Statues that Shed Tears and Blood
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In 988 the figure of Jesus on a crucifix mysteriously began to weep in the abbey of Pucelles at Orleans, France. No one was surprised when soon afterwards a catastrophic fire devastated the city. The weeping crucifix had been seen as a forewarning of disaster.
Weeping and bleeding images are among the most frequently reported miracles. A recent case occurred in Siracusa, Sicily, where a small image of the Virgin Mary had been given to two newlyweds in the spring of 1953. On 29 August, while pregnant and very ill, the wife was praying before the statue when she saw tears trickling down its face. The woman made a miraculous recovery. The weeping lasted four days, and a delegation of police, doctors and priests witnessed the miracle. It was recognised by the Church in December, and today a special chapel houses Our Lady of the Tears.
Such phenomena are by no means confined to traditionally Catholic countries. At Akita, Japan, a statue of the Virgin began to bleed in June 1973. It also perspired, giving off a scent of lilies and roses and later was seen weeping. This happened 101 times, until it stopped in 1981. Four years later an image was seen to weep at Naju, Korea. The owners of both statues were sick women, and the phenomena were deemed expressions of sympathy by the Virgin Mary.
Some people are known to have faked such miracles. In 1967 London faith healer Alfred Bolton admitted his bleeding crucifix contained strategically placed pieces of raw meat. In 1986 US physicist Shawn Carlson, intrigued by reports that a weeping statue had drawn over 300,000 visitors to a Chicago church, set out to create a fake. At a 1987 meeting of the American Committee for the Scientific Study of Religion, he caused a sensation with a Mona Lisa that wept tears. The technique was simple, he said, and the ingredients had been readily available for centuries, but would not elaborate.
In some cases believers may be genuinely deceived by natural processes, such as the effect of condensation. Yet every year produces a fresh crop of miraculous statues to challenge skeptics and inspire believers.
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Here's something interesting....
The Weeping and Bleeding Statue in Bolivia
This famous image of Christ shed tears of human blood During Holy Week of 1995, the miraculous occurrence took place repeatedly during the recital of the Rosary. Since then, the number of devotees to the Crying Christ have grown to around a thousand, one hundred of which were standing in front of the statue when its eyes shed tears. The watery liquid afterward transformed into a blood-like substance that gives an impressive countenance on the face of Christ.. This weeping icon is closely associated with the visionaries Catalina Rivas and Nancy Fowler.
"Since 1995, various scientific studies of the icon have taken place, the conclusions of which are astounding and underline the fact that Cochabamba has fast become the center of a supernatural event. Recordings have been made of the crying, samples have been taken and sent to the laboratory. And lastly, the statue itself has been subjected to computerised examination. A laboratory report put together in April 1995 outlined the fact that the liquid analysed was "hemoglobin, hetero protein of a red colour that exists in hematoid, or red globules."
-It was foretold by Saint Don Bosco that Jesus would leave a sign that he had been in Cochabamba, Bolivia
-The statue has been thoroughly tested and found not to be fraudulent
-The statue forms tears of human blood at the eyes that weep down the face, caught on camera in the video
-The blood has been tested and found to be human
-The blood contained a piece of thorn, identified as a thorn from the Hawthorne bush, believed to have been the type of thorn used to make the crown of thorns for Jesus of Nazareth. -
HUH.......although I am a protestant....eerr....i dont buy such miracles
