Possible Eucharistic Miracle In Connecticut Under Vatican Investigation

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HARTFORD, Connecticut — A possible Eucharistic miracle in Connecticut is now under investigation by the Vatican.
Archbishop Leonard P. Blair told a Hartford television news station May 2 that the Dicastery (formerly Congregation) for the Doctrine of the Faith will examine whether an apparent multiplication of Communion hosts during a March 5 liturgy at St. Thomas Church in Thomaston, Connecticut, was supernatural. The church, along with Immaculate Conception Church and St. Casimir Church, both in Terryville, Connecticut, is part of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish. St. Maximilian Kolbe pastor Father Joseph Crowley said in a YouTube livestream of his March 12 homily that an unnamed extraordinary minister of holy Communion at the previous week’s liturgy had begun to run out of hosts — only to find that “all of a sudden there (were) more hosts in the ciborium.”
Speaking to media May 2, Archbishop Blair said he had “(sent) out an experienced priest who has knowledge of church law, canon law, to follow procedure, (and) to just examine exactly what happened and under what circumstances.” He noted that “the guidelines for these kinds of situations do call for me to notify the (Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome.” The Vatican’s investigation is expected to take approximately two weeks.
In the 21st century, only four Eucharistic miracles have been recognized throughout the world, according to the Magis Center, which, under the leadership of scholar and Jesuit Father Robert J. Spitzer, promotes dialogue between faith and science.
The last recognized miracle occurred in 2013 in Legnica, Poland, where a consecrated host, left to dissolve in water after it was accidentally dropped, formed red stains that under scientific analysis were found to contain fragmented parts of cross-striated muscle resembling that of heart muscle. The host was approved for veneration in April 2016 by then-Bishop Zbigniew Kiernikowski of Legnica.