A Eucharistic Miracle? UPDATED

UPDATE: I’m late to the party – that’s what I get for being sick, and falling behind on my reading. This particular one is NOT a miracle. It’s fungus and bacteria! Amy Welborn and Gerald had it covered. I suspected something like that when I’d heard that the Host was put into water and turned a month later. Ah, well. The real ones are still pretty interesting! :-)

Parishioners at St. James Church say a piece of bread used in a communion service there turned to blood.

Father Juan Vicar is the priest at the church. He said that after the service they put the bread in a cup of water and it turned into a blood clot.

Read the rest.

I am unhappy to see the reporter filing this story (watch the video) referring to the Eucharistic Host as “the symbolic Body of Christ.” A better reporter would have taken the time to at least report that Catholics believe that the consecrated host is in fact the BODY and Blood of Christ. A knowledgable editor might have fixed that, but apparently there were none available.

As to the possibility of this being a real miracle, this will be checked out, so it will be interesting to follow-up on.

Eucharistic Miracles are not new – they are in fact ancient. Many Catholics (myself included) have had the sensation of the Host turning to flesh in their mouths, and simply consumed it in gratitude; those stories, of course, are utterly unverifiable. We walk by faith – not by sight.

However, there have been numerous documented instances of consecrated Hosts turning to flesh or staining fabrics with blood. Some of those miracles have been catalogued in Joan Carroll Cruz’ book, Eucharistic Miracles, which happens to be available in The Bookshelf. A few specimens have remained incorruptible throughout the ages, and have recently been looked at scientifically. I believe the one in Lanciano – which happened 1300 years ago – was examined in the 1970’s and upon examination was found to be cardiac tissue and the blood type, AB postive – the Universal Recipient. Which is pretty dang interesting when you consider that Christ invites all of us into his heart – is ready to RECEIVE all of us into his sacred heart.

Some of the Hosts which have become dried blood reliquify at certain times. For those of us who believe that the Holy Eucharist is what Jesus told us, “my flesh is real food, and my blood real drink,” it’s all pretty interesting. But – as ever – these sorts of miracles are merely confirmations of what we believe. We are not “required” to believe in these miracles, in and of themselves.

But faith itself does require that we do not put limits on what God can do.