Lanciano is really a small, medieval town , nestled in from the coast of the Adriatic Sea in Italy, halfway between San Giovanni Rotondo and Loreto. Everything about Lanciano smacks of the Eucharistic Miracle. Even the name of the city was changed from Anxanum (in ancient times), to Lanciano, meaning "THE LANCE."  a course in miracles

Tradition has it that the centurion, named Longinus, who thrust the Lance into the side of Jesus, striking Him in the Tip of His Heart where He shed blood and water, (in the Gospel account of the Crucifixion (Mk 15:29)) was using this town. After seeing the events which followed the piercing of Jesus'heart, the darkening of sunlight, and the earthquake, he thought that Christ was the Savior.

An even more physical sign, however, was that Longinus had had poor eyesight, and after having touched his eyes with the water and blood from the medial side of Jesus, his eyesight was restored. What a perfect parallel the actions of the Centurion were to the Eucharistic Miracle. He touched the Heart of Jesus, was healed, and converted. He gave up the Army, went to Cappadocia, and was martyred for the faith. He is known now as Saint Longinus.His feast day is celebrated on March 15.

The church of the Eucharistic Miracle is found in the middle of the town. But what is the middle of the town today was the outskirts of town back the Eighth Century, when the Eucharistic Miracle occurred. During the time, it had been called the Church of St. Legontian and St. Domitian, and was under the custody of the Basilian Monks, of the Greek Orthodox Rite. This was prior to the Great Schism of 1054.

A Basilian monk, wise in the means of the entire world, but not in the means of faith, was having a trying time with his belief in the true presence of Our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist. He prayed constantly for relief from his doubts, and worries he was losing his vocation. He suffered through the routine of his priesthood day after day, with one of these doubts gnawing at him.

The specific situation on earth did not help strengthen his faith. There were many heresies cropping up all the time, which kept chipping away at his faith. They were not absolutely all from away from church either. Brother priests and bishops were victims of these heresies, and they were being spread throughout the church. This priest, being truly a very intelligent person, couldn't help but be more and more convinced by the logic of those heresies, especially the one concerning his particular problem, the physical presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Human logic happens to be a good enemy of the soul, once we try to understand the Divine.

One morning, while he was having a solid attack of doubt, he started the Consecration of the Mass for the people of the town. He used the exact same size host that is used in the Latin Rite masses today. What he beheld as he consecrated the bread and wine caused his hands to shake, indeed his whole body. He stood for quite a while together with his back once again to the folks, and then slowly turned around to them.

He explained: "O fortunate witnesses to whom the Blessed God, to confound my disbelief, has wanted 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 Blood of our most beloved Christ."

The host had converted into Flesh. The wine had converted into Blood.

The people, having witnessed the miracle for themselves, began to wail, requesting forgiveness, crying for mercy. Others began beating their breasts, confessing their sins, declaring themselves unworthy to witness this kind of miracle. Still others went down on the knees in respect, and thanksgiving for the gift the Lord had bestowed on them. All spread the story throughout the city, and surrounding villages.

Jesus even allowed Himself to be crucified again. Following the miracle, the Host was pinned down to a wooden board, so that when it dried, it wouldn't relax, as scabbed flesh does. So here He was again, with nails in His Body, nailed to an item of wood.

The miracle that occurred in 700 was just the beginning. That was 1250 years ago. Had that miracle taken place, and then a flesh and blood disintegrated, as could have been normal, the miracle would have been nonetheless a miracle. The priest's faith had been renewed. The whole town, the complete country for example, became aware of the miracle. Pilgrims flocked to Lanciano to venerate the Host turned flesh. Belief in the Eucharist have been reborn. The gift from the Lord was complete.

But that's not all. The Miracle is ongoing. The Host-turned- Flesh, and the wine-turned-Blood, without the utilization of any form of preservative, is still within the reliquary. In 1574, testing was done on the Flesh and Blood. An unexplainable phenomenon was discovered with the Blood. The five pellets of coagulated Blood are very different sizes and shapes. But any combination weighs just like the total. Put simply, 1 weighs the same as 2, 2 weigh exactly like 3, and 3 weigh exactly like 5.

From the very beginning, the neighborhood church accepted this miracle as a true sign from heaven, and venerated the Eucharistic Flesh and Blood in processions on its feast day, the past Sunday of October. The fame of the shrine spread through the region quickly, and soon most of Italy stumbled on the Church in Pilgrimage.

Many writings authenticating the Eucharistic Miracle took place over the years. Because this has been such a important local miracle, the backdrop and history of the events were carefully recorded.

There had been a manuscript written in both Greek and Latin, attesting to the Miracle. It absolutely was said to own been written and certified at the time of the Miracle. In a Chronology of the City of Lanciano, historian Fella wrote that in early 1500, two Basilian Monks came to the Church, which was now in the custody of the Franciscans, and asked to stay overnight. In addition they asked to start to see the parchment which told the story of the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano. The Franciscans allowed them to examine the parchment overnight.

But the following morning, the Basilian Monks left very early, before the Franciscans had awakened, and took the manuscripts with them. The motive, it had been thought, was that the Basilian Monks were ashamed this 1 of their particular had lost his faith in the Eucharist, and hoped that by stealing the initial document attesting to the big event, it would go away. The Church of the Miracle remained in the custody of the Monks of St. Basil, until 1176, once the Benedictines took over. However, the building had become very rundown, and the Benedictines were not overly worked up about taking care of it.

The Franciscans, however, did want custodianship of the Shrine. When certainly one of their benefactors, Bishop Landulfo, was created Bishop of Chieti, he gave them the Shrine to take care of. So, in 1252, the Benedictines left, and the Franciscans took over. What these were not aware of until they really stumbled on Lanciano, was that the church was a disaster. They surmised that this is why the Benedictines so easily turned it to them. In 1258, the Franciscans built a new church on the site of the original Church of St. Legontian.

In 1515, Pope Leo X made Lanciano an episcopal See, directly responsible to Rome.

In 1562, Pope Pius IV wrote a Papal Bull raising it to an Archepiscopal See.

In 1666, the Franciscans found themselves in the center of a legal struggle with that which was called the "Raccomandati", or Select group of the town. Today's Italians might call them "I Superbi ".They thought they certainly were much better than everyone else. The Raccomandati tried to take the church from the Franciscans by laying claim to the ORIGINAL CHURCH of St. Legontian, upon that your Franciscan church was built.

If they had won, they'd have had both churches. Nevertheless the Lord intervened through the high ranking Cardinal Giannetti, of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Religious, and the Franciscans won the case. You can be sure that they immediately sent applications for a deed, and 18 years later, in 1684, it had been granted them. During Napoleon's time, in 1809, the Franciscans were driven out from the town. Nevertheless they returned in solemn triumph on June 21, 1953.

On June 25, 1672, Pope Clement X declared the altar of the Eucharistic Miracle a privileged altar on the Octave day of the deceased and on all Mondays of the year.

In 1887, the Archbishop of Lanciano, Monsignore Petarca, obtained from Pope Leo XIII, a PLENARY INDULGENCE in perpetuity to those who venerate the Eucharistic Miracle throughout the 8 days preceding the feast day.

The Eucharistic Miracle was put in different locations within the Church of St. Francis within the years. At one time, in 1566, the threat of the Turks became imminent over the Adriatic Coast. It absolutely was believed that Lanciano would be a simple target in order for them to invade. As a matter of security, the Eucharistic Miracle was obtained from its chapel, and walled through to the other side of the Church.

It got to a place, however, that the threat of the Turks became too much of a reality. On August 1 of that year, a Friar Giovanni Antonio di Mastro Renzo lost his faith, not in the Eucharist, but either in God's ability, or God's desire to save him and his little band of Franciscans from the onslaught of the Turks. Using the necessity to save the Eucharistic Miracle from the Infidels, he took the reliquary containing the Flesh and Blood, and himself and his friars, and fled the city. They walked all through the night. Just before dawn, Friar Giovanni felt they had put enough distance between them and the enemy, and ordered his friars to rest. As sunlight came out, they found that they were back at the gates of the city.

Believing that the Lord had intervened, and that He wanted His Sacred Sign as an assurance to the people of the city of Lanciano that He hadn't abandoned them, the friars were full of the Holy Spirit. They acquired the courage of lions. They vowed to remain in the Church, and protect the Eucharistic Miracle making use of their lives. Since it turned out, the Lord kept them from harm, as well as the city of Lanciano, and the Eucharistic Miracle.

The Flesh and Blood were kept walled up until 1636, even though threat of the invading Turks had long since disappeared. In those days, the Eucharistic Miracle was transferred to the proper side of the altar, encased in an iron tabernacle, behind iron doors. There were four keys to the vault, each held by different people in the town. This is called the Valsecca Chapel, in honor of the benefactor. The Miraculous Flesh and Blood were kept in this chapel until 1902. The faithful were only in a position to venerate the Eucharistic Miracle on special occasions, the Monday after Easter, and the final week in October, the week of the feast. The Plenary Indulgence was available to individuals during the feast.