Shrines of Italy: The Miracle of Lanciano

The Sanctuary of the Eucharistic Miracle is one of those places that you would probably ignore if you weren’t actively looking for it. It doesn’t look like much from the outside; in fact, much of it is now hidden by centuries of industrial development. But if you know a thing or two about Catholic history, you might recognize this church as the sanctuary which guards the earliest and arguably the greatest Eucharistic Miracle to ever take place in the Catholic Church.

Precise details are somewhat vague, but we do know that sometime in the eighth century, there was a certain monk living here, who’s identity appears to have been lost. The account reads that this particular monk had been plagued by doubts about the doctrine of transubstantiation. He agonized over whether the bread and wine actually changed substantially into the Body and Blood of Christ at the words of consecration during the Mass, or if it was merely some kind of pious imagination.

These doubts would be forever stricken from his mind however, as one day he celebrated Mass, and at the Consecration he witnessed the bread and wine transform into the literal flesh and blood that you can still see in the church today. The entire congregation also witnessed the miraculous transformation, which led to many subsequent investigations, both religious and scientific.

The most recent of these investigations concluded in 1971, and was conducted by several secular scientists under the direction of Pope Paul VI. This particular investigation revealed that the flesh contained within the reliquary was that of the heart of an adult human, and that it showed no visible signs of deterioration despite being over a thousand old at this point. Further testing concluded that there were no preservatives present within the flesh either.

As for the coagulated blood, it was determined to be of type AB Positive, which interestingly enough, matches the blood type of every other Eucharist Miracle subjected to similar testing.

Today, this Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano is protected by a group of Franciscans, and is housed within the walls of this modest little church, which was built the year 1258 as a replacement for the original church where the miracle took place.

It is believed that Eucharistic Miracles, like all miracles, are given by God to inspire Faith. There is perhaps no Eucharistic Miracle which has done this more effectively than the one which is quietly tucked away right here in this little church in the heart of Lanciano, Italy.