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Wed 20 Apr, 2005 09:25 pm
Is this phenomenon like a Rorschach Inkblot Test? People see what they want to see?
Hundreds flock to underpass where some see Virgin Mary in salt stain
at 11:35 on April 20, 2005, EST.
CHICAGO (AP) - A steady stream of the faithful and the curious, many carrying flowers and candles, have flocked to an expressway underpass for a view of a yellow and white stain on a concrete wall that some believe is an image of the Virgin Mary.
Police have patrolled the emergency turnoff area under the Kennedy Expressway since Monday as hundreds of people have walked down to see the image and the growing memorial of flowers and candles that surround it.
Beside the image is an artist's rendering of the Virgin Mary embracing Pope John Paul in a pose some see echoed in the stain.
"We believe it's a miracle," said Elbia Tello, 42. "We have faith, and we can see her face."
Tuesday morning, women knelt with rosary beads behind a police barricade while men in work shirts stood solemnly before the image, praying. A police officer kept the crowd of about three dozen from getting too close to the traffic but didn't stop them gathering around the stain.
The stain is likely the result of salt run-off, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. The agency does not plan to scrub it off the wall.
"We're treating this just like we treat any type of roadside memorial," said department spokesman Mike Claffey. "We have no plans to clean this site."
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago had not received any requests to authenticate the image, spokesman Jim Dwyer said.
"These things don't happen every day," Dwyer said. "Sometimes people ask us to look into it. Most of the time they don't. (The meaning) depends on the individual who sees it. To them, it's real. To them, it reaffirms their faith."
But onlooker Victor Robles, 36, said he was skeptical about the stain's Virgin Mary resemblance.
"I see just a concrete wall and an image that could happen anywhere," Robles said. "If that image helps more people feel closer to God then maybe that is a good sign."
Worldwide, people have been drawn to images believed to resemble the Virgin Mary seen on windows, fence posts and walls.
Among the best-known in the United States was an image seen in office windows in Clearwater, Fla. Within weeks, a half million people had been to the site. Glass experts believe the image was created by a chemical reaction and corrosion of the metallic elements in the glass coating, but they could not explain why it took the shape it did. The windows were broken last year.
I saw Jim Morrison in my stool today, but couldn't draw 500,000 to my house to check it out.
I may sell it on Ebay.
A bunch of bunk. If the Holy Mother was going to show herself, do you think she'd pick and underpass?
Has anyone seen Elvis lately?
I did. At Burger King. He was enjoying a Whopper with cheese and a coke. I said hi but he turned and bolted out the door.
500,000 peple flock to view bullshyt like this and people wonder how Bush got two terms....
Bella wrote
Quote:A bunch of bunk. If the Holy Mother was going to show herself, do you think she'd pick and underpass?
If she shows herself on window panes, French fries and half eaten sandwiches. Why not an underpass. Religious fanaticism it would seem robs one of logic and reason.
Clouds! Don't forget the clouds....
It's not that the random image resembles a holy figure it's because it HAS TO HAVE MEANING!! When a whole bunch of bad things happened to all those people on Xmas Day why wasn't the entire family (the Trinity and Mary) manifesting like crazy? But some-one toasts some cheese on bread...........
Here's follow-up to this story.....
Man Allegedly Defaces Virgin Mary Image
Associated Press
Fri May 6, 8:41 AM ET
CHICAGO - A man was arrested for allegedly scrawling "Big Lie" over a stain on an expressway underpass that some believed was an image of the Virgin Mary.
Authorities then painted over the stain because it had been defaced, police spokesman David Banks said Friday.
Authorities charged Victor Gonzalez, 37, of Chicago with criminal damage to state supported property, a misdemeanor. Witnesses had seen him painting the image, Banks said. A telephone listing for Gonzalez could not immediately be found.
A steady stream of the faithful and the curious, many carrying flowers and candles, had flocked to the emergency turnoff area under the Kennedy Expressway since last month. On Friday, some people gathered at the site and expressed sorrow.
The stain was likely the result of salt runoff, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Worldwide, people have been drawn to images believed to resemble the Virgin Mary seen on windows, fence posts and walls.
One of the best known was an image on windows of an office building in Clearwater, Fla., that drew hundreds of thousands of viewers after it was spotted in 1996. Experts said the image was created by corrosion. The windows were shattered last year, and a teenage boy pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief and sentenced to 10 days in jail.
If nothing else he put an end to the religious lunacy.
blueveinedthrobber wrote:500,000 peple flock to view bullshyt like this and people wonder how Bush got two terms....

And people don't even now what she looks like. They know what George looks like!