Eucharistic Miracle of

SOKÓŁKA

POLAND, OCTOBER 12, 2008

At the beginning of January

of 2009 the Curia of Białystok

asked two eminent specialists

in pathologoical anatomy of

the Medical University of

Białystok - Professor Maria

Elżbieta Sobaniec-Łotowska

and Professor Stanisław

Sulkowski, to analyze the samples

of the bloodstained Host.

On Janaury 7 - Professor

Sobaniec-Łotowska went to

Sokółka and took from the

corporal a minuscule sample

of the mysterious substance

present in the Host.

he professors of the UMB University had

underlined that, in the case of the examined

Host, in the sample they have found numerous

bio-morphological indicators typical of cardiac

muscle tissue such as, for example, the phenomenon of

segmentation, namely damage to the fibers of the tissue

of the cardiac muscle in the section where communica-

ting junctions [structures characteristic of the cardiac

muscle] are found, and the phenomenon of fragmen-

tation. Such damages are visible in the form of nume-

rous small lesions. These alterations can be observed

only in fibers that were not necrotic, that is alive, and

show signs of the fast spasms of the cardiac muscle

typical of the extreme phase preceding death. Another

important evidence of the fact that the material

analyzed corresponded to human cardiac muscle tissue

was the central position of the cellular nucleus in the

observed fibers, a typical characteristic of cardiac

muscle fibers... The two scientists of Białystok decla-

red… “Some signs that can correspond to nodes of the

contractions have been observed on the section of

several fibers. Instead, during the analysis with the

electronic microscope, the outlines of the communica-

ting junctions and the thin filaments of the myofibrils

were visible”. Moreover, the cardiac tissue was joined

to the consecrated Host in an inseparable manner. In

the report of the examination performed by Professor

Sobaniec-Łotowska and Professor Sulkowski, we find

written: “The material resulted was sufficient for the

examination; it indicates that it is cardiac muscle tissue,

or at least the most similar to it among all the living

tissues of an organism”. “And, something very impor-

tant, the material analyzed is composed in all respects

of cardiac muscular tissue”. This affirmation is reported

in the “Communication of the Metropolitan Curia of

Białystok” of October 14, 2009, concerning the

Eucharistic phenomena at Sokółka. The professors

discovered also other unexplainable elements. “The

Host remained in water for a long time and it remai-

ned in the corporal for an even longer period of time.

The tissue that appeared on the Host would therefore

have had to undergo the process of autolysis, namely

the process of self-destruction by the action of the intra-

cellular enzymes; in the material analyzed there were

not however observed traces of these alterations!”, the

two luminaries declared. Another very interesting

event observed consists in that the substance found on

the corporal, although slightly changed after being

removed from the water (it had simply dried) a couple

of years ago, it did not change its appearance despite

having been neither stabilized nor preserved at a

particular temperature. “This signifies that if the mira-

cle were due to a bacterium, the material would have

disintegrated, crumbled and would have changed

appearance. Any microbial culture, even placed on the

cleanest possible material, after a single week appears

completely different” added Professor Sulkowski.

Professor Sobaniec-Łotowska

Professor Sulkowski

In the side figure, there is an electronic microscope photo and a drawing

showing the particular unions between the muscle cells of the myocar-

dium. A peculiar characteristic of the cells of the myocardium is that

among them there are some unions, to allow the action potential that

makes them contract, to spread from one cell to another, for the entire

volume of the muscle. The contraction of a muscle cell is then propagated

to all the other cells. A group of cells located in the sinoatrial node is

responsible for this “chain contraction”. The sinoatrial node is found in

the right atri

um in proximity to the entrance of the superior vena cava.

The action potential that generates the myocardial contraction starts from

the sinoatrial node and reaches first the atria and then the ventricles.

Myocardium

Z Line

T tubules

Sarcoplasm,

the cellular liquid

Sarcoplasmic

reticulum

sarcomere

Myobril

Nucleus

Z Line

Eucharistic Miracle of

SOKÓŁKA

POLAND, OCTOBER 12, 2008

“At first I was convinced that it

was a blood clot” - said Professor

Sobaniec-Łotowska. But the

truth was much more surprising!

The two scientists of Białystok,

who for their own independent

investigations, made use of the

most modern optical microscopes

and the transmission electronic

microscope, have reached the

same conclusion (Professor

Sulkowski, did not know that the

sample which he was examining

came from a Host): the sample

examined was neither a clot, nor

blood ... it was a human cardiac

muscle tissue still alive. And,

something even more incredible,

it was a cardiac muscle with

typical indications of the final

phase that precedes death.

nd yet, several people, who not only have

never analyzed the material but they had

neither seen it with their own eyes, have

affirmed that the red color of the Host is due

to prodigiosin, a red pigment produced by the bacte-

rium Serratia marcescens. “Obviously, this is absurd”

affirmed the specialists of Białystok, also because the

material observed corresponds to cardiac muscle and

not to a bacterium. The scientists of Białystok have

analyzed the sample taken in purely scientific terms

and not fideistic. Several accusations were even more

absurd, like the one put forth by the group of so-called

“rationalists” according to whom the tissue analyzed

pertained to a murdered man. The professors reacted

with a statement in which they expressed “a profound

indignation for the fact that the public opinion was led

in error by false pseudoscientific hypotheses on the

analyzed phenomenon, above all on the part of people

who ignore the particulars relative to the analysis, who

have neither access to the material analyzed, nor to the

documentation collected, and who often do not even

know the analytical techniques applied”. The drafting

of the protocol on the part of the two scientists of

Białystok required two weeks. When the Curia of

Białystok became aware of the incredible results of the

analyses, it formed a special Ecclesiastical Commission

convened by the Archbishop on March 30, 2009. His

task consisted in examining the miracle from the

theological point of view and in listening to all who had

seen the Host or who had been witnesses of those

extraordinary events. The commission also had the

task of dispelling any doubt of deception and of ascer-

taining that no one had furtively substituted the Host

in the tabernacle, The representatives of the commis-

sion - the distinguished professors of the Seminary of

Białystok - interrogated all the witnesses, verifying the

sincerity of their testimonies. The work undertaken by

the Ecclesiastical Commission has produced the

following statement: “The Host from which the

sample was taken for the examination is the same one

that has been transferred from the sacristy to the taber-

nacle of the chapel in the rectory. The intervention of

strangers was not observed”. This was moreover

categorically excluded also by the two scientists of

Białystok. It was not possible that someone had placed

a fragment of a human body in the tabernacle. What

made one think so? The fragments which composed

the Host were tightly interconnected to the fibers of

the human tissue; they penetrated each other, as if a

fragment of “bread” had suddenly transformed itself in

“body”. It is not possible to manipulate an event of this

type. No one, absolutely no one, would have been able

to do it. “Even the scientists of NASA, who have at

their disposal the most modern analytical techniques,

would not be able to artificially recreate such a thing”,

affirmed Professor Sobaniec-Łotowska, adding that

this fact has been for her of particular importance.

The precious Relic is carried in procession

The Church believes that the

words of consecration, though

the power of the Holy Spirit,

transform the species of bread

into the Body of Christ and

the species of wine into his

Blood. It provides also a call to

the ministers of Holy

Communion to distribute the

Body of Christ with faith and

attention and to the faithful -

to receive It with reverence.

The two scientists have affirmed that it is not possible that someone

had placed a fragment of a human body in the tabernacle since the

fragments that made up the Host were tightly interconnected to the

fibers of the human tissue, and penetrated each other, as if a

fragment of “bread” suddenly transformed itself into “body”.

The civil authorities present at the ceremony

to celebrate the Miracle of the miraculous Host of Sokółka.

Multitude of people present at the ceremony

H.E. Edward Ozorowski

Metropolitan Archbishop

of Białystok