Scientists shocked to discover, myth about St. Francis could be perfectly true

Miracles do happen, even if science cannot appreciate them.

A legend about a group of starving friars may be true after all, following forensic examination of a precious relic in Italy.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- The year 1224 saw a hard winter for the friars in the Friary of Folloni in Montella, Italy. Trapped by snow, they could not leave their humble lodgings to find food. Without food, they were doomed to starve.

According to the legend, St. Francis of Assisi, who was traveling in France at the time, send an angel with a sack of bread to his starving friars. The humble, hungry fellows heard a heavy knock at their door and when they opened it they saw a sack full of bread. How the sack was delivered was beyond earthly explanation, with the friars insisting it had been delivered by an angel, sent by St. Francis.

The hungry friars survived the winter, and they preserved the sack as a miraculous relic.

For centuries, visitors came from far around to view the relic. However, in 1732 with the sack finally deteriorating, the friars put the sack away out of public view. Only recently has one of the remaining scraps submitted for forensic examination.

Scientists quickly made a surprising discovery. Not only was the sack dated to the time of the legend, but it once contained bread, just as the legend claimed.

The surprised scientists refused to comment on the allegedly miraculous delivery of the sack, saying that is a matter of religious belief, apart from science, but they affirmed that the friars spoke the truth about the sack's age and purpose.

Once again, science reveals that the stories of the saints are often grounded in reality. We are each welcome to make of this conclusion what we will.