I remember how, when I was younger, we used to visit our relatives who lived in rather ancient-looking houses. You know, the ones that would typically have a hallway of little statues of the Mother Mary (and at least one Sto. Niño). I also remember wanting to close my eyes every single time.
Some kids find werewolves and vampires terrifying. Others sweat at the thought of unseen horrors making scratching sounds on their bedroom windows. Me? I get freaked out when religious statues do creepy stuff they’re not supposed to, like moving ever-so-slightly just as you turn your head, or crying, or pretty much doing anything at all. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.
It brings me a bit of relief, though, to know that science can actually explain the weird stories about these so-called “weeping” statues.
Our Lady's Tears
One of the more common explanations for weeping statues is simple condensation. Some statues are made of different materials with varying densities. Water vapor in the environment tends to condense on cooler surfaces (which, in the case of these statues, are often found at the eyes).
Something similar also happens when concrete blocks of different densities get mysteriously moist. In fact, this phenomenon has been widely observed — enough to earn it the moniker “Sweating Slab Syndrome.” This also explains why a lot of statues in glass cases, especially in air-conditioned places, get a little misty sometimes!
In 19th-century Italy, peasants would sometimes find blood where it wasn’t supposed to be, such as on statues and even on communion wafers. However, in 1819, an outbreak of cursed “blood”-riddled polenta (an Italian boiled grain dish) prompted pharmacist Bartolomeo Bizio to take a closer look – and soon enough, he found not a creepy miracle, but bacteria!
Virgin Mary Painting 'sheds Tears'; Believers Say It's A Warning Sign Of A Catastrophic Event
Since then, that bacteria, called Serratia marcescens, has been better understood (and even used in a variety of ways). For instance, it’s been used as a marker in bioweapon dispersal (because of its red color). Later on, they found S. marcescens to be a potentially serious pathogen; in fact, it is one of the top 10 causes of hospital-acquired respiratory, neonatal, and surgical infections. It can also cause ocular keratitis, as it thrives in poorly cleaned contact lens cases. So make sure to clean your lenses properly, lest you become a “weeping” human (in more ways than one)!
When the crucifix at Our Lady of Velankanni (Good Health) Church in Mumbai started dripping water from its feet, many thought it was a miracle…until author Sanal Edmaruku noticed that capillary action (the ability of liquids to move in narrow spaces) from a clogged drain was the source of the “miraculous” dripping water. (Incidentally, the Catholic Church in Mumbai chased him for this. He is currently in exile in Finland. Yikes!)
Of course, not all explanations are as innocent. Because they tend to attract pilgrims, human-assisted “weeping” statues have been secretly used in religious festivals, parades, and displays, to great effect. The scientific explanations behind them, however, are no less fascinating.
Tears, A Miraculous Warning
One very practical method is to inject the liquid into a statue made of plaster. Plaster is a porous, absorbent material, one that can hold the liquid. It also helps that statues are usually coated in glaze, which does not let liquid through. Scratching the statue at the eyes will allow liquid to seep through the plaster, creating the illusion of “weeping.”
A more “scientific” way is to mix oil and fat (or lard) and put it just at the eyes of the statue. Fats tend to have a higher melting point than room temperature, at about 20-25 C (or a little higher in the summer!). Cocoa butter melts at 34-38 C, while pure coconut oil melts at 25 C, meaning it is solid at lower temperatures.
(A quick peek at the chemistry behind it: Fats have a large proportion of saturated fatty acids which, if seen very closely, can be straight and long, and thus stick together better and pack tightly. This means that they require more energy (heat) to melt.)
Our Lady Of Andacollo, Beloved In Chile Aleteia
One of the first things done upon reports of crying statues is to run chemical tests to characterize the “tears” in question. Several times, red tears turned out to be blood, indeed… the blood of the fully human and very much alive owners of the statues (or other people within close proximity), that is! (In other cases, the “tears” turned out to be olive oil.)
Interestingly enough, the Vatican officially recognizes only only ONE instance of a crying statue. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or the Holy Office is in charge of investigating such reports, in order to maintain the integrity of the Church. The one report they do recognize? Our Lady of Akita in Japan, which has been associated with miraculous healings. Perhaps most impressively, the entirety of Japan has seen it weeping, via a live broadcast in 1973.
Ingrid is currently working in public health research but has also dipped her toes in various fields. She loves the intersection of science and art, and wishes to share her excitement at discovery and curiosity through writing, in the hopes everyone will share appreciation of these as well.EWTN News, Inc. is the world’s largest Catholic news organization, comprised of television, radio, print and digital media outlets, dedicated to reporting the truth in light of the Gospel and the Catholic Church.
A Catholic Life: Our Lady Of The Miraculous Medal
A statue of the Virgin Mary in Fresno, Calif., appears to be weeping miraculous tears, according to witnesses. The family will be contacted by the diocese in a private manner in order to offer pastoral guidance, according to the local bishop.
The family that owns the statue says the tears have been coming and going for about the past year and a half.
According to witnesses, the tears appear to well up in Mary’s right eye and stream down her face. Maria Cardenas, owner of the statue, placed a glass under the statue’s chin to collect the apparently miraculous tears and share them with people who come to see it.
Solving The Mystery Of Virgin Mary Statues That Appear To Cry
The statue was a Mother’s Day gift to Cardenas 10 years ago, she told local news station ABC30 Action News. However, it didn’t start weeping until after the murder of her cousin.
Although the family is not publicly announcing where they live, they have invited many people into their home to see the weeping statue for themselves.
We’re not hiding her, but at the same time, we don’t want anything to happen to her, ” a caretaker of the statue who chose to remain anonymous told ABC30.
Miraculous Icon Of Virgin Mary Has Been Crying For Seven Months In Athens
The news crew stayed to see the statue weep and reported that the tears were oily, smelled like roses and were welling up continuously.
Bishop Armando Ochoa of the Diocese of Fresno said in a statement that he is “just becoming aware” of the apparently miraculous statue.
“It is unknown who the priests are that were being referenced in a related televised news story, as the diocese has not had any member of the clergy report this matter to bishop’s office, to date, ” Bishop Ochoa said.
Joyce Polistena The Image Of Mary Of The Miraculous Medal
The family will be contacted by the diocese in a private manner in order to offer pastoral guidance regarding the phenomenon, he added.
The highest recognition that the Catholic Church gives to an alleged miracle is that it is “worthy of belief.” Investigations of reported miraculous events (which, in the case of weeping statues, typically includes DNA testing of the tears, among other things) may result in a rejection if the event is determined to be fraudulent or lacking in supernatural character.
Alternatively, the Church may declare that there is nothing contrary to the faith in a supposed miraculous phenomenon — but without making a determination on whether a supernatural character is present.
Investigating The Phenomena Of The Weeping Virgin Mary
“The Catholic Church is very cautious with these matters and employs science, where possible, to ferret out hoaxes and other non-supernatural explanations, ” said “Miracle Hunter” Michael O’Neill, who extensively researches Catholic miracles.
“Tears are collected and tested to see if they are human (pig’s fat has been found in some false cases), and statues may be x-rayed to rule out any internal mechanism used to fraudulently mimic the flow of tears, ” O’Neill told CNA in email comments.
“Some weeping icons have been shown to have natural causes: condensation or leaking ductwork in the wall behind them. On a few very rare occasions these lachrymations (tears) have been found to have no explanation and are worthy of belief as being miraculous.”
Statue Of The Virgin Mary Begins Crying Blood
There have been many claims of weeping statues or icons of Mary and other saints throughout history, with a few of them being deemed worthy of belief by the Church.
One of the best known and most recent examples occurred in Syracuse, Italy, in 1953. An Italian woman, Antonina Janusso, was cured from pains while witnessing a weeping plaque of the Madonna in the home of the parents of her husband, Angelo.
The tears purportedly were the source of many miracles throughout Italy. In a 1954 radio message, Venerable Pius XII approved of the miraculous weeping, after the tears were found by four different doctors to be human.
What Is Behind Belief In Weeping Virgin Mary Statues
Another more controversial case occurred in the 1970s and
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