MIRACLE AT ST THOMAS: Vatican to probe Connecticut church 'miracle' where 'God duplicated himself'
THOMASTON, CONNECTICUT: The Vatican is set to review a claim made by parishioners of the St Thomas Catholic Church in Thomaston about Communion hosts, known as wafers, miraculously multiplying during a mass. The miracle was reported by a parishioner who was assisting the Communion at a March 5 congregation.
The parishioner reported that there was a shortage of hosts, wafers that symbolize the body of Jesus Christ, only to find that there were plenty available, the New York Post reported. The incident was first investigated by the Archdiocese of Hartford before word was sent to the Holy See in Rome last week. Meanwhile, author Michael O’Neill, aka ‘The Miracle Hunter,’ said it might be difficult to prove the event without any physical evidence.
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‘Suddenly there were more hosts’
Rev Joseph Crowley, who oversees the congregation, addressed the “miracle” during the March 5 service and said, “God has duplicated himself in the ciborium.” He shared, “It’s really, really cool when God does these things, and it’s really, really cool when we realize what he’s done.” Rev Crowley also spoke to the crowd through tears while reporting the incident. “One of our eucharistic ministers was running out of hosts and suddenly there were more hosts in the ciborium,” he said.
After the incident, Hartford Archbishop Leonard Blair told the press that he appointed a priest well-versed in church law to look into the alleged “miracle.” He said that the priest was tasked with looking into the “miracle” to decide whether the Vatican should be informed about the situation. David Elliot, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese, told the Hartford Courant that “reports such as the alleged miracle in Thomaston require referral to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome.” “The Archdiocese has proceeded accordingly, and will await a response in due time,” Elliot said.
‘I'm guessing they have the testimony’
Despite the strong claims made by Rev Crowley and other parishioners of the St Thomas Catholic Church, O’Neill said the church might have to face some challenges to present the incident as a real miracle. He also said it will be difficult to prove that a real miracle happened without any physical evidence. “I'd be highly surprised that they were able to have enough evidence to declare it a true eucharistic miracle,” O'Neill told the Hartford Courant.
“I'm guessing they have the testimony of numerous people who would have been able to say that they saw something and understood that this had to have been miraculous,” he continued. “So I'm guessing they're caught in the middle a little bit not having the hard evidence but having good testimony,” O’Neill added. He also shared that he thinks the Archdiocese is looking to the Vatican for “guidance” about the situation.
