{"id":33622,"date":"2023-04-23T21:42:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T21:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=33622"},"modified":"2023-04-26T07:47:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T07:47:10","slug":"whats-going-on-when-the-virgin-mary-appears-and-statues-weep-the-answers-arent-just-about-science-or-the-supernatural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/whats-going-on-when-the-virgin-mary-appears-and-statues-weep-the-answers-arent-just-about-science-or-the-supernatural\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s going on when the Virgin Mary appears and statues weep? The answers aren\u2019t just about science or the\u00a0supernatural"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mathew Schmalz<\/a>, College of the Holy Cross<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claims of appearances of the Virgin Mary and weeping statues have been common in Catholicism. And now they\u2019re going to get a closer look \u2013 but on a worldwide scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis<\/a>, or PAMI, recently announced an \u201cobservatory\u201d<\/a> to investigate claims<\/a> of appearances of the Virgin Mary and reports of statues of her weeping oil and blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This announcement extends PAMI\u2019s mission of promoting devotion to Mary and study of phenomena related to her. While still waiting for full Vatican approval, the observatory will train investigators to study mystical phenomena in cooperation with church authorities \u2013 for example, trying to determine the substance of reported tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigating the supernatural has always been a delicate task in the Catholic Church, which has to balance the faith of believers with the possibility of fraud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marian apparitions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Catholics believe Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, and the mother of God, who still makes her presence known. And the Catholic Church has officially recognized a number of sites where Mary has reportedly appeared around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe<\/a> on a cloak in Mexico City has long been revered by Catholics as a miracle confirming Mary\u2019s appearance to the peasant Juan Diego in 1531. In Fatima, Portugal<\/a>, in 1917, three children claimed<\/a> that the Virgin Mary had visited them several times<\/a>. Crowds drawn by the children\u2019s prophecy that Mary would reappear and perform a miracle reported seeing the sun \u201cdance in the sky<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
Thousands of believers claimed to have seen a \u2018Miracle of the Sun\u2019 in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. Grzegorz Galazka\/Archivio Grzegorz Galazka\/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most recent Marian apparition that a Catholic bishop has declared \u201cworthy of belief<\/a>\u201d was in Buenos Aires province, Argentina, in 2016. A local Catholic woman told her priest that visions had begun with rosary prayer beads<\/a> glowing in multiple homes and progressed to Mary warning her of humanity\u2019s \u201cself-destruction<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary\u2019s tears<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is also a long history of claims of weeping Mary statues. A well-known example is the Madonna of Syracuse, Sicily<\/a> \u2013 a plaster statue that seemed to shed tears. Investigators appointed by the church said the liquid was chemically similar<\/a> to human tears. The shrine now housing the image is shaped like a tear drop<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/a>
The church in Syracuse, Sicily, that holds a small statue of Mary believed to weep. Michele Ponzio\/iStock via Getty Images Plus<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recently, weeping statues have been reported in places as distant from each other as Paszto, Hungary<\/a>, and Hobbs, New Mexico<\/a>. It is, however, rare for the Catholic Church to say that an apparently weeping statue has a supernatural cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary\u2019s tears have special significance for Catholics. She is often pictured as crying over the sins of the world and the pain she endured in her earthly life. Mary\u2019s earthly sorrows<\/a> are depicted by seven swords piercing her flaming heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given Mary\u2019s religious and symbolic significance, it is not surprising for a supposed apparition site or a weeping statue to become an object of devotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when this happens, the local bishop sometimes decides to investigate<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The possibility of fraud<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In examining claims of the supernatural, bishops follow standards set by the Vatican\u2019s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith<\/a>, which oversees Catholic doctrine. Perhaps because they address controversial issues, the standards were only made public in 2012<\/a> \u2013 nearly 35 years after they were first implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Four<\/a>
Christians pray in 2014 next to a statue of the Virgin Mary in northern Israel that residents said was weeping oil. AP Photo\/Ariel Schalit<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The bishop, or a committee appointed by him, evaluates the alleged supernatural phenomenon. This involves interviewing witnesses and, sometimes, scientific tests. Impact on the community is also considered. Positive aspects include reports of physical healings and religious conversions, or a general deepening of faith among Catholics. Negative aspects would include selling oil from a purportedly weeping statue or claiming a message from Mary that goes against Catholic doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A well-known case of an apparition that the Catholic Church rejected concerns the visions of Veronica Lueken, the Brooklyn \u201cBayside Seer,\u201d who died in 1995. Lueken reported a number of messages from Mary that concerned church authorities. For example, Lueken claimed in 1972 that Mary had told her that the pope was, in fact, an imposter<\/a> made to look like the true pope, Paul VI<\/a>, through plastic surgery. Although belief in the messages endures<\/a> among a small number of Catholics, the local bishop deemed the apparitions not credible<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to weeping statues, one of the primary questions is whether the event has been staged. For example, in two cases of statues that supposedly had wept blood \u2013 one in Canada<\/a> in 1986 and another in Italy<\/a> in 2006 \u2013 the blood turned out be that of the statue\u2019s owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liquids can also be injected into the porous material of statues and later seep out as \u201ctears.\u201d Oil that is mixed with fat can be applied to a statue\u2019s eyes, which will \u201cweep\u201d when ambient temperatures<\/a> rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Searching for meaning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis seems to be searching for proof of supernatural signs, which certainly draw intellectual curiosity and media attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as a scholar of global Catholicism<\/a> who has written about claims of the supernatural, I think it\u2019s also important to understand what brings people to an apparition site or weeping statue in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, statues and pictures have appeared to weep oil and blood at the home of the late Audrey Santo<\/a>, who died in 2007 at the age of 23. As a child, \u201cLittle Audrey\u201d was left mute and paralyzed after a swimming pool accident. In spite of her physical condition, pilgrims who came to see her believed that she was praying for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A special outdoor Mass was celebrated in honor of Audrey Santo, who was reputed to be connected to miracles, at the Holy Cross College stadium in Worcester, Mass. AP Photo\/Gail Oskin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After Santo\u2019s death, a foundation was established<\/a> to promote her cause for sainthood, believing that the statues and pictures in her home were signs that God has specially blessed her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my writings<\/a> about the case of Santo, I was definitely tempted to focus on talk of the supernatural. And the claims surrounding Little Audrey are still debated among Catholics<\/a> as her sainthood cause stalls. But what I found most interesting was listening to people share why weeping statues were so meaningful in their personal lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Santo home, the people I talked to shared moving personal stories of pain and sadness, hope and healing. In the end, the sense of togetherness in and through suffering was far more important than talk of scientific proofs of the supernatural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an updated version of an article originally published on July 23, 2018<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mathew Schmalz<\/a>, Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mathew Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross Claims of appearances of the Virgin Mary and weeping statues have been common in Catholicism. And now they\u2019re going to get a closer look \u2013 but on a worldwide scale. The Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis, or PAMI, recently announced an \u201cobservatory\u201d to investigate claims of appearances of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":33623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2450],"tags":[3593,2620,1829,2639,5639,5591,1716,6610,3656,13940,10623,3655,2151],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33622"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33622"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33654,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33622\/revisions\/33654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}