Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City has seized the wafer for investigation

A 'bleeding' piece of communion wafer is being hailed as a miracle by believers at a church in Utah.

Faithful followers claim the sacramental bread 'bled' for three days following communion at St. Francis Xavier Church in Kearns, Salt Lake City, after it was placed in glass of water.

Now news of the 'miracle' has reached the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City which is investigating the incident.

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A 'bleeding' piece of communion wafer is being hailed as a miracle by believers at a church in Utah

Faithful followers claim the sacramental bread 'bled' for three days following communion at St. Francis Xavier Church in Kearns, Salt Lake City, after it was placed in glass of water

Catholics believe the wafer, also referred to as the host or sacramental bread, becomes the body of Jesus Christ in the Catholic communion ceremony. It is consumed with wine which is transformed into his blood.

The so-called miracle began after a young parishioner returned his host to the priest at St. Francis Xavier Church during communion, who then placed it in a glass of water, Fox 13 reported.

Once consecrated a host is sacred and therefore Catholics believe a leftover or unwanted wafer must not be simply thrown away but should be dissolved in water until it no longer has the appearance of bread. It can then be poured down a special sink which drains onto the ground rather than a sewer.

However, on this occasion, the priest claims that not only did the thin wafer stay intact, it began to turn blood red.

News quickly spread and believers from across the community began flocking to the church to see the 'miracle' on display.

The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City has now seized the host and is investigating the incident. there are no current plans to return the wafer to public display.

Monsignor M. Francis Mannion, head of the committee, said: 'Recently, reports of a bleeding host at St. Francis Xavier Church in Kearns have been circulating within the diocese.

News quickly spread and believers from across the community began flocking to the church to see the 'miracle' on display

The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City has now seized the host and is investigating the incident. there are no current plans to return the wafer to public display

'Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, Diocesan Administrator, has appointed an ad hoc committee of individuals with various backgrounds to investigate the matter. The work of the committee is now underway. The results will be made public.

'Whatever the outcome of the investigation, we can use this time to renew our faith and devotion in the greatest miracle -- the Real Presence of Jesus Christ that takes place at every Mass.'

Eucharist miracles have surrounded the communion ceremony, whereby Catholics believe the bread is transformed into the body and wine into the blood of Jesus Christ during a Catholic Mass or Orthodox Liturgy, for more than 1,000 years.

The bleeding host, where blood starts to trickle from a wafer, is the most common while others report miracles of sacramental bread passing through a fire unharmed or being preserved for hundreds of years.

The most famous 'miracle' of the bleeding host was the Mass at Bolsena, which is depicted on the walls of the Vatican Palace, in Rome, which shows the wafer bleeding onto the tablecloth in the shape of a cross.



A more unusual Eucharist miracle is that of the Miracle of Lanciano, which dates back to the eighth century, is a certified Eucharist miracle, when a monk in the monastery of Longinus claims that the bread and wine literally changed into flesh and blood during a Mass.