Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano,
Italy (750 D.C.)
An inscription in marble from
the 17th century describes this Eucharistic miracle
which occurred at Lanciano in 750 at the Church
of St. Francis. “A monastic priest doubted
whether the Body of Our Lord was truly present
in the consecrated Host. He celebrated Mass and
when he said the words of consecration, he saw
the Host turn into Flesh and the Wine turn into
Blood. Everything was visible to those in attendance.
The Flesh is still intact and the Blood is divided
into five unequal parts which together have the
exact same weight as each one does separately.
In 1970, the Archbishop of Lanciano
and the Provincial Superior of the Conventual
Franciscans at Abruzzo, with Rome's approval,
requested Dr. Edward Linoli, director of the hospital
in Arezzo and professor of anatomy, histology,
chemistry, and clinical microscopy, to perform
a thorough scientific examination on the relics
of the miracle which had occurred twelve centuries
earlier. On March 4, 1971, the professor presented
a detailed report of the various studies carried
out. Here are the basic results:
- The “miraculous flesh" is authentic
flesh consisting of muscular striated tissue
of the myocardium.
- The “miraculous Blood" is truly
blood. The chromatographic analysis indicated
this with absolute and indisputable certainty.
- The immunological study shows with certitude
that the flesh and the blood are human, and
the immuno – hematological test allows
us to affirm with complete objectivity and certitude
that both belong to the same blood type AB,
the same blood type as that of the man of the
Shroud and the type most characteristic of Middle
Eastern populations.
- The proteins contained in the Blood have the
normal distribution, in the identical percentage
as that of the serous-proteic chart for normal
fresh blood.
- No histological dissection has revealed any
trace of salt infiltrations or preservative
substances used in antiquity for the purpose
of embalming.
 Professor
Linoli also discarded the hypothesis of a hoax
carried out in past centuries. This report was
published in The Sclavo Notebooks in Diagnostics
(Collection #3, 1971) and aroused great interest
in the scientific world. Also, in 1973, the chief
Advisory Board of the World Health Organization
appointed a scientific commission to corroborate
Linoli's findings. Their work lasted 15 months
and included 500 tests. Their research was the
same as that carried out by Professor Linoli,
with further additions. With even greater precision,
it was verified that the fragments taken from
Lanciano could in no way be likened to embalmed
tissue. As to the nature of the fragment of Flesh,
the commission declared it to be living tissue
because it responded rapidly to all the clinical
reactions distinctive of living beings. The Flesh
and the Blood of Lanciano are therefore just the
same as they would be if they had been taken from
a living being on the same day. This reply therefore
fully corroborated Professor Linoli's conclusions.
In the extract summarizing the scientific work
of the Medical Commission of the World Health
Organization and the United Nations, published
in December of 1996 in New York and Geneva, declared
that science, aware of its limits, has come to
a halt, face to face with the impossibility of
giving an explanation.
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