Denver Catholic

8 MARCH 12-25, 2016 | DENVER CATHOLIC Around the Archdiocese HOLY GHOST CHURCH 1900 California Street 303.292.1556 • www.holyghostchurch.info HOLY THURSDAY March 24, 2016 5:30 pm: Mass of the Lord's Supper Adoration until 10:00 pm GOOD FRIDAY March 25, 2016 Noon: Celebration of The Lord's Passion & Veneration of the Cross Confessions will follow the Noon Liturgy. Confessions will last until all are heard. 3:00 pm: The Divine Mercy Novena 7:30 pm: Tenebrae Service HOLY SATURDAY March 26, 2016 8:00 pm: Easter Vigil (No daytime Mass. Church will be locked until 7:30 pm) EASTER SUNDAY March 27, 2016 Regular Mass Schedule: 7:00 am, 8:30 am, 10:00 am (Latin Mass), Noon and 5:10 pm No confessions. HOLY GHOST CHURCH 303.292.1556 HOLY GHOST CHURCH www.holyghostchurch.info www.proximotravel.com 508-340-9370 Hablamos Español 855-842-8001 anthony@proximotravel.com Call us 24/7 Several trips to different destinations: the Holy Land; Italy; France, Portugal, & Spain; Poland; Medjugorje, Lourdes, & Fatima; Ireland & Scotland; England; Austria, Germany, & Switzerland; Greece & Turkey; Viking Cruises; Caribbean Cruises; Budapest; Prague; Our Lady of Guadalupe; Colombia; Brazil; Argentina; Domestic Destinations; etc... Travel to Italy, France, Spain and England with Fr. Miguel & Fr. Gerardo; Saint Helena & Saint John the Baptist; August 1-12, 2016; $3,799 We also offer other trips with prices starting at $2,499 ~ Prices are ALL-INCLUSIVE with Airfare from anywhere in the USA E ucharistic miracles are a fascinating phenomenon within the Church's rich history. As with many concepts of the Catholic faith, they're not easily understood, grasped or even accepted; they require a deep examination of one's own faith and a deliberation of belief in Christ. However, Eucharistic miracles are great food for thought on Holy Thursday, when Catholics acknowledge the institu- tion of the Eucharist, which in and of itself is one of the great mysteries, and miracles, of the Church. "We're asked to believe many things on faith," said Richard Bernatchez, founder of Faith Based Communications and a member of the Real Presence Eucharis- tic Education and Adoration Association. "Eucharistic miracles serve as a reminder from Christ of his True Presence within the Blessed Sacrament in order to rein- force our faith." Bernatchez is local to Denver but travels around the country giving presen- tations about Eucharistic miracles and supplies an o® cial, Vatican-authorized exhibit to supplement his presentations. On Holy Thursday, when Jesus Christ broke bread with the Twelve Disciples at the Last Supper, two phrases he spoke instituted the Eucharist. Of the bread, he said "This is my body." Of the wine, he said "This is my blood." The Church teaches that in the sac- rament of the Eucharist, the bread and wine become the body, soul, blood and divinity of Jesus Christ through a pro- cess called transubstantiation, which literally means that the very substance of which the bread and wine are com- posed changes into something di¬ erent entirely; namely, the literal body and blood of Christ. The Church teaches that this process is a mystery and not meant to be fully understood, and though the bread and wine still appear to be unchanged after the consecration, the Church is clear that this is not the case. As the Cate- chism of the Catholic Church states, "At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ's Body and Blood" (CCC 1333). However, throughout history, there have been several documented cases of a consecrated host visibly transforming into a real, living piece of fl esh, and the wine becoming actual blood. These phenom- enon are known as Eucharistic miracles. Although the Church does not o® cially recognize Eucharistic miracles as part of its doctrine, it does not discourage the faithful from considering their authen- ticity as a matter of faith. Historically, Eucharistic miracles are usually initiated in one of four ways: a consecrated host is stolen, an attempt to desecrate a consecrated host is made, there is an avoidance of physical calamity to a consecrated host (such as if a priest accidentally drops a host), or, the most common way, a priest doubts the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. "Oftentimes, the initiating trigger of a Eucharistic miracle is a doubting priest," Bernatchez said. The earliest recorded Eucharistic mir- acle is also the most famous. In roughly 750 A.D., in the town of Lanciano, Italy, a Basilian monk celebrated Mass, but doubted the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.§ During the consecration, the host vis- ibly transformed into live fl esh, and the wine, in to live blood. The blood coagulated into fi ve walnut-sized globules, irregular and di¬ ering in size, while the fl esh had the same dimensions as a large host used in Mass and appeared light brown in color. Both the fl esh and blood have remained perfectly preserved for twelve centuries and can be viewed in Lanciano to this day. That's not all there is to the story, though. In November 1970, Archbishop Pacifi co Perantoni of Lanciano, with authori- zation from Rome, commissioned Dr. Odoardo Linoli, a professor of anatomy and pathological history and former head of the Laboratory of Pathological Anat- omy at the Hospital of Arezzo, to conduct a full scientifi c analysis of the sacred species. He studied the specimen for fi ve months and presented his fi ndings on March 4, 1971. He confi rmed that the fl esh and blood were of human origin. The blood was type AB, which he noted in his report was "par- ticular because it has the characteristics of a man who was born and lived in the Middle East regions." § Perhaps most fascinating of all, though, were Dr. Linoli's discoveries regarding the fl esh. He concluded that the piece of fl esh consisted of cardiac tissue; that is, the sacred species was, in fact, a piece of a human heart. The tissue contained within was consistent with that of myo- cardium, endocardium, the vagus nerve and the left ventricle of the heart. Dr. Linoli published his fi ndings in Ital- ian medical publication Quaderni Scalvo di Diagnostica Clinica e di Laboratori in 1971. In 1973, a scientifi c commission appointed by the Higher Council of the World Health Organization (WHO) was tasked with verifying Dr. Linoli's conclu- sions. The work was carried out over 15 months, and they confi rmed his fi ndings were indeed accurate. Various online sources said that the WHO published an extract of their research in December of 1976, stating that "science, aware of its limits, stops in front of impossibility of giving an explanation." The Eucharistic miracle at Lanciano is but one of the 132 miracles docu- mented within the Vatican Exhibition of Eucharistic Miracles of the World. Other famous Eucharistic miracles covered in the exhibit include one that occurred in Bolsena- Orvieto, Italy, in 1263 and another which occurred in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1996. In the fl esh: A doubting monk and the Eucharistic miracle in Lanciano BY AARON LAMBERT 303-715-3138 | aaron.lambert@archden.org www.twitter.com/AaronLmbrt At the Eucharistic mira- cle that occurred in Lan- ciano, Italy, in the 7th century, the consecrated host visibly transformed into a piece of a human heart, and the conse- crated blood coagulated into fi ve globules. PHOTOS COURTESY OF INFALLIBLE CATHOLIC

• Cover