Thursday, 23 May 2013

The Flesh of Christ and His Blood


When i have visited to the puliyampatti one priest said that this and also i have verified in internet and found the below statement.
Amen 

The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, Italy
The Flesh of Christ and His Blood
are preserved in the monstrance
français 
We are talking here about an extraordinary miracle that has lasted for over twelve centuries now (1,200 years), and is still taking place today, before our eyes: the Flesh and Blood of Christ is still miraculously preserved today in a monstrance that all can see and venerate, at Lanciano, Italy. This is a miracle before which even today's science has to bow, after a minute investigation made by scientists in 1970-71.
The city of Lanciano, founded long before Christianity, was first called Anxanum. Its present name recalls the “Lancia” (lance in Italian) that pierced the heart of Our Lord on the Cross. According to an ancient tradition, Longinus, the Roman centurion who pierced, with a lance, the side of Christ already dead, came originally from Lanciano. He had poor vision, but regained his sight after touching his eyes with his hand dripping with the Blood of Jesus. In consequence of this, he became a convert and died a martyr.
The miracle
One day in the eighth century, in the church dedicated to Saints Legontian and Domitian in Lanciano, a Basilian monk was celebrating Holy Mass in the Latin rite, with a host of unleavened bread. The monk started doubting the real and substantial presence of the Flesh and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the consecrated Holy Species.
After having pronounced the words of Consecration (“This is My Body... This is My Blood”), as Jesus had taught it to His Apostles, the monk saw the host change into a living piece of Flesh, and the wine change into real blood, which thereupon coagulated and split into five globules, irregular and differing in shape and size. We quote excerpts from a document kept at Lanciano:
“Frightened and confused by so great and so stupendous a miracle, he stood quite a while as if transported in a divine ecstasy; but finally, as fear yielded to the spiritual joy which filled his soul with a happy face, even though bathed with tears, having turned to the bystanders, he thus spoke to them: `O fortunate witnesses to whom the Blessed God, to counfound my unbelief, has wished to reveal Himself in this Most Blessed Sacrament and to render Himself visible to our eyes. Come Brethren, and marvel at our God so close to us. Behold the Flesh and the Blood of our Most Beloved Christ.'
“At these words, the eager people ran with devout haste to the altar and, completely terrified, began, not without copious tears, to cry for mercy. The report of so rare and singular a miracle, having spread through the entire city, who can count the acts of compunction which the young and old, hastily assembled, sought to make openly...”
The reliquary: the Fesh is enclosed in a round gold-plated silver lunette, between two crystals, in a monstrance of finaley sculpted silver. The Blood is preserved in a chalice of crystal, and affixed to the base of the monstrance.
The Host-Flesh, as can be very distinctly observed today, has the same dimensions as the large host used today in the Latin church; it is light brown and appears rose-colored when lighted from the back. The Blood is coagulated and has an earthy color resembling the yellow of ochre.
Now, here is something even more amazing: the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus Christ is really and totally present in either the whole consecrated host or a fragment of it, and the same applies for the consecratedwine, which, once consecrated, has become the Blood of Christ. The five globules contained in the reliquary, whenweighed either separately or together, totaled the same weight: 15.85 grammes.
Authentification of the Relics
Over the last twelve centuries, different Bishops of the diocese of Lanciano made authentifications of the holy relics. All testified that these facts were miraculous and true.
In 1970-71, and taken up again partly in 1981, there took place a scientific investigation by the most illustrious scientist Prof. Odoardo Linoli, eminent Professor in Anatomy and Pathological Histology and in Chemistry and Clinical Microscopy. He was assisted by Prof. Ruggero Bertelli of the University of Siena. The analyses were conducted with absolute and unquestionable scientific precision, and they were documented with a series of microscopic photographs. These analyses sustained the following conclusions:
The Flesh is real flesh. The Blood is real Blood.
The Flesh and the Blood belong to the human species.
The Flesh consists of the muscular tissue of the heart.
In the Flesh we see present in section: the myocardium, the endocardium, the vagus nerve and also the left ventricle of the heart for the large thickness of the myocardium.
The Flesh and the Blood have the same blood-type: AB (The blood-type identical to that which Prof. Baima Bollone uncovered in the Holy Shroud of Turin).
In the Blood there were found proteins in the same normal proportions (percentage-wise) as are found in the sero-proteic make-up of fresh normal blood.
In the Blood there were also found these minerals: chlorides, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium.
The preservation of the Flesh and of the Blood, which were left in their natural state for twelve centuries and exposed to the action of atmospheric and biological agents, remains an extraordinary phenomenon.
It is a miracle similar to that of Lanciano, the one of Bolsena, Italy, that led the Church to institute, in 1264, the great Feast of Corpus Christi, with its beautful processions, where the Living God of the Holy Eucharist is triumphally carried on the streets. Long live Jesus in His Sacrament of Love!

8 Reasons to Go to Mass


8 Reasons to Go to Mass

THOMAS LICKONA

"Mass is boring." "I don't get anything out of Mass — why should I go?" "Why can't I just pray alone?" These are common feelings, especially among young people but among many adults as well. How should we respond.

"Do this in memory of me."
- Jesus (Luke: 22:19)
"If you really thought about who you are, who God is, and how much thanks you owe Him, you would want to go to Mass. The Mass would become the source and center of your spiritual life."
- James Stenson
These are common feelings, especially among young people but among many adults as well. The great Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, when conducting a retreat for teenagers, once gave a talk on the meaning of the Mass. He said, "If you don't get anything out of Mass, it's because you don't bring the right expectations to it." The Mass is not entertainment, he said. It is worship of the God who made us and saves us. It is an opportunity to praise God and thank Him for all that He has done for us.
If we have a correct understanding of Mass, Bishop Sheen said, it will become more meaningful for us. We will want to go to Mass. We will understand why the Mass is God's precious gift to us, and we wouldn't think of refusing that gift. Here are eight reasons to go to Mass:
  1. The Command of God. 

    The Third of the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God is, "Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day" (Exodus 20:8).
  2. The Command of Christ. 

    Why should we keep the Sabbath holy by going to Mass? The Mass was instituted at the Last Supper by Jesus before his Crucifixion. The Last Supper was the first Mass.When the hour came, he [Jesus] took his place at the table with the apostles . . . Then he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which will be given for you. Do this in memory of me" (Luke 22:14,19).
    When we celebrate the Mass, we repeat the Last Supper, as Jesus commanded us to do. In doing this, we remember and re-present his great act of love for us on the Cross taking our sins upon himself so that we, if we follow his commandments, can live with him forever in heaven.
  3. The Command of the Church. 

    The Church teaches that we must fulfill the command of Jesus ("Do this in memory of me") by attending Sunday Mass (or the Vigil Mass the night before). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994, pp. 493-94) explains that Mass attendance on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation is the first of the six Commandments of the Church. These Commandments of the Church also require receiving Communion at least once a year during the Easter season, confessing any mortal sin as a preparation for Communion, and observing the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence. These Commandments spell out the minimal responsibilities of a Catholic. To fail to fulfill them through our own fault, the Church teaches, is a serious sin.
  4. The Church speaks with the authority of Jesus. 

    Why should we obey these teachings of the Church? Where does the Church get its authority? From Jesus. In Matthew 16:18-19, Jesus made Peter the head of his Church — the first Pope. He gave Peter and the Church "the keys to the kingdom of heaven":
    I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.The Church's authority in faith and morals is absolute because Christ's authority is absolute.
  5. What we do at Mass. 

    The Mass is first of all a sacrifice — the perfect sacrifice, created by Jesus. Through the priest we offer Jesus, Body and Blood, to the Father, just as Jesus offered Himself to the Father on the Cross. In an unbloody way, we repeat — make present — Christ's death and Resurrection. Through this memorial of Jesus, we offer God our praise, sorrow for our sins, and deepest thanks.

    The Mass is also a meal. At the Consecration, the bread and wine, through the power of the Holy Spirit, become the Body and Blood of Christ. Not a mere symbol, but Jesus's real flesh and real blood, under the appearance of bread and wine. When we receive Holy Communion, we receive Jesus Himself. He is real food for our soul. He said this very plainly: I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. (John 6:55-56).
    What are the benefits of Holy Communion? It strengthens our union with Jesus; He lives within us in a special way. It cleanses us from venial sins. (Mortal sins require forgiveness in Confession.) It gives us grace to avoid sin in the future. It increases our love of God and neighbor.
  6. Why do we have to worship with other people? 

    God made us social beings. He wants us to come together in community to worship Him. Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I" (Matthew 18:20).
  7. What are the consequences for others if we stop going to Mass? 

    James Stenson points out:

    Our ancestors risked persecution, even death, to be able to take part in Mass. When you have children someday, they will need the graces and strength that come from the Mass. If you fail to pass it on because of your own indifference, you will do the gravest injustice to them and to God. You have the power to snuff out, in one generation, the faith that has sustained your family for generations. This is an enormous responsibility. You will have to answer to God for it.
  8. The benefits of Mass.
    If we give God a chance, He will help us experience the tremendous benefits of the Mass and the Eucharist. James Stenson writes:
    Be patient. Bring an attitude of prayer and thanksgiving to Mass, and you will reap great spiritual riches: consolation, confidence, peace, deep happiness, and spiritual strength for the challenges of life.
    Mother Teresa once wrote: "Jesus is my God/ Jesus is my Spouse/ Jesus is my Life/ Jesus is my Everything. Because of this, I am never afraid." Mother Teresa went to Mass every day. If we love the Mass as she did, we, too, will live in Jesus and he in us, and will we never be afraid.

    Thanks to catholic education....