On Saturday, April 28, 2001, at 8:49 a.m., Fr. Johnson Karoor of St. Mary's parish at Chirattakonam (Archdiocese of Trivandrum, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church) was exposing the Blessed Sacrament for the customary Friday adoration. He noticed three reddish dots on the front of the consecrated host. He alerted the few worshippers present, locked the chapel, and called the bishop.
By the following Sunday — May 5, 2001 — the three dots had developed into the clearly visible image of a human face: bearded, with a crown of thorns, eyes raised, in the manner of the traditional iconography of the Christ of the Passion. Fr. Johnson photographed the host through the monstrance.
Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselice of Trivandrum formed an investigative commission of theologians, medical doctors, and photographic experts. Their report (2001) found no evidence of tampering or manipulation. The archbishop wrote: 'For us believers what we have seen is something that we have always believed. If our Lord is speaking to us by giving us this sign, it certainly needs a response from us.' The monstrance containing the miraculous host is preserved at St. Mary's, Chirattakonam — the principal Eucharistic miracle of India.