The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, observed visibly, is known as a Eucharistic miracle, a phenomenon that has convinced the most skeptical.
The real presence of Jesus Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist is not known by the senses, but by faith, teaches the Catechism of the Church ( CCI 1381 ) following Saint Thomas Aquinas. But a few years ago, in a parish in Buenos Aires, a Eucharistic miracle occurred that invites us to continue growing in love for the sacrament that “rises above all sacraments” ( CCI 1374 ).
A miracle seen by a future pope
To temporarily place those first signs in May 1992, without this implying expressing a relationship, in those days Pope John Paul II elected the Jesuit priest Jorge Mario Bergoglio , today Pope Francis, auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires .
It happened in the parish of Santa María, in Almagro, Buenos Aires. After the mass of May 1, 1992, when a minister of the Eucharist went to make the reservation of the Blessed SacramentHe found two pieces of the host on the corporal of the Tabernacle.
He consulted the priest, who told him to place them in a container with water so that they would dissolve, as is expected in these cases. For days no change was observed but a week later, on Friday, May 8, they found that the pieces had a reddish color, as if they were blood.
But that was just the first sign, since two days later, Sunday, May 10, during the evening Masses, some droplets of blood could be observed on the patens that the priests used to distribute communion.
The ecclesiastical authorities were informed of the events so that they could proceed with due caution, and the containers and evidence were preserved.
The signs are repeated
But the signs did not end there. Two years later, on Sunday, July 24, 1994, during the children’s Mass, when the minister of the Eucharist uncovered the ciborium, he saw a drop of blood running down the inside.
And in August 1996, after the celebration of the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, another host was placed to dissolve in water. On the 26th, it was discovered that the host had assumed a shape similar to a piece of meat.
Each instance was duly documented and communicated to the archbishopric of Buenos Aires, and from there, to the Holy See.
The flesh of Christ?
Although in each consecrated host there is the entire Christ, in this case where a piece of meat is empirically observed, is it the body of the Savior?
Ricardo Castañón Gómez was summoned in 1999 by the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio, to carry out an investigation into that evidence.
As Castañón Gómez explains in conferences, the scientists he consulted, from various parts of the world and even without knowing the origin of the sample, assure that the meat was part of the left ventricle of the heart muscle of a person of approximately 30 years old who He had suffered a lot when he died.
Castañón’s conclusions, as he expresses, come from consultations with different specialists such as Frederick Zugibe, a pathologist with experience analyzing the Shroud.
Another consulted is Robert Lawrence, a forensic doctor who is an expert in tissues, who states in a recorded microscope observation, to which this journalist had access, that he observes the presence of white blood cells in the tissue studied, cells that dissolve a few minutes after placing a woven in water. However, the cells were alive at the time the sample was taken.
Beyond science
Regardless of the studies on the facts, the results will convince some and not others, but the fact, in the dissemination of which the parish and the archdiocese have always been prudent, moves those who come to learn more.
The main means of communication chosen for the prudent dissemination of these events has been, during all these years, dialogue and personal encounters in the parish with members of the community.
A plaque was installed in the parish that reads the following:
“The Community of Santa María dedicates this Chapel to Permanent Adoration. The Eucharistic Sign and all the sacred vessels are preserved there, based on the events that occurred in 1992, 1994 and 1996.
We hope that the Sign will be for others what it has been for us, a path of discovery of Eucharistic Adoration.”
And on a second plaque they invite people to attend the narration meetings of the Eucharistic sign where the parish community shares the facts, talks and has a moment of prayer.
Christ present in the Eucharist is the great legacy of this Eucharistic sign that began to occur in Buenos Aires 32 years ago.