As in all such cases of an apparent manifestation of the Real Presence, the local Church is duly investigating the phenomenon and urging the faithful not to draw any conclusions.
An alleged “Eucharistic manifestation” has drawn the attention of the faithful in Guatemala, where a consecrated host reportedly remained intact inside a glass of water, bearing apparent stains of what “could be blood.”
While the event has captured the attention of the Catholic community in the country, the Church has urged the faithful to exercise “prudence and restraint.”
A consecrated host that reportedly failed to dissolve
The Niño Dios (Child God) Cathedral of the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima announced in a statement that the occurrence took place on July 30 during a Mass for Eucharistic Missionary Week held at a private school in Cuilapa, a city located approximately 40 miles southeast of Guatemala City.
According to the statement, during Communion, the priest celebrating the Mass noticed that one of the young people who had received the Eucharist “was taking the sacred host out of his mouth; he quickly approached him and was able to prevent him from discarding it on the floor.”
“Following the guidelines for such cases, the priest placed the sacred host in a glass vessel containing water in the rectory chapel,” the statement explained.
The intention was for the host to dissolve naturally. However, according to the statement, “the following Thursday [Aug. 13], while cleaning the chapel, a parish volunteer noticed that the host had not dissolved and bore red stains that could be blood.”
The discovery was reported to the parish priest, who questioned and took a statement from the volunteer who had noticed the situation. Subsequently, the matter was reported to Bishop José Cayetano Parra Novo of the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima.
‘Prudence and restraint’
The cathedral explicitly urged the faithful to exercise “prudence and restraint.”
“Throughout history, the Church has received testimony regarding the real and substantial presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, under this unique form of manifestation,” the cathedral noted in its statement, cautioning that such cases “have been neither common nor easy to discern; therefore, they cannot be called miracles until a full investigation, which must be carried out and will take time, is concluded.”
The cathedral also announced that the host is being reserved “in a special place and will not be on public display,” while Bishop Parra Novo is providing “guidelines for the necessary discernment and to enable a study of this possible Eucharistic manifestation” of the Real Presence.