03:47 PM CST on Thursday, March 23, 2006

By REBECCA RODRIGUEZ / WFAA-TV

WFAA

The bleeding wafer has been on display

Some are calling it a miracle - a communion host found bleeding in a Dallas church.

There's actually a term for it: Eucharistic miracle.

While it is way too soon to know what the Vatican will call it, some of the faithful already have all the proof they need.

A believer needs no explanation.

"He says he gives us life through the host through the body," says Ode Sifuentes.

And it is within a communion host found bleeding in a glass at St. James Catholic Church on Sunday that many believe they have also found a miracle.

Asuncio Zembrano was one of the first to see it.

"I began to tremble. It was an emotional feeling - the blood rushed to my head I don't know how to explain it," he said.

It all began a month ago, when a young boy choked during communion and spat it back out. According to church doctrine there is only one way to properly dispose of a host - and that is by letting it dissolve in a glass of water, something that should take only a few hours.

Instead, a church worker found a bloody host. Word spread quickly as people came to see for themselves and shared photos by e-mail.

On Tuesday, the Catholic Diocese of Dallas took possession of the glass and the host. It will now be analyzed.

Wanda Estrada was so moved by the e-mailed images, she came just to visit the church, where she believes a miracle occurred.

"It almost brought tears to your eyes," she said.

"We have to believe in something with everything going on out there in the world - we have to believe in something."