Tuesday 4 October 2011

Mold or Miracle?

A priest holds a reliquary containing a dark spot
that appeared on a communion wafer
 in 2008
I've never been much into miracles, nor would I was to decry anyone their faith, but reports out of Poland take the biscuit (should that be communion wafer?).

"Catholics in Poland gathered on Sunday for a special Mass celebrating what they see as a miracle: the appearance on a communion wafer of a dark spot they are convinced is part of the heart of Jesus. The communion wafer in question developed a brown spot in 2008 after falling on the floor during a Mass in the eastern Polish town of Sokolka. Two medical doctors determined that the spot was heart muscle tissue, church officials have said."

Well sorry... but any such edible wafer coming in contact with a floor trampled by hundred's of worshipers will develop dark spots over time, and those spots are more than likely mold or bacteria.

Microbe Zoo has probably found the scientific answer and in doing so also debunked another  'miracle' that the gullible fell for in 1263 - the miracle of Bolsena. Serratia marcescens seems the likely culprit, a common microbe found in soil, water, on plants and in animals.

The dark-spotted wafer was carried aloft in a reliquary by a golden-robed priest in a procession and was put on display in the town's church of St. Anthony as about 1,000 faithful looked on, according to a report.

My faith in the medial profession is also severely dented by their apparent preparedness to confirm the 'miracle'.
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