Thursday, March 23, 2006

Eucharistic Miracle in Dallas?

Amy's not so sure ... but who knows? Here's pictures ... Local story.

[Update: natural process, says Bishop. Go home. :-)] Hat-tip to St. Liz for mentioning that in the comments.

5 comments:

St. Elizabeth of Cayce said...

More on the story from the Dallas Moring News:( (local paper of record)

Faithful flock to Oak Cliff church to witness believed miracle host
Faithful say boy's bread from Mass transformed into clot of blood


Relevant local info, since you might not be able to view without registering:

People lined up Tuesday at St. James Church in north Oak Cliff to kneel and pray before what they believe is a piece of bread used in communion that has been transformed into a clot of blood.

The faithful have come from as far away as Kansas to see the holy host, which had been fed to a boy recently, church authorities say.

~~snip~~

The host has been taken to the Dallas Diocese's office so it can be analyzed, Father Magbanua said.

Diocese spokesman Bronson Havard said the church will follow its procedures before issuing a judgment.

"This is a process that has just started, and we do not want to speculate about it at all," he said.

But believers have made their decision.

"Dallas is receiving a miracle, and it is a privilege that this happens in a marginalized and problematic neighborhood," said Hector Badillo, a volunteer and member of a prayer group.


Izzy and I lived in that "marginalized and problematic neighborhood" for a few years. Nice to see folks from Kansas stopping by...

Lizzie

Fr. Gaurav Shroff said...

Marginalized and problematic --- what ... Texas? :-)

St. Elizabeth of Cayce said...

Or the Dallas MorNing News...

Can't spell for crying...

Fr. Gaurav Shroff said...

Condolences!

St. Elizabeth of Cayce said...

Since you're up---

It's over in Dallas, as well. The Bishop has spoken.

This from the Texas Catholic Online

Diocese of Dallas

Communion "host" in Dallas church grew fungi, bacteria naturally

By MARTY PERRY

DALLAS. A “host” kept in a jar of water for four weeks grew fungus and bacterial colonies in a natural process, a laboratory report concluded about an incident in a local parish church that created public speculation.

A March 23 letter from Dallas Bishop Charles Grahmann to the pastor of St. James Parish relayed that what some were calling a ‘miracle’ of a host “contains nothing of a supernatural nature.”

The letter to Msgr. Mario Magbanua states: “At my request the object you submitted to me, around which there was heightened publicity, was presented to Dr. Marcy Brown Marsden, chairman and associate professor of biology, University of Dallas, and Dr. Frank Doe of the same department, for tentative identification and characterization of the object.”

The bishop said that after analysis was done he was provided with their conclusion.

They told the bishop: “We conclude that the object is a combination of fungal mycelia and bacterial colonies that have been incubated within the aquatic environment of the glass during the four-week period in which it was stored in the open air.”

The bishop further wrote: ““From this conclusion the phenomenon was of the natural order and contains nothing of a supernatural nature. Thus, you need to remove yourself from any further activity surrounding this matter and its exaggerated claims.” (emphasis mine)

~~~snip~~~~~~

There have been other cases in past years when a host received fungal and/or bacteria contamination when it was not properly consumed and/or disposed.

Church officials said the matter is now closed and called on faithful to end any further speculation.

03/23/2006
Copyright (c) 2006 Texas Catholic