What’s going on when the Virgin Mary appears and statues weep?

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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div></div> </div> <img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204091/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important"><article class="topic-content content mt-20"><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/89/231289-050-6C01168C/apparition-of-the-Blessed-Virgin-Mary-surrounded-by-stars-in-the-grotto-of-Lourdes.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/89/231289-050-6C01168C/apparition-of-the-Blessed-Virgin-Mary-surrounded-by-stars-in-the-grotto-of-Lourdes.jpg?w=600&q=60" alt="The apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary surrounded by stars in the grotto of Lourdes" data-width="1600" data-height="1243" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">© Vividaphoto/Dreamstime.com</cite></figcaption></figure> <p class="topic-paragraph"><em>This article is republished from <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/us" data-show-preview="true">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/whats-going-on-when-the-virgin-mary-appears-and-statues-weep-the-answers-arent-just-about-science-or-the-supernatural-204091" data-show-preview="true">original article</a>, which was published April 21, 2023.</em></p><span class="MOD1"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">Claims of appearances of the Virgin Mary and weeping statues have been common in Catholicism. And now they’re going to get a closer look – but on a worldwide scale.</p><span class="MOD2"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph"><a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="http://www.pami.info/copia-di-home-en" data-show-preview="true">The Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis</a>, or PAMI, recently announced an <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.ewtnvatican.com/articles/vatican-creates-observatory-to-study-possible-apparitions-of-virgin-mary-856" data-show-preview="true">“observatory”</a> to <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1758584/Weeping-Virgin-Mary-statues-Vatican-scientists-PAMI" data-show-preview="true">investigate claims</a> of appearances of the Virgin Mary and reports of statues of her weeping oil and blood.</p><span class="MOD3"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">This announcement extends PAMI’s 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 – for example, trying to determine the substance of reported tears.</p><span class="MOD4"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">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><span class="MOD5"></span> <h2 id="refd2705293e43">Marian apparitions</h2> <p class="topic-paragraph">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><span class="MOD6"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">The image of <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2018-12/our-lady-of-guadaloupe-feast-day-mexico-americas.html" data-show-preview="true">Our Lady of Guadalupe</a> on a cloak in Mexico City has long been revered by Catholics as a miracle confirming Mary’s appearance to the peasant Juan Diego in 1531. In <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-europe-religion-prayer-communism-9df80314be754c4aa3de4403cd5ecced" data-show-preview="true">Fatima, Portugal</a>, in 1917, <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/f/fatima-message.php" data-show-preview="true">three children claimed</a> that the Virgin Mary had visited them <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/05/10/story-fatima-apparitions-miracles-and-journey-sainthood" data-show-preview="true">several times</a>. Crowds drawn by the children’s prophecy that Mary would reappear and perform a miracle reported seeing the sun “<a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36019/miracle-of-the-sun-broke-darkness-of-portugals-atheist-regimes" data-show-preview="true">dance in the sky</a>.”</p><span class="MOD7"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">The most recent Marian apparition that a Catholic bishop has declared “<a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/33982/a-marian-apparition-has-been-approved-in-argentina-and-its-a-big-deal" data-show-preview="true">worthy of belief</a>” was in Buenos Aires province, Argentina, in 2016. A local Catholic woman told her priest that visions had begun with <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-rosary-why-a-set-of-beads-and-prayers-are-central-to-catholic-faith-192485" data-show-preview="true">rosary prayer beads</a> glowing in multiple homes and progressed to Mary warning her of humanity’s “<a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.ncregister.com/blog/its-official-major-apparitions-of-mary-are-approved" data-show-preview="true">self-destruction</a>.”</p><span class="MOD8"></span> <h2 id="refd2705293e78">Mary’s tears</h2> <p class="topic-paragraph">There is also a long history of claims of weeping Mary statues. A well-known example is the <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/45666/weeping-madonna-of-syracuse-commemorated-in-sicily" data-show-preview="true">Madonna of Syracuse, Sicily</a> – a plaster statue that seemed to shed tears. Investigators appointed by the church said the liquid was <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://catholicshrinebasilica.com/santuario-madonna-delle-lacrime-syracuse-sicily-italy/" data-show-preview="true">chemically similar</a> to human tears. The shrine now housing the image is shaped like a <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://blog.learnsicilian.com/miracle-of-tears-history-of-the-weeping-madonna-of-syracuse-madonna-delle-lacrime/" data-show-preview="true">tear drop</a>.</p><span class="MOD9"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">Recently, weeping statues have been reported in places as distant from each other as <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEe1a0IxROI" data-show-preview="true">Paszto, Hungary</a>, and <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/07/18/a-virgin-mary-statue-has-been-weeping-olive-oil-church-leaders-cant-explain-it/?utm_term=.9c0d38087e0b" data-show-preview="true">Hobbs, New Mexico</a>. It is, however, rare for the Catholic Church to say that an apparently weeping statue has a supernatural cause.</p><span class="MOD10"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">Mary’s 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. <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/mfenelon/what-are-the-seven-sorrows-of-mary" data-show-preview="true">Mary’s earthly sorrows</a> are depicted by seven swords piercing her flaming heart.</p><span class="MOD11"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">Given Mary’s religious and symbolic significance, it is not surprising for a supposed apparition site or a weeping statue to become an object of devotion.</p><span class="MOD12"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">And when this happens, the local bishop sometimes <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2020/08/is-seeing-believing-how-the-church-faces-claims-of-marian-apparitions" data-show-preview="true">decides to investigate</a>.</p><span class="MOD13"></span> <h2 id="refd2705293e117">The possibility of fraud</h2> <p class="topic-paragraph">In examining claims of the supernatural, bishops follow standards set by the Vatican’s <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19780225_norme-apparizioni_en.html" data-show-preview="true">Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith</a>, which oversees Catholic doctrine. Perhaps because they address controversial issues, the standards were only <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.catholicsun.org/2012/05/24/vatican-publishes-rules-for-verifying-marian-apparitions/" data-show-preview="true">made public in 2012</a> – nearly 35 years after they were first implemented.</p><span class="MOD14"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">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><span class="MOD15"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">A well-known case of an apparition that the Catholic Church rejected concerns the visions of Veronica Lueken, the Brooklyn “Bayside Seer,” 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, <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.tldm.org/Directives/d50.htm" data-show-preview="true">an imposter</a> made to look like the true pope, <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en.html" data-show-preview="true">Paul VI</a>, through plastic surgery. Although <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/09/nyregion/visions-of-doom-endure-in-queens-prophecy-and-a-rift-at-a-shrine.html" data-show-preview="true">belief in the messages endures</a> among a small number of Catholics, the local bishop <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/declaration-concerning-the-bayside-movement-11313" data-show-preview="true">deemed the apparitions not credible</a>.</p><span class="MOD16"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">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 – one in <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.apnews.com/5bc729e1e9f2b843d2557ec63e5db6da" data-show-preview="true">Canada</a> in 1986 and another in <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/church_custodian_on_trial_in_italy_for_weeping_statue_hoax" data-show-preview="true">Italy</a> in 2006 – the blood turned out be that of the statue’s owner.</p><span class="MOD17"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">Liquids can also be injected into the porous material of statues and later seep out as “tears.” Oil that is mixed with fat can be applied to a statue’s eyes, which will “weep” when <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/the-mystery-of-mary-s-tears/article_38c3d91a-127a-5f7c-b0d2-c2bec26744a5.html" data-show-preview="true">ambient temperatures</a> rise.</p><span class="MOD18"></span> <h2 id="refd2705293e162">Searching for meaning</h2> <p class="topic-paragraph">The Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis seems to be searching for proof of supernatural signs, which certainly draw intellectual curiosity and media attention.</p><span class="MOD19"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">But as <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XuFPwjsAAAAJ&hl=en" data-show-preview="true">a scholar of global Catholicism</a> who has written about claims of the supernatural, I think it’s also important to understand what brings people to an apparition site or weeping statue in the first place.</p><span class="MOD20"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">In my hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, statues and pictures have appeared to weep oil and blood at the home of the <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="http://www.telegram.com/article/20070416/NEWS/704160667/1116&Template=printart" data-show-preview="true">late Audrey Santo</a>, who died in 2007 at the age of 23. As a child, “Little Audrey” 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><span class="MOD21"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">After Santo’s death, a <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="http://www.littleaudreysantofoundation.com/" data-show-preview="true">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><span class="MOD22"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph"><a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://crossworks.holycross.edu/rel_faculty_pub/5/" data-show-preview="true">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 <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070928100126/http://www.worcesterdiocese.org/audrey.html" data-show-preview="true">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><span class="MOD23"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph">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><span class="MOD24"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph"><em>This is an updated version of <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-behind-belief-in-weeping-virgin-mary-statues-100358" data-show-preview="true">an article originally published on July 23, 2018</a>.</em></p><span class="MOD25"></span> <p class="topic-paragraph"><em>Written by <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mathew-schmalz-318095" data-show-preview="true">Mathew Schmalz</a>, Professor of Religious Studies, <a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/college-of-the-holy-cross-1730" data-show-preview="true">College of the Holy Cross</a>.</em></p><span class="MOD26"></span> <span class="AM-END-OF-ARTICLE am-inline"></span></article> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="cm-rightrail d-none d-md-block ad-rail"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col"> <div class="md-loading hidden display-4 font-weight-normal"></div> <div class="text-center my-20 mb-100"> <button class="md-infinite-load-next btn btn-blue" data-value="next-page">Load More</button> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-da-320 hidden-xs"> </div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Story","templateName":"FORUM","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":11,"pageId":13419,"pageLength":null,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/story-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"D","adLeg":"D","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Story","pageSubtype":"FORUM","articleTemplateType":null,"gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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What’s going on when the Virgin Mary appears and statues weep? | Britannica