Lanciano

By Lisë, Manak, and Kristóf

The First
Eucharistic Miracle
Historical Context
The Monastery Itself
The monastery at Lanciano was founded some
time I the early 8th century by Basilian monks
fleeing the iconoclast persecution taking place
in the Eastern Church at that time. They
inhabited the monastery until 1175. It was
during this time that the Miracle took place
around the year 750.

Since then, the relics have had an almost

unbroken line of custody of various religious
orders. In the present day it belongs to the
Franciscans.

Today the relics are on full display at the

Church of St Francis in Lanciano which you
yourself can visit!
Written testimony:
Written testimony:

of consecration

It is important to note that the identity of the monk has been lost to
history, only leaving the fact that he was a follower of St Basil the Great.
Canonical Recognition
and Other Mentions
 …my teacher, an excellent man
believable without [any] doubt, D.
Lanfran, recounted while himself being
a child an act in Italy. Indeed when a
priest celebrating a certain mass,
discovering on the alter real flesh and
real blood in the chalice, and began to
tremble at the sight of specimen of
flesh and of blood. He then
immediately reported this thing to his
bishop and sought his advice. Then the
bishop, after having assembled many
other bishops to this, carefully and
Migne - Patrologia Latina CXLIX p 1449-1450
separately enclosed this chalice with
the Flesh and Blood of the Lord into
the same hidden place in the middle of
the altar, to be perpetually preserved
as Extraordinary Relics.
Scientific Analysis
Initial scientific analysis
 Timeline and Dr Linoli

The various tests were carried by Dr. Odoardo Linoli, the chief physician of
the “Ospedali Riuniti” of Arezzo and was completely confirmed by Prof.
Ruggero Bertelli, prof of human normal anatomy at the University of Siena.
Dr. Linoli was a professor of Anatomy and Pathological Histology. He also
had a degree in chemistry and clinical microscopy.
 Is the blood human?

At first, however, one must understand the way of analysing a solution of

various compounds using any kind of chromatography. For example, when
placing a piece of paper in a solvent, the solvent will move up the paper: the
distance moved by this solution is called the ‘solvent front’. Then, the differing
compounds also move up the paper leaving a dot at their final position.
Therefore, in order to standardize chemists find the ‘retention factor’ which
is the ratio of the distance travelled by the specific component to the
distance travelled by the solvent front.

This means that the same component in a solvent will always have the same
Rf for the same solvent, eliminating any possibility of any error regarding the
identity of a compound.

Needless to say that the sample taken for analysis contained haemogoblin.
What makes the
blood unique ?
Testing for blood
group
Where does the flesh come from?
The sample of flesh that was analysed by the lab is in the form of
a host used for mass, approximately 60mm in diameter and had a
yellow-brown colour. Furthermore, it the same structure as the
inner tissue lining the heart called the endocardium. This was
seen by observing it under a microscope and comparing it to
human heart tissue.

The second 'strange' thing that was observed was the fact that
the sample was precisely cut in a tangential manner to the heart,
thicker on the outer edges and gradually and uniformly
decreases to the central area. To obtain such a precise sample, a
very trained pathologist would be needed, something that was
not available in the 8th century.
Lastly, no evidence of any preservatives whatsoever was
found such as salt which was commonly used to preserve
food in antiquity.
Why are people skeptic?
Sources
Thank You For
Listening!