What blood type did Jesus have?
700 AD, Lanciano, Italy
The first recorded Eucharistic miracle took place in the midst of a storm of heresies that battered the Church. Lanciano, “the lance” is the name given to the home village of the Roman Longinus who pierced the side of Jesus with a lance as He hung on the cross (cf. Jn 19:34). Tradition holds that Longinus was converted at the foot of the cross when his eyesight was miraculously healed by the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ side. Centuries later, records account that a priest, living in the village, suffered from intense doubts about Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist. Fearing that the Eucharist was just a symbol and that his vocation was pointless, the priest carried out the routine of his duties while being attacked by doubts. One morning, as the priest said the words of consecration during Mass, the Host visibly turned into flesh and the wine was visibly transformed into blood to be seen by the faithful gathered. People began to cry out for forgiveness, others dropped to their knees and worshiped God. The flesh was encased in a monstrance and for centuries pilgrims have flocked to the church to see the ongoing miracle. The Host has remained in the same state without any chemical preservatives for more than 1,300 years. In 1970, extensive scientific research was conducted on the Host that had turned to flesh and blood. It was determined that the Host is human flesh and blood, of the blood type AB+ which is the universal receiver.
Beyond a doubt
1263 AD, Bolsena and Orvieto, Italy
In the 13th century, a heresy denying the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist was afoot in Europe, causing doubt, mistrust, and confusion. Universities in Europe held debates on the Eucharist and many argued against the Real Presence. Father Peter of Prague found himself tortured with a darkness of faith as he struggled to believe that Christ was present in Eucharist. In a search for truth and in an effort to regain his faith, he made a 750-mile pilgrimage on foot to Rome. As he neared Rome, he stopped in the village of Bolsena and offered Mass. As he lifted up the Host after the words of consecration, it began to bleed profusely, and drops of blood fell onto the corporal altar cloth. Upon learning that Pope Urban IV was staying in the nearby village of Orvieto, Father Peter ran to the Holy Father to tell him what occurred. The Pope made his way to the church among a crowd of people who also heard of the miracle. When the Holy Father saw the bleeding Host and bloody corporal, he fell to his knees in worship. A short time later, the Pope introduced the Feast of Corpus Christi. To this day, pilgrims go to the church in Orvieto to see the bloodstained corporal that is kept in a reliquary above the altar.
A Heart alive
1996 AD, Buenos Aires, Argentina
On a summer evening in Santa Maria Church, after Mass, a woman informed the priest that she found a Host in a candle holder in the back of the church. The priest placed the desecrated Host in a container of water, the customary practice which causes the Host to decompose after several minutes. Father then placed the container in the tabernacle. A few days later he opened the container and found that the Host had turned into a bloody substance. Father informed his local auxiliary bishop Jorge Bergoglio (the future Pope Francis) who instructed him to have photographs taken of the Host. The pictures reveal a piece of bloody flesh that had grown larger than the Host. The Host was returned to the tabernacle where it remained and was kept in secrecy. Three years later, Cardinal Bergoglio asked to have the flesh scientifically analyzed, and he sent a representative to New York with a sample of the bloody substance for testing. A team of five scientists was assembled to conduct tests on the substance. They were not told of the origin of the substance and a leading cardiologist and forensic pathologist, Dr. Frederic Zugiba, testified that the substance was human flesh and blood and was a fragment of heart muscle. The specimen of blood was found to be blood type AB+, the same type found on the Shroud of Turin and in the miracle of Lanciano. The substance contained a high amount of white blood cells, proving that the heart was alive when the sample was taken, because white blood cells require a living organism to be sustained. Dr. Zugiba also reported that the white blood cells had penetrated the tissue revealing that the heart was under severe stress and the person had been beaten in the chest, indicating that a violent crime had taken place.
Originally printed in IMPRINT Magazine Winter 2022.
