It’s a miracle in Rhode Island!

No, not the cross, the thing etched onto the cross. You know, the Virgin Mary:

Some people say they see the outline of the Virgin Mary, whom Christians believe is the mother of God, in the darker etching on the cross. Some say they also see the baby Jesus in Mary’s arms. “I don’t quite know what it is. I mean, it’s certainly an iconic image on that cross. It’s a water stain of some kind, but it’s pouring rain right now. It’s been pouring rain all day. The cross should be soaking wet and it’s not. There’s some sort of icon, some sort of image on there and it’s very familiar if you’re Catholic,” said Ryan McCarty of North Smithfield.

Yes, “it’s very familiar,” which is to say there’s nothing there but some Catholics are going to make up a whole story around it, anyway. Which I suppose wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done that…

Steve Ahlquist, unlike the local media, points out the obvious pareidolia and has embarrassing video and images of people straining to see the image:

Of course the truth is, as the picture that accompanies this piece shows, that the image on the cross doesn’t look that much like anything, never mind the mother of God. A close look reveals it to be some sort of stain which from far away, with vision blurred, might look like a veiled woman holding something, but up close the vision falls apart. And so it is with all miracles. The closer you look, the less impressive they are.

By the way, the church in question is called “Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish.”

But I’m sure this isn’t just some sort of lame marketing gimmick…

(Thanks to Tangie for the link!)



