By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Church officials have been called in to investigate a possible miracle that took place in the chapel of a Catholic middle school in Jackson, Michigan during Eucharistic adoration two weeks ago.
According to Fr. Cecilio Reyna of St. Mary Catholic Church, who was called to the school on Feb. 4 to investigate, students claimed to be seeing the figure of a man in the Host, etched in a red or vibrant orange color, with some spots seeming to glow.
” . . . (I)t was not one student, but many many students who claimed to see the same image,” Fr. Reyna wrote on his blog. “I did see what appeared to be the outline of a man’s face with some bright spots toward the bottom of the Luna. One of the spots where it was glowing, and one I had seen myself, was the area of the heart in the image.”
The students told him that the bright spots toward the bottom were glowing during the day.
“Two other students I spoke to had no doubt that what they saw was an image of our Lord on the Host,” Fr. Reyna said.
A local Catholic psychotherapist named Dave Krajewski was also called to the scene at around 4:00 p.m. and went straight to the chapel where 10 to 20 people were suqeezed into the room to observe the Host.
He saw the same outline of a male figure with long brown hair who appeared to be wearing a robe.
“I left the school not knowing if I had seen a miracle or not,” Krajewski told mLive.com. “But I’m not ruling it out.”
After benediction in the chapel later that evening, the Blessed Sacrament was transferred to St. John Church where it was reposed in the tabernacle.
“Before this was done, we placed the monstrance on the altar at St. John and turned some lights on. The image the students saw and the less visible image I saw in the evening, which were the same image, was gone,” Fr. Reyna wrote.
“Not seeing anything, I nevertheless decided to take a picture. When I uploaded the picture to my computer, I noticed an image that was entirely different than the one I saw in the school chapel. It reminded me of a image of Jesus taken from the Shroud of Turin. What is also interesting is the subtle rose colored tint in the area of the face, which is not visible anywhere else.”
The matter now lies in the hands of Bishop Earl Boyea of the Diocese of Lansing, who will begin a long process to determine if a Eucharistic miracle has indeed taken place.
But in terms of what the students saw, Fr. Reyna believes it was gift and blessing for them.
“It does not matter whether we believe an image of our Lord is present in this picture or any other picture, this is for people to decide for themselves,” he wrote.
“What is important is our faith in the true presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, who is present to us in his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. That is the ‘real’ miracle the students experienced today and one we all experience when we celebrate this heavenly banquet.”
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