The two other bullets become embedded in a wall.

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, archbishop of Chicago, requests an investigation be launched into the phenomenon.Ī man fires three shots at the statue on July 25, 1984, hitting it once on its carved robe. Donations pour into the cash-strapped church. Soon, thousands of people attend mass there, most coming from outside the neighborhood. John of God Catholic Church on the South Side. (Michael Budrys/Chicago Tribune)Ībout 300 people - including the parish's priest - watch clear liquid drip from the eyes of a 39-inch wooden statue of the Virgin Mary at St. John of God Catholic Church on the South Side in 1984. May 1984 People walk near the 'weeping' statue of the Virgin Mary at St. The crowd would soon vanish as well, to the dismay of ice cream and hot dog vendors hoping to get their business. When a shade is lowered in a second-story apartment, which just happens to be owned by a member of the Genna crime family, then the projection vanishes. Police soon realize lace curtains are to blame for the excitement. the next night - with thousands of people watching - the image suddenly disappears. But it is not for the fire department to tamper with.'Īt 11:30 p.m. A fireman tells a Chicago Tribune reporter, 'It is a reflection. Twenty police officers are sent to the scene. Later that evening, 500 people gather on the street, some falling to their knees on the street to pray. He points out the likeness to other people, including a woman who declares, 'A miracle has come. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)Īn unnamed man walking in the 1100 block of South Ashland Avenue says he sees an image of a woman holding a baby in her arms projected onto the side of a nearby three-story building. JAn estimated 7,000 people gathered on South Ashland Avenue near Elburn Avenue on July 15, 1931, to see the shadow that reportedly resembled the Virgin Mary and child. Here’s a look back at reports of the religious icon weeping or presenting in everyday objects, pulled from the Chicago Tribune archives. Most of these claims have a commonality - the Virgin Mary.

They’re not looking for very much,” he said. “Most people never realize the transcendent moments in their lives and they want a little sign in a consuming world that maybe there is something over the edge of suffering and sadness. In 1953, a small terra cotta statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Heart in a roadside shrine there inexplicably wept over a four-day period.īut as author, psychologist and former Catholic priest Eugene Kennedy noted following a local “Weeping Mary” occurrence in 1984, mystery is part of faith and people who flock to see crying icons should not be viewed as crazy for wanting a little bit of peace. The only weeping statue accepted by the Vatican, the leadership base of the Catholic Church, is one at Syracuse, in Sicily, Italy. While the Archdiocese of Chicago has investigated some of these instances, the church has declined to call them miraculous. In 2016, people traveled to the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Homer Glen to observe fragrant oil dripping from an icon of St. In 1987, a manifestation on the chimney of a bowling alley in Northlake appeared to show the image of Jesus Christ.Ī crucifix that appeared to shed blood inside Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside reportedly left those who observed it in “awe and moved to tears” in 1991. 8, 2019.įor decades, believers throughout the Chicago area have claimed to experience unexplainable religious phenomena. A painting of the Virgin Mary at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, in the Belmont Central neighborhood appeared to be weeping on Sept.

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