I keep running across crying statue stories from around the world. They interest me, not just because of the phenomenon itself, but because people seem to want to believe in these little miracles so badly. Though most of them are proven false, the tears just keep on coming and it doesn’t matter where or who they come from. It may be possible that some of them are real- but why?
A few of my favorites.
In an town outside Perth, Australia, a Virgin who wept oily sweet scented tears for 5 months finally stopped. She was the object of investigation by a team including a surgeon, a scientist and a priest to find the cause for the leakage. After some time, it was determined that the piece, bought in a Thai gift shop, had a recess filled with rose scented oil in its head and when the enamel finish was rubbed, the oil leaked.
In Medford, MA, a Marian statue outside of a church that is due to be closed due to dwindling attendance began shedding tears the day the information was announced. Crowds drifted in since the word got out, though the parish priest states, “The statue is not weeping. It’s just an outdoor statue.”
In Messina, Italy, a Padre Pio statue appeared to have blood stains on his face. The police tested it and found it to indeed be human. Thousands flocked to see and pray at the miraculous sculpture. But within a week, a local woman said that her son had squirted the blood onto the face while testing a needle he was using to shoot drugs.
In Bolivia, though, the most disturbing pictures of a Crying Christ have been circulating, and have not been proven a hoax. The town has become a
center for devotees from all over the world.
Finally, in a cultural phenomenon, cartoonists instantly glommed on to the pathos of 9/11 and treated their readers to scores of crying Statue of Liberty panels.
