Every Wind of Doctrine
People Flock to See Weeping Virgin Mary
By Cathryn Conroy, Netscape News Editor
A small open area with a cluster of trees next to the parking lot of a True Value hardware store in downtown West Chicago has become sacred ground for hundreds of believers. Mexican immigrant and landscaper Sebastian Cuaya, 36, was the first to see it: a tree scar that resembles the robed figure of a woman. Other images on nearby trees have also been spotted. Water is seeping from some of them, and the faithful who hold out their hands call it holy water--the Virgin Mary's tears. "You do not believe it until you see the Virgin," Laura Aguilar, 46, told the Chicago Sun Times. "We are privileged to have her here."
Find out what happened to two children who had visions of the Virgin Mary in 1917.
A shrine of sorts has been erected with pictures of Mary and Jesus, flowers both fresh and plastic, and candles. Lots of candles. Cuaya is camping out there. Friends bring him food because he won't leave. He wants a church to be built on the site, which he and others now consider sacred. Sacred or not, it's causing a traffic headache. After several crashes in the True Value parking lot, police are now stationed in the area to help control the traffic and the crowds. Is this an apparition of the Virgin Mary? At least one person says no. Ed Hedborn, plant records manager at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, told the Sun-Times that it's common for trees to get "wounds" when branches fall off or are cut or when some other damage is done. "It's just a natural process for a tree." Apparitions have frequently been reported in the Chicago area over the past two decades, including a wooden statue, painting, and icon of the Virgin Mary that all appeared to weep.
See an inspiring photo essay of the Pope's visit to the Holy Land.
People Flock to See Weeping Virgin Mary
By Cathryn Conroy, Netscape News Editor
A small open area with a cluster of trees next to the parking lot of a True Value hardware store in downtown West Chicago has become sacred ground for hundreds of believers. Mexican immigrant and landscaper Sebastian Cuaya, 36, was the first to see it: a tree scar that resembles the robed figure of a woman. Other images on nearby trees have also been spotted. Water is seeping from some of them, and the faithful who hold out their hands call it holy water--the Virgin Mary's tears. "You do not believe it until you see the Virgin," Laura Aguilar, 46, told the Chicago Sun Times. "We are privileged to have her here."
Find out what happened to two children who had visions of the Virgin Mary in 1917.
A shrine of sorts has been erected with pictures of Mary and Jesus, flowers both fresh and plastic, and candles. Lots of candles. Cuaya is camping out there. Friends bring him food because he won't leave. He wants a church to be built on the site, which he and others now consider sacred. Sacred or not, it's causing a traffic headache. After several crashes in the True Value parking lot, police are now stationed in the area to help control the traffic and the crowds. Is this an apparition of the Virgin Mary? At least one person says no. Ed Hedborn, plant records manager at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, told the Sun-Times that it's common for trees to get "wounds" when branches fall off or are cut or when some other damage is done. "It's just a natural process for a tree." Apparitions have frequently been reported in the Chicago area over the past two decades, including a wooden statue, painting, and icon of the Virgin Mary that all appeared to weep.
See an inspiring photo essay of the Pope's visit to the Holy Land.
