The Case of the Consecrated Host and...

What appeared to be a miracle at the Church of St. Augustine.

The jury is in and the verdict is: "The result of natural biological causes."

H. Corby Kistler, a mycologist and adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, said Wednesday that Fusarium fungus might have caused a red pigment on the St. Augustine host. "Fusarium species are common environmental contaminants and often infest wheat and wheat products," Kistler said.

What we are discussing here is what happened to a consecrated host, which was found on the floor at the Church of St. Augustine in South St. Paul, Minnesota after Mass on June 19, 2011.  The host was placed in an ablution cup (a small bowl of water) to dissolve, and then to be discarded into the sacrarium in the sacristy.  That was when a substance resembling blood appeared on the remaining particles, suggesting a miracle.

Catholics should not be disappointed in the results of the test since we already know by faith that our Lord Jesus Christ is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity in the consecrated host - the Eucharist: The Most Blessed Sacrament is our living sign of Christ's presence; the Real Presence is the real miracle.

I can't remember where, and I may be wrong in interpreting it, but John of the Cross writes somewhere that God is not often pleased to have to send miracles.*  And in this case, perhaps especially so, since it could have added fuel to the argument some people make that the EF Mass is somehow better and holier and more pleasing to God than the OF Mass.  Just personal speculation of course.

Photo credit and story here.

*"It is not God's desire that miracles be performed; when he works them he does so out of necessity.  He consequently reprimanded the pharisees because they were unwilling to believe without signs; 'if you do not see signs and wonders you do not believe.' [Jn. 4:48]" - Ascent, Bk III, Chapter 31: 9.  Please note:   I am no authority and it is possible that I could have misappropriated the passage from St. John to the type of circumstance discussed here.