The Bishop of Legnica, Zbigniew Kiernikowski, announced on April 17 that a reported “bleeding Host” that “has the hallmarks of a Eucharistic miracle” was approved for veneration in Poland.

According to his announcment “On 25th December, 2013 during the distribution of the Holy Communion, a consecrated Host fell to the floor and then was picked up and placed in a water-filled container (vasculum). Soon after, stains of the red colour appeared.”

The former Bishop of Legnica created a commission to study the occurrence. In February 2014, a tiny red fragment of the Host was separated and put on a corporal. The Commission ordered to take samples in order to conduct the thorough tests by the relevant research institutes.

The final medical statement by the Department of Forensic Medicine found: “In the histopathological image, the fragments were found containing the fragmented parts of the cross striated muscle.” The tests also found that the sample “is most similar to the heart muscle with alterations that often appear during the agony. The genetic researches indicate the human origin of the tissue.”

Saying that the Host “has the hallmarks of a Eucharistic miracle,” Bishop Kiernikowski explained that in January 2016 he presented the matter to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In April, in accordance with the Holy See’s recommendations, he asked parish priest Andrzej Ziombrze “to prepare a suitable place for the Relics so that the faithful could venerate it.”

Bishop Kiernikowski closed his announcement with “I hope that this will serve to deepen the cult of the Eucharist and will have deep impact on the lives of people facing the Relic. We see the misterious Sign as an extraordinary act of love and goodness of God, who comes to humans in ultimate humiliation.”

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