The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, a Testimony That Has Endured for More Than 1300 Years

Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano

Lanciano is a small medieval city, located on the coast of Italy’s Adriatic Sea, on the road between San Giovanni Rotondo and Loreto. Lanciano means – “Lance.” It is the ancient Anxanum, of the Frentani peoples.

Here the first and greatest of the Eucharistic Miracles has been preserved for more than twelve centuries.

Description of the Miracle

The part of the Host in the center of the circle of flesh, although it was truly the Flesh of Jesus Christ, continued to have the accidents of unleavened bread after the miracle, just as happens in every Consecration. It remained for many years but disintegrated because the lunette that contained it had not been hermetically sealed.

The Flesh and Blood currently visible are not only the Flesh and Blood of Jesus as in every consecrated Host, but they retain to this day the accidents proper to human flesh and blood.

The Flesh, since 1713, has been preserved in an artistic silver monstrance, of the Neapolitan school, finely chiseled.

The Blood is contained in a rich and ancient ampulla of rock crystal.

The Host-Flesh is still very well preserved. The size of the Host is like the hosts that the priest elevates at Masses today. It is slightly brown and takes on a rosy tint if illuminated from behind. The coagulated blood has an earthy color tending toward ocher yellow.

The Miracle of Lanciano is an ongoing miracle. The Host changed into Flesh and the Wine changed into Blood, without the use of any preservative, are still present in the reliquary.

History of the Eucharistic Miracle:

A Monk of the Order of St. Basil, wise in the things of the world, but not in the things of faith, was going through a time of trial against the faith. He doubted the real presence of Our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist. He prayed constantly to be freed from these doubts for fear of losing his vocation. Day after day he suffered doubt. Is Jesus really and substantially present in the Eucharist? He doubted the mystery of transubstantiation.

His priesthood became a routine and was slowly being destroyed. Especially the celebration of Holy Mass became just another routine, just another job.

The situation in the world did not help him strengthen his faith. There were many heresies arising during this time. Priests and bishops were victims of these heresies, which were infesting the Church everywhere. Some of these heresies denied the real presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist.

The priest could not rise out of this darkness that enveloped his heart. He was becoming ever more convinced, by human logic, of those heresies.

The Miracle

One morning in the year 700, while celebrating Holy Mass, the priest was being strongly attacked by doubt and, after having pronounced the solemn words of consecration, he saw the Holy Host become a circle of flesh and the wine become visible blood. He was before a visible supernatural phenomenon, which made him tremble and he began to weep uncontrollably with joy and gratitude.

He stood for a long while, with his back to the faithful, as Mass was at that time. Then he slowly turned toward them, saying: O fortunate witnesses to whom the Most Holy God, in order to destroy my lack of faith, has willed to reveal Himself in this Blessed Sacrament and make Himself visible before our eyes. Come, brothers, and marvel before our God so close to us. Contemplate the Flesh and Blood of Our Beloved Christ!

The people hurried to the altar and, on witnessing the miracle, began to cry out, asking for forgiveness and mercy. Others began to strike their breasts, confessing their sins, declaring themselves unworthy to witness such a miracle.

Others knelt as a sign of respect and gratitude for the gift the Lord had granted them. Everyone told the story throughout the city and all the surrounding towns.

The flesh remained intact, but the blood was divided in the chalice into 5 particles of different sizes and irregular shapes. The monks decided to weigh the particles and discovered particular phenomena concerning the weight of each one.

Immediately the Host and the five particles were placed in an ivory reliquary.

Spiritual Meaning of this miracle:

As has been proven, the Host that was miraculously changed into Flesh is composed of the muscular tissue of the human heart (myocardium).

Our Lord shows His Eucharistic Heart, pierced by the sins of humanity. A Heart that allows itself to be pierced by Love. A human and divine Heart, that suffers and loves.

In so many ways Jesus has to remind us that He is alive, that His Heart burns with love for men, that His Heart is of flesh, with feelings, desires, longings to save us, and that He still suffers because of so many insults, blasphemies, and indifferences from us sinners.

His Heart is an open source of grace and mercy. From this Heart flowed blood and water, a symbol of liberation and purification for our hearts.

This Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano calls us to reparation, to be souls of constant prayer, in reparation for so many sins, for our own and for those of the whole world.

It seems that Jesus today says to us – ( Will there be someone who has compassion on Me, who lives with love, who fulfills his vocation with virtue and perfection, so that the Precious Blood of Our Lord may not be poured out in vain… )

This Eucharistic Miracle is an urgent call to conversion, to reflect on our lives, past and present. To take the spiritual life seriously, and to set out on the narrow path that leads us to holiness, to the life of virtue and perfection. It is a call from God to let ourselves be purified by the crucible of suffering in our lives.

Moreover, it is very significant that this miracle happened in the city called by the name of Longinus, the one who pierces the heart of Jesus, and there is another parallel with what happened with Longinus: The priest, upon contemplating the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and His blood, received the grace of conversion.

The flesh is true flesh

The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ of the Eucharistic Miracle, fresh after more than 1200 years

The Blood is true Blood

Painting representing the Eucharistic miracle. It is on the right in the central nave of the basilica in Lanciano.

Basilica of the Eucharistic Miracle
Lanciano

Another important detail is that in this Eucharistic miracle Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified again. After the miracle, the Host was nailed to a piece of wood, so that as it dried it would not curl up as happens to flesh. Here He was again with nails in His Body, nailed to a piece of wood.

Fruits of the Miracle:

The miracle that occurred in the year 700 was only the beginning. That was more than 1250 years ago. If after the miracle the flesh and blood had disintegrated, as many expected, it would in itself still have been a spectacular miracle.

In addition to the renewal of the faith of the priest and of all the witnesses, Lanciano has been a place where many have found faith in the Eucharist, and others have grown in that faith.

Immediately the news of the Eucharistic Miracle and the testimony of the priest’s transformation spread throughout the city and the country. Everyone spoke of the miracle. Pilgrims came to Lanciano to venerate the Host changed into flesh and the wine into blood. Faith and devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus increased, and it spread throughout the country.

From the beginning, the local Church accepted this miracle as a true sign from heaven, and venerated the Body and Blood of Our Lord in the Eucharist in various processions. Especially on its feast day, which is the last Sunday of October.

The fame of the shrine spread rapidly through the region and very soon all Italy began to make pilgrimages to the Church. These pilgrimages have not been only local; people from all over the world come to venerate the Heart of Jesus revealed in the Eucharist.

Manuscripts

Over the years many accounts have been written to show the authenticity of the Eucharistic Miracle and the spiritual as well as physical miracles that have taken place in this place. Because this was such an important miracle, the background and the history of the events were carefully recorded.

There was a manuscript in Greek and Latin that confirms the miracle and that was written and certified at the same time as the miracle. In a chronology of the City of Lanciano, a historian wrote that at the beginning of the 1500s, two monks of St. Basil came to the Church, which was under the custody of the Franciscans, and asked to spend the night there. They also asked to see the parchment that contained the history of the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano. The Franciscans let them study the parchment during the night. But the next morning the monks of St. Basil left very early before the Franciscans woke up and took the manuscript with them.

It is believed that the reason was that the Basilian Monks were ashamed that one of their own had lost faith in the Eucharist. The fact is that this manuscript was never recovered.

The Church of the Miracle:

The Church where the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano is found is in the center of the city. What is the center of the city today was the suburb of the city in the Eighth Century, when the Eucharistic Miracle occurred. At this time it was called the Church of Saints Longinus and Domitian, and was under the custody of the monks of St. Basil of the Greek Orthodox Rite. This was before the Great Schism of 1054.

This Church of the miracle remained under the custody of the monks of St. Basil until 1176, which was when the Benedictines arrived. The building had deteriorated greatly and the Benedictines were not very encouraged to care for it. The Conventual Friars Minor (Franciscans), however, wanted to guard the Reliquary.

One of their benefactors, Bishop Landulfo, was appointed Bishop of Chieti and gave them the Sanctuary. In 1252 the Benedictines left and the Franciscans took charge of everything by Papal Bull of 12/5/1252.

In 1258 the Franciscans built the present church on the site of the original Church of San Legonciano. This was transformed in 1700 from the Romanesque-Gothic style to the Baroque.

In 1515, Pope Leo X made Lanciano an Episcopal See under the direct responsibility of Rome. In 1562 Pope Pius IV wrote a Papal Bull elevating it to the Archiepiscopal See.

In 1666 the Franciscans found themselves in the midst of a legal battle with the Raccomandati, a “select” group of the city, who thought they were better than everyone else. They tried to take the Church away from the Franciscans, filing a lawsuit over the original Church of San Longinus, upon which the Franciscan Church was built. If they had won, they would have had both Churches.

On June 25, 1672, Pope Clement X declared the altar of the Eucharistic Miracle a privileged altar on the Octave day of the dead and on all Mondays of the year.

The Lord intervened through Cardinal Giannetti of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Religious, and the Franciscans won the case. They immediately applied to obtain the official document, and 18 years later, in 1684, it was granted to them.

During the time of Napoleon in 1809 the Franciscans were driven out of the city. But they returned with a solemn triumph on June 21, 1953.

Different places of Veneration within the church:

Over the years the Eucharistic Miracle was placed in different places in the Church of St. Francis.

In 1566 the threat of the Turks became dominant along the Adriatic Coast. For security reasons the Eucharistic Miracle was taken out of its chapel and kept on the other side of the Church.

On August 1 of that year, a friar, Giovanni Antonio de Mastro Renzo, lost faith, not in the Eucharist, but in the ability or desire of God to save him and his small group of Franciscans from the onslaught of the Turks. The friar, seeing the need to save the Eucharistic Miracle from the Turks, took the reliquary containing the Flesh and Blood of the Lord and, with his friars, disappeared from the city. They walked all night.

Before dawn, Friar Giovanni felt that there was already enough distance between them and the enemy and ordered his friars to rest. When the sun rose they realized that they were back at the entrance to the city. They believed that the Lord had intervened because He wanted the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano to be a sign of security for the people of the city, a sign that God had not abandoned them. The friars were filled with the Holy Spirit and offered to remain in the Church and protect the Eucharistic Miracle with their lives.

As this was happening, the Lord protected them from evil, just as He did the city of Lanciano and the Eucharistic Miracle.

The Flesh and Blood of Our Lord remained stored until 1636, even though the threat of invasion by the Turks had disappeared. At this time the Eucharistic Miracle was transferred to the right side of the altar, enclosed in an iron tabernacle. There were four keys to the vault, each kept by different people of the city. This was called the Valsecca Chapel, in honor of its benefactor.

In 1713 the ivory reliquary was replaced by the one that today displays the two relics. It is of silver and crystal. The Host is exposed as is regularly done in a monstrance and the particles of blood in a crystal chalice, which many believe is the original chalice where the miracle occurred.

In 1887, the Archbishop of Lanciano, Monsignor Petarca, obtained from Pope Leo XIII a perpetual plenary indulgence for those who venerated the Eucharistic Miracle during 8 days after the feast day.

The Miraculous Flesh and Blood were kept in that chapel until 1902. The faithful could only venerate the Eucharistic Miracle on special occasions, the Monday after Easter and the last week of October, the week of the feast. The Plenary Indulgence was available to people during the feast.

In 1902 it was determined that the Valsecca Chapel was inadequate for the Eucharistic Miracle. Bishop Petrarca, with the support of the people of Lanciano, built it a beautiful monumental altar where it is currently located. One can go up to contemplate the miracle up close, by a stairway behind the high altar. The tabernacle is open at the back so that the reliquary containing the precious Blood and Flesh of Our Lord can be seen.

Lanciano was chosen as the place for the First Eucharistic Congress of the Abruzzi region from September 23 to 25, 1921.

Scientific investigations

In 1574 tests were carried out on the Flesh and Blood and an inexplicable phenomenon was discovered. The five little balls of coagulated Blood are of different sizes and shapes. But any combination weighs the same in total. In other words, 1 weighs the same as 2, 2 weigh the same as 3, and 3 weigh the same as 5. This result is marked on a marble tablet in the Church.

Over the years many investigations have been carried out. Our Lord has allowed Himself to be pierced and cut, examined through a microscope and photographed.

The various ecclesiastical investigations were followed by scientific ones, carried out from 1574, in 1970-71 and in 1991. In the latter, the eminent scientist Professor Odoardo Linoli, lecturer in Anatomy and Pathological Histology and in Chemistry and Clinical Microscopy, with the collaboration of Professor Ruggero Bertelli of the University of Siena, used the most modern scientific instruments available.

The analyses, carried out with absolute scientific rigor and documented by a series of microscope photographs, yielded the following results:

* The Flesh is true Flesh. The Blood is true Blood.

* The Flesh and Blood belong to the human species.

* The Flesh is constituted by the muscular tissue of the heart. In the Flesh there are present, in sections, the myocardium, the endocardium, the vagus nerve and, because of the relevant thickness of the myocardium, the left cardiac ventricle.

* The Flesh is a complete HEART in its essential structure.

* The Flesh and Blood have the same blood type (AB).

* In the Blood were found the proteins normally fractionated, with the percentage proportion corresponding to the serum-protein picture of normal fresh blood.

* In the Blood these minerals were also found : chloride, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium.

* The preservation of the Flesh and of the Blood, left in their natural state for twelve centuries and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, is in itself an extraordinary phenomenon.

Conclusion:

It can be said that Science has given a sure and exhaustive answer concerning the authenticity of the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano.

Jesus gives us, once again, His Heart through this Eucharistic Miracle. The same one that was pierced by Longinus on Calvary. The same one that is in every Eucharist in every Tabernacle.

It is a Heart pierced with love for men, and that receives only insults, indifference, blasphemies, sacrileges from those same men. It is a manifestation of love; a more sublime love does not exist. Only Our Lord loves us in this way. Every Mass, every Eucharist is an act of love of Our Lord. In every Eucharist graces of salvation are poured out for humanity.

The Lord continues to give us His Blood, His Body every day in the Eucharist to heal us, free us and sustain us. May every Eucharist be a unique encounter with the Heart of Jesus, an encounter with the God of Love, the God who manifests Himself as merciful, compassionate, and at the same time with a Heart pierced by our sins and those of humanity.

What can we do, but console the pierced Heart of Jesus, not allowing His precious blood to be poured out in vain in our lives, but rather, taking possession of the graces that flow from His open side, still open, so that we may go to the open source of salvation that is His Heart.

Christ is alive among us; every Eucharistic miracle is one more proof of this. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food and My blood is true drink.” John 6:54-56

Blessed and praised be Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament; may His pierced Heart be loved forever!