The present information is found in the monograph by Prof. Linoli, professor of anatomy, pathological histology and cytogenetics, published after the last scientific investigation of the miraculous Flesh and Blood in 1970 and revised in 1991.
Information provided by the Italian cardiologist Marina De Cesare, who took part in the investigation of the miracle.
In the eighth century, a monk of the Basilian Order, while celebrating Holy Mass in the church of Saints Legonziano and Domiziano in Lanciano, doubting the consecration, witnessed with great astonishment, together with the faithful present, the transformation of the host into Flesh and of the wine into Blood. See the main page about this miracle
After several investigations, today the Eucharistic Miracle is preserved in the church of Saint Francis, in a precious silver reliquary.
In particular, the Flesh has a rounded shape, with a diameter between 55 and 60 mm, and a color between dark yellow and brown. The sheet of tissue appears thinned and widely torn in the central part, owing to its withdrawal toward the outer edge, where it is raised in folds. It is evident that this is an organ with a cavity, seen in transverse section, histologically recognized as heart. The lower part, thicker, can be identified as the left ventricle; the upper part, thinner as is usual, can be identified as the right ventricle. Over the centuries, the miraculous Flesh has been repeatedly handled, which has led to the loss of central parts such as the interventricular wall, of which only traces remain at the base, between the two ventricles. In addition, the only present cavity gradually lost water, with the consequent mummification and reduction in size.
The Blood of the Eucharistic Miracle, contained inside an ancient glass chalice, appears as 5 fragments with a total weight of 15.18 grams, yellow-brown in color and uniformly hard in consistency.
The study carried out in the years 1970-1971 was directed toward:
1) ascertaining the histological structure of the tissue considered Flesh;
2) defining whether the substance considered Flesh corresponds to its characteristics;
3) establishing to what histological species the Flesh and the Blood belong;
4) determining the blood group in the two tissues;
5) investigating the protein and mineral compounds of the Blood.
1) Histological study of the ancient Flesh of Lanciano
The small fragments taken from the mummified tissue were subjected to histological studies according to classical methods of investigation: staining on myotomic sections (Mallory, Van Gieson, Ignesti method, silver impregnation according to Gomori, among others) and subsequent examination under the electron microscope.
The tissue appears composed of fibrocells (= cells that make up muscle tissue) oriented longitudinally, obliquely and transversely. These same fibrocells show, under greater magnification, a longitudinal fibrillar structure, leading to the recognition of striated muscle tissue. The fibers appear organized in syncytial unions, that is, through branching and reciprocal unions at the ends.
The characteristics described above lead to the diagnosis of myocardial tissue. In fact, the orientation of the fibrocells and the syncytial aggregation are found only in cardiac muscle: during contraction, the heart performs complex twisting movements, contractions from bottom to top and from the outside toward the inside of the ventricular cavity. The resulting work is aimed at expelling the blood from the ventricular cavity toward the great arteries. Skeletal muscles do not need such a complex organization, since they are made up of fibrocells arranged according to the same orientation. Other structures typical of the heart were also found in the histological fragments: a lobe of adipose tissue, nerve branches belonging to a vagus nerve (which regulates the frequency of the heartbeat) and, finally, endocardial structures (the tissue that lines the inside of the heart and its valves), absent in other muscle tissues. Finally, normal arterial and venous vascular structures were observed, presenting no structural alterations and rather belonging to a healthy and young individual.
It is also necessary to state that no mummifying substances were detected, such as those used to preserve tissues.
Conclusion: the tissue of the ancient Flesh of Lanciano belongs to a Heart. A healthy Heart.
2) Microscopic and microchemical examination of the ancient Blood of Lanciano.
On sections in the microtome, no cellular elements appear. The microchemical studies yielded contrasting results when comparing the sample under examination with dried human blood.
3) Chromatographic search for hemoglobin in the ancient Blood.
The test carried out both on the sample in question and on other reference samples demonstrated the real hematous nature of the ancient Blood of Lanciano.
This test has full validity for the recognition of blood even in the case of materials damaged over time, which may present results contrasting with the examinations previously mentioned.
4) Immunological definition of the species to which the ancient Blood and the ancient Flesh of Lanciano belong.
The tissues under examination were analyzed with human antiprotein sera, rabbit sera and ox sera.
Conclusion: the precipitation tests demonstrated that the Blood and Flesh of the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano belong to the human species.
5) Determination of the blood group in the ancient Blood and in the ancient Flesh of Lanciano.
The tests employed for determining the blood group (ABO) showed that both the Blood and the Flesh of Lanciano belong to group AB.
6) Electrophoretic analysis of the proteins of the ancient Blood of Lanciano.
The percentage composition of the proteins in the liquid under examination repeats the known values for normal human blood serum:
albumin = 61%;
alpha-1 globulins = 2.38%;
alpha-2 globulins = 7.14%;
beta globulins = 7.14%;
gamma = 21.42%.
The albumin-globulin ratio turns out to be 1.62%, the normal value being between 1.13 and 1.73.
The fractionated proteins of the sample under examination therefore present an electrophoretic curve similar to that of normal fresh blood (blood serum cannot be used for electrophoretic purposes after 2-4 days of refrigeration).
7) Determination of minerals (calcium, chlorides, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium) in the ancient Blood of Lanciano.
With respect to samples of normal dried human blood, the percentage of minerals appeared altered by contact with the glass wall of the container and by exposure to masonry dust rich in calcium salts.
Final considerations
The results of the investigation carried out on fragments of the ancient Blood and the ancient Flesh traditionally known by the name Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano (eighth century) are summarized in the following points:
– The Blood is truly blood;
– The Flesh belongs to the myocardium;
– The Flesh and the Blood belong to the human species;
– The blood group identified in both the Blood and the Flesh is type AB,
– The electrophoretic examination of the proteins of the Blood is close to that of fresh serum.
The histological diagnosis of myocardium makes the hypothesis of a “fake” scarcely acceptable. In fact, only a hand expert in anatomical dissection could have obtained from the heart (a hollow organ) of a corpse a uniform and continuous slice, considering that the first anatomical dissections on human beings were later than 1300.
Moreover, the nail perforations present around the edge lead one to deduce that the fragment of heart that appeared on the altar of the church of Lanciano was in a living state and therefore tended, by “rigor mortis”, to retract concentrically; the Basilian monks opposed this by nailing the section of heart to a small wooden board. In this way, the fact that it retracted centrifugally tore the tissue in its central part, as has already been said.
A fragment of myocardium and of blood clots, left in their natural state for centuries and furthermore exposed to the action of atmospheric, environmental and parasitic physical agents, have come down to us thus inexplicably unaltered even after more than a millennium, to undergo the scientific investigations which only today, after centuries of history, we possess.
(*) The present information is found in the monograph by Prof. Linoli, professor of anatomy, pathological histology and cytogenetics, published after the last scientific investigation of the miraculous Flesh and Blood in 1970 and revised in 1991.
Source: Corazones.org
