We live in a world where secularization and technology have rendered most people detached from organized religion of any sort. Science has, to some extent, been hostile or at least ambivalent to faith, often creating doubt in people’s minds. What better way is there for Jesus to draw people nearer to Himself than to do so through science? What better way to encourage those sitting on the fence about Catholicism to convert? Science does not have to be at odds with religion or faith.
Faith in Church Teaching
I have believed in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist for most of my life. As a child and young adult, I just accepted the lessons I learned from my parents and Catholic school. I understood the Eucharist as sacred, complex, and even mysterious. I think that blind faith is how every Catholic child begins life, due to their innocence. The complexity of our sacramental life is something we may struggle to grasp as we mature, with faith guiding us to seek truth. Faith should anchor all intellectual endeavors. We don’t need to believe in recent or ancient Eucharistic Miracles to be faithful to our religion. The extraordinary evidence for certain events notwithstanding, we must accept the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: “This is My Body” and “Do this in memory of Me.” We believe without seeing, based on His words.
Jesus’ words teach us that a Eucharistic Miracle occurs during every single Mass. According to section 1410 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “it is Jesus Christ Himself, the Eternal High Priest of the New Covenant, Who, acting through the ministry of the priesthood, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. It is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, Who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.” The Catechism goes on to state that “only a validly ordained priest can preside at the Offertory and consecrate the bread and wine so that they can become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.”( CCC1411) This is the Transubstantiation which means that, under the species of bread and wine, Christ Himself is present in a “true, real and substantial manner.”(Catholic Catechism paragraph 1413). His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity are all miraculously manifested. This is what the Church refers to as the Real Presence of Christ and is the reason why the Eucharist is the most sacred element of the Holy Mass and the “source and summit of the Christian life.”(CC1324) This article examines scientific evidence for another type of Eucharistic Miracle.
The Eucharistic Miracle In Lanciano
The first recorded miracle of this type in history occurred in 750 AD in Lanciano, Italy. A priest at a monastery dedicated to St. Longinus doubted the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. As he consecrated the gifts one day, he was shocked to observe that the bread and wine had transformed into actual human flesh and blood. The blood eventually congealed into five globules. The case was investigated by the Church and ultimately declared a miracle. The host was placed in a special vessel and is still on display in Lanciano today.
A Modern Eucharistic Miracle
A modern scientific examination was attempted in 1971, when Pope Paul VI commissioned a series of studies conducted by human anatomy and histology experts, Drs. Ruggero Bertelli and Odoardo Linoli. Their concurrent studies reached the same astounding conclusions, especially given the age of the sample.
They concluded that the flesh tissue is cardiac in nature, specifically striated muscular tissue of a human heart from the left ventricle. The tissue is remarkably well preserved, despite containing no preservatives. Even blood taken from a cadaver would deteriorate very rapidly in similar conditions. The flesh tissue responded rapidly to the clinical reactions distinctive to living beings, as if the sample had been taken that day. There is no scientific explanation for this phenomenon. How can it be cardiac tissue, let alone so well preserved?
The blood was also human and type AB, the most common among Middle Eastern men. This matches the blood type found on the Shroud of Turin. Inexplicably, the proteins in the blood are fractioned in the same proportions, matching the normal makeup of fresh, living blood. This also defies explanation. Limited DNA was recovered, but attempts to amplify the sample for sequencing were unsuccessful, which is unusual. The process involves heating and cooling DNA strands to increase their stability so they can be better studied. This is an oversimplification of the process, but the main point is that it didn’t work as it should have. The DNA could not be amplified and sequenced. This has been the case with other, more recent Eucharistic Miracles as well.
Father Robert Spitzer, a Catholic priest and physicist, has commented often and extensively on Eucharistic Miracles. In the matter of DNA analysis, Fr. Spitzer has suggested that the difficulty in sequencing in all these cases could result from Jesus’ lack of a human father. He bases this theory on his religious beliefs and the scientific fact that there is evidence of an X chromosome in the samples but not of a Y chromosome. He also points out the implausibility of all of this data being verified by scientific methods. It is shocking even to believers.
The Eucharistic Miracle In Sokolka
For a comparative analysis, I would like to examine a modern, well-documented Eucharistic Miracle of which there are several possibilities. With the increase in scientific technology, there is, of course, much more data available in these cases.
In Sokolka, Poland, on October 12, 2008, a pastor dropped a consecrated Host at St Anthony’s Church and gave It to a sacristan to dissolve in water in a safe known only to them. After a week, the pastor asked the sacristan, a Catholic nun, to check on the Host. Opening the safe, she immediately smelled the aroma of unleavened bread and observed that the Host now had a bright red stain on the surface. The water was unaltered. She informed the pastor, and he, along with two other priests, discreetly notified the archbishop, who came to observe the phenomenon together with chancery officials.
On October 30, 2008, the archbishop instructed that the Host be removed from the water, placed upon a corporal (a square piece of linen), and put into the rectory tabernacle. By mid-January 2009, the Host had dried and would remain there for 2.5 years.
The archbishop created an ecclesial commission to study the matter. A piece of the Host was studied independently by two histopathologists in accordance with the guidelines set by the Scientific Ethics Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The results were shocking.
The part of the Host with the red stain was determined to be myocardial, specifically heart muscle tissue. The sample contained live white blood cells and macrophages, which are cells involved in the healing process. There were live white blood cells in the sample along with these macrophages or healing cells. In other words, the tissue was alive and showed signs of trauma. According to Dr. Maria Sobaniec-Lotowska, one of the experts studying the tissue, the blood contained the enzymes of a dying person. They couldn’t explain how living cells or tissue could exist in a sample disconnected from a living circulatory system. The sample should have died soon after separation. Similar to the sample at Lanciano, the tissue was both cardiac in nature and alive. As in other cases of Eucharistic Miracles, the blood type was AB, and the DNA recovered could not be amplified or sequenced.
In addition, using electron microscopy, both histopathologists independently concluded that the cardiac tissue was interwoven throughout the bread part of the host in a seamless, refined manner, so that the tissue appeared to be part of the bread. The doctors concluded that the fibers’ joining was so complete and inseparable that it could not be replicated even with NASA technology. All of this, they agreed, was completely inexplicable.
Believe In The Real Presence
To someone who already believes in the Real Presence, all of this, although absolutely stunning, is confirmatory in nature. As a Eucharistic minister, I have always been deeply aware of the sacredness of the Sacrament that I bring to people. I do think, however, that all Catholics and aspiring Catholics alike can benefit from examining these cases scientifically. It is both faith-affirming and faith-enhancing to do so. It is also possible for these findings to initiate conversion, and perhaps that is their primary purpose. In the Gospel, Jesus always knew when a miracle was necessary and appropriate to draw people nearer to Him. In our less spiritual, more materialistic society, the need certainly still exists.
Fr. Spitzer emphasizes the need for faith and science to work together. He stresses that scientific analysis should never be the sole basis for belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. In other words, even if a person converts bas upon a miracle, which has happened, they will still need faith to anchor the theology they now accept. Faith becomes primary, not secondary, and must withstand the test of time. As Jesus told His apostles in John 20:29, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
More Resources On Eucharistic Miracles
Christ, Science, and Reason: What We Can Know about Jesus, Mary, and Miracles by Fr. Spitzer
A Cardiologist Examines Jesus: The Stunning Science Behind Eucharistic Miracles
Heavenly Hosts: Eucharistic Miracles for Kids (Catholic Stories for Kids)
Image: https://unsplash.com/photos/a-man-in-a-priests-robe-holding-a-glass-of-wine-JuLRb-dokvs
