The Religious A priori

Eucharistic Miracles.

Now we come to a strange phenomenon, one which is sure to raise the ire of sketpic and protestant alike. The Eucharistic miracle happens when, it is said, preists take to doubting that the real presence of Christ's flesh and blood reside in the Eucharist. Of course, that is not to say that every single time a priest doubts this happnes, it is extremely rare and only a couple of cases are really confimed by the chruch. But those two cases do have good scientific backing. In fact a freind of mine who is a doctor examined one of the two and agreed that there is real heart tissue in the blood, and that it was too fresh to have been put in within the last hour. This would preclude any real forgery. Exactly what is said to happen is that the bread and wine turn to actual flesh and blood in confimation of the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation. In one such case actual heart tissue is present in the blood, as my friend the Doctor can atest.

How do I explain this though my protestant theology? I can't. The only possible answer, barring that it is a fake, is that either the doctrine is ture, or that God is using this as a sign of the overall truth of the faith. But one wonders why God would give such a sign which seems to validate a doctrine so clearly if that doctrine is not true? In any case, there is a bacteria that has been showen to cause bread to take on a flesh-like quality and it turns part of the break read like blood. But this bacteria cannot produce heart tissue, and I doubt that a doctor would mistake heart tissue for yeast or anything.

The Real Presence Association

http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/lanciano.html

"Ancient Anxanum, the city of the Frentanese, has contained for over twelve centuries the first and greatest Eucharistic Miracle of the Catholic Church. This wondrous Event took place in the 8th century A.D. in the little Church of St. Legontian, as a divine response to a Basilian monk's doubt about Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist.

During Holy Mass, after the two-fold consecration, the host was changed into live Flesh and the wine was changed into live Blood, which coagulated into five globules, irregular and differing in shape and size. The Host-Flesh, as can be very distinctly observed today, has the same dimensions as the large host used today in the Latin church; it is light brown and appears rose-colored when lighted from the back. The Blood is coagulated and has an earthy color resembling the yellow of ochre. Various ecclesiastical investigation ("Recognitions") were conducted since 1574.

In 1970-'71 and taken up again partly in 1981 there took place a scientific investigation by the most illustrious scientist Prof. Odoardo Linoli, eminent Professor in Anatomy and Pathological Histology and in Chemistry and Clinical Microscopy. He was assisted by Prof. Ruggero Bertelli of the University of Siena.

The analyses were conducted with absolute and unquestionable scientific precision and they were documented with a series of microscopic photographs."

"The preservation of the Flesh and of the Blood, which were left in their natural state for twelve centuries and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remains an extraordinary phenomenon."

Real Presence

http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/siena.html

"The second Eucharistic miracle of Sienna has roots in the 13th century when special services and festivities were introduced in honor of the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These observances became traditional and were still conducted at the time of the miracle. So it was that on August 14, 1730, during devotions for the vigil of the feast, while most of the Sienese population and the clergy of the city were attending these services, thieves entered the deserted Church of St. Francis. Taking advantage of the friars' absence, they made for the chapel where the Blessed Sacrament was kept, picked the lock to the tabernacle and carried away the golden ciborium containing consecrated Hosts."

"Professor Siro Grimaldi, professor of chemistry at the University of Sienna and director of the Municipal Chemical Laboratory, as well as the holder of several other distinguished positions in the field of chemistry, was the chief chemical examiner of the holy particles in 1914. Afterward, he gave elaborate statements concerning the miraculous nature of the Hosts, and wrote a book about the miracle entitled Uno Scienziato Adora (A Scientific Adorer). In 1914 he declared:"

"The holy Particles of unleavened bread represent an example of perfect preservation ... a singular phenomenon that inverts the natural law of the conservation of organic material. It is a fact unique in the annals of science. In 1922 another investigation was conducted -- this one in the presence of Cardinal Giovanni Tacci, who was accompanied by the Archbishop of Sienna and the Bishops of Montepulciano, Foligno and Grosseto. Again the results were the same: the Hosts tasted like unleavened bread, were starchy in composition and were completely preserved."

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