano.

In 1970-'71 and taken up again partly in 1981 there took place a scientific investigation by the most illustrious scientist Prof. Odoardo Linoli, eminent Professor in Anatomy and Pathological Histology and in Chemistry and Clinical Microscopy. He was assisted by Prof. Ruggero Bertelli of the University of Siena. The analyses were conducted with absolute and unquestionable scientific precision and they were documented with a series of microscopic photographs.

With such examples of real Eucharistic miracles the laity was understandably excited in many ways less inspired individuals would not.  It should also be understood that the expectation of this miracle does not mitigate the other real miracle which occurs at every Mass in the consecration of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ where the priest has the correct matter, form and intention to do as the Church does.

At present the Diocesan Communications Director insists that there isn't anything miraculous taking place with this Host.  Since when is he credible?  Dennis McGrath has not been the most credible of witnesses to the Catholic Faith in years past.  Usually, when he gets cornered by the facts, he accuses people of attacking the Bishop or being mean. It's not out of the realm of the plausible to ask for a second opinion when someone has proven themselves not to be credible in the past?  Dennis McGrath has a very bad reputation when it comes to credibility and defending the sex education Virtus program, was not one of his best moments.  So why not ask someone else to look into it, provided the evidence hasn't been disposed of?

In any event, we did  suggest in our own report that this alleged miracle also might be a case of serratia marcescens, a bacterium which gives a red color to bread when it's stored in contact with moisture. Apart from not crediting this blog for making the observation when the story first appeared in the Pioneer Press with a distored fish eye lense shot of Father Echert, the reporter shows himself to be glib and disrespectful, blasphemous really. Journalist Nick Ferraro tweets blasphemously:

OMG! Archdiocese says Communion host turned blood-red due to virus, not act of God http://www.twincities.com/ci_19546770 

 Obviously the Archdiocese has to deal with journalists,. but it would be nice to have a Diocesan representative who was less timid and more convinced of his Catholic Faith.   Most journalists are generally hostile to and completely ignorant of the Catholic Faith.  Why not disarm them by challenging their knowledge and correcting them when they're wrong?  No, Dennis McGrath frequently misses the kinds of details even a sensible Catholic of average intelligence would notice.  Regardless as to whether the journalist knows the difference between fungi, virii or the correct spelling of the word "Host", this journalist appears to be completely unconcerned about insulting Catholics and he won't be punished.  It would be nice to have someone confront these journalists.  Even Our Lord asked the man who slapped him why he did it.

Even leftist journalist Nick Coleman, assuming it's the same man, chimed in on the comments section for the Pioneer Press article with a sneering comment.  A real Catholic mouthpiece with some Catholic background would be better able to confront such jeering with an effective defense of the Faith.

 Still, no matter how politically correct you happen to be, it's always open season on Catholics and what we believe.  How is it such politically correct individuals feel themselves emboldened to insult Catholics with impunity?  Why are they so eager to jump at the chance to treat us with such hateful regard?  There is a miracle in this, actually.

The Apostles met with the same jeering on their way to violent deaths and so too did many Catholics throughout the history of the Church, and so it is right up to the present day.   Despite the fact that these individuals, like Nick Coleman for example, bend over backwards to defend Muslims, atheists, exhibitionists and just about anyone with a vulgar opinion, those same individuals don't think twice about attacking Catholicism.  They defend them especially when they are treated with even the appearance of disrespect.

Still, it's a beautiful thing to think that miracles might happen here in our midst, that supernatural events beyond the explanation of the scoffers and those who revile us.   But whether or not this prodigy is miraculous or not, the continuing miracle is the reaction of the mob in the comments and out there on the street, who hold it to be their right to treat Catholics in ways no one would dare to treat other minorities.   Even other Catholics think it's ok to laugh derisively at those of us who believe in the possibility of miracles.

The real miracle is that after centuries of persecution and contempt that Catholics are still singled out for insults of this kind on the part of the Anti-Clerical media and their masters.  It has often been remarked that not only is it a testimony to the power of the Faith, but a fulfillment of Christ's promise:

If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated me before you.
If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember my word that I said to you: The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have kept my word, they will keep yours also.
But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake: because they know not him who sent me.

Eucharistic Miracle in Poland: Confirmed by Doctors

Edit: remember the possibly miraculous Host which was put in a ciborium as is customary and wouldn't dissolve but actually developed red specks on it that look like blood?   The possible miracle being referred to was at St. Augustine's Parish [Soon to be dissolved by the Archdiocese] in South St. Paul Minnesota.  As of yet there is still no report back, but in the case of this Polish Host, two Doctors have determined that the specks were actually heart tissue.  This event occurred back in 2008.  Here's the story:

Roman Catholics in Poland gathered Sunday for a special Mass celebrating what they see as a miracle: the appearance on a communion wafer of a dark spot that they are convinced is part of the heart of Jesus.

The communion wafer [It's a Consecrated Host] in question developed a brown spot in 2008 after falling on the floor during a Mass in the eastern Polish town of Sokolka. Two medical doctors determined that the spot was heart muscle tissue, church officials have said.
 Link to cathnews...

Eucharistic Miracle at St. Augustine's Parish in Saint Paul Minnesota

Editor: St. Augustine's is a parish which has the Immemorial Mass of All Ages in South Saint Paul. Father Echert has long been a priest friendly to tradition of impeccable reputation and great learning, having graduated from the infamous, but very challenging, Biblicum in Rome. He's also a Chaplain in the Air Force where he's served on a number of occasions, ministering to military personnel. What's being gotten at is that he's a very credible and serious man.  The following was received by talibanshayne this morning:

Above is a photo taken by Fr. Echert, pastor of Saint Augustine in South St. Paul, MN, of a consecrated host.

The host had been accidentally dropped on the ground last week during the distribution of Holy Communion at a daily Mass.

It was subsequently placed in water to dissolve so that it could be poured down the sacrarium.

Fr. Grabner, the parochial vicar, went to check on the host a few days later, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, and found that not only had it not dissolved, but that it had turned red.

Is there a natural explanation? You decide.

The Chancery has been notified.

One proposed explanation is Serratia Marcescens.  Here's a citation from Wikipedia:

Because of its red pigmentation, caused by expression of the pigment prodigiosin,^[13] and its ability to grow on bread, S. marcescens has been evoked as a naturalistic explanation of medieval accounts of the "miraculous" appearance of blood on the Eucharist that led to Pope Urban IV instituting the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264. This followed celebration of a mass at Bolsena in 1263, led by a Bohemian priest who had doubts concerning transubstantiation, or the turning of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass. During the Mass, the Eucharist appeared to bleed and each time the priest wiped away the blood, more would appear. While it is possible that Serratia could generate a single appearance of red pigment, it is unclear how it could have generated more pigment after each wiping, leaving this proposed explanation open to doubt. This event is celebrated in a fresco in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican City, painted by Raphael.^[14]

 H/t: Stella Borealis for photo of Father Echert.