After DNA testing determined that a bleeding host found in a parish in Legnica, Poland was composed of human flesh, the bishop has announced that the phenomenon “has the signs of a Eucharistic miracle.”
Catholic News World is reporting on the April 17 announcement made by the Most Rev. Zbigniew Kiernikowski, bishop of Legnica, about a consecrated host that fell to the floor on Christmas Day, 2013, at St. Jacek church in Legnica. The host was then picked up and placed in a water-filled container known as a vasculum.
“Soon after, stains of the red color appeared,” the bishop said.
In February, 2014, the commission established to investigate the matter ordered a fragment of the host to be submitted for testing by relevant research institutes.
Tests were performed by the Department of Forensic Medicine in Wroclaw in early 2014, followed by additional testing by the Department at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin.
The final announcement of the Department of Forensic Medicine reads as follows: “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.”
As a result, Bishop Kiernikowski presented the matter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican.
“Today, according to the recommendations of the Holy See, I ordered the parish vicar Andrzej Ziombro to prepare a suitable place for a display of the Relic so that the faithful could give it the proper adoration,” the bishop wrote.
“Hereby, I also ask for providing visitors with information and conducting regular teaching that could help the faithful to have the proper attitude to the Eucharistic cult. I also command to form a book to register all received benefits and other miraculous events.”
The bishop then expressed his hope that the miracle will have a deep impact on the lives of the faithful.
“We see the mysterious Sign as an extraordinary act of love and goodness of God, who comes to humans in ultimate humiliation,” he concluded.
It was no accident that this miracle was given to us on Christmas Day – a day in which we celebrate the birth of our Savior. And we now know that the flesh was not just of the heart, but of a heart in distress. On the day that we celebrate His birth, He reminds us of the death He ultimately suffered.
Only in prayer will we discover the hidden meaning this miracle has for each one of us!
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