Our Lady of the Underpass: Year Four

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/1810320,CST-NWS-roep07.article

Virgin Mary stain leaves mark on believers' hearts

Four years later, expressway underpass is still a shrine

October 7, 2009

BY RICHARD ROEPER Sun-Times Columnist

Against the wall in a dank and dark underpass, beneath the sounds of constant traffic, it's still there.

A half-dozen flickering candles and a few bouquets of fresh flowers indicate visitors have been to the site very recently.

The shrine includes potted plants, hand-made crucifixes, holy cards, a Mexican flag, rosary beads, photos and handwritten messages, in English and Spanish.

RIP Eric

RIP Carlos

Elani . . . died 9/25/08

Help us please Mother Mary


Wow. I wouldn't label this is a miracle, but it is an impressively sustained show of faith, whether you believe that faith is admirable, misguided or just plain nuts.

[undeterred]

1. Anyone who can get hope from a stain

is an optimist.

[maxrandb]

12. It took me a minute

to realize that you weren't talking about RepukeliKKKans and the "hope" they got from a semen stained dress.

[Ian David]

2. Still think it looks like a vagina. n/t

[Taverner]

3. I do not believe that false hope is better than none at all

False hope means delusion...which makes people do really stupid things

[Libertas1776]

4. I just see a log...

but to each his own, I guess.

[Louisiana1976]

5. Reminds me of the story of the person who saw.....

Jesus in a grilled cheese sandwich.

[Captain Hilts]

6. According to Irish Central, she's showing up in Ireland too -

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/West-Donegal-town-reports-alleged-apparitions-of-the-Virgin-Mary-63258277.html

[imdjh]

7. the end must be near

[Warpy]

8. We live in desperate times

and desperate people will cling to any hope they can get, however remote.

I can't laugh at people who find Mary in a stain under a filthy overpass. My heart breaks for them.

[hedgehog]

9. Before anyone jumps on the credulous believers, consider this:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1210706/Caught-camera-Mother-Nature-cries-river-tears-global-warming-threatens-planet.html

If some people can find a symbol of the threat of global warming by seeing a crying face in an iceberg, why condemn others for finding a sign of hope in a piece of stained concrete or odd wood grain?

[Hekate]

10. The Goddess shows up wherever She is most needed, wherever people are...

People live miserably and die lonely in underpasses; what better place for an avatar of compassion to appear? Whether the Virgin Mary, Avalokiteshvara, Kwan Yin, or the Goddess of 10,000 names -- who are we to judge or mock the pain and longing of the people who see an expression of mercy there?

RIP Eric

RIP Carlos

Elani . . . died 9/25/08

Help us please Mother Mary

Hekate

[Journeyman]

11. Mary, Mary quite contrary, Where does your image show?

On tortillas and toast;
The occasional roast –-
And always with a-holes in tow.

http://freethinker.co.uk/2009/05/05/oh-no-not-another-damn-mary-image/