Not Much to See, but Something to Read

Last week I passed along the story out of Miami, Florida, about the Holy Family shadow in the church. Well, it’s gone. Vanished. But the people still come, according to this Miami Herald article. The faithful seemed impressed just to be in St. Brendan Catholic Church, the fleeting manifestation some sort of holy-status booster.

The article closes with an image I can’t help but relay to you: a crowd of 12 gathered around a woman’s cell phone looking at the image of the image from a few days earlier. Apparently, Julie Verdeja saw the shadow last weekend and captured it on her phone, which she had with her last Tuesday. Didn’t they know that could see a perfectly good image of the image right here?!?

Father Fernando Heria, the church's priest, has it right, though, what matters is the "impact the image had on its believers."

Across the pond, in Bilston, in the middle of the United Kingdom, factory worker and born-again Christian Malcolm Jones discovered what he perceives at the face of Jesus on his workbench, the very workbench where he reads his bibles during breaks. I haven’t been able to grab a still-shot anywhere, but if you read this Express and Star report, you can also watch a quick video that shows the face.



In Madonna of the Toast, I included a couple of stories from the UK, including this Michelin Man carrot. Where there is faith, there is the potential for an iconographic face to show up unexpectedly, even if you can’t see it.

“M” is for Mary and the Places She Appears

Last Wednesday in Miami, Florida, a flash of light caught the attention of parishioners at the St. Brendan Catholic Church’s Adoration Chapel. What happened after the flash is what’s made the news, however. According to this Miami Herald article, a shadow cast by a candle “unmistakenly formed the silhouette of the Holy Family – Joseph and the Virgin Mary standing over the baby Jesus.”

For those of you keeping score at home, that’s two holy shadows in as many weeks. There was the Minersville Mary (not to be confused with the Milford Mary) and now this Miami Mary. The article doesn’t account for what happened other than the “flash of light” that can explain why the shadow appeared. Does it really matter? Lines form daily of those eager to see the cloth and its sacred shadow; typically, people queue up around supper-time during the week. With rosary beads in hand, people pray, contemplate, cry and, of course, take pictures . . .




. . . with their cell phones.




I’d be more impressed by the image if it remained visible on the cloth if someone moved the candle. I doubt anyone is going to move the candle. This manifestation pushes it more than most in terms of the “What’s everyone getting so excited about?” factor, but the fact is, the Miami Herald ran a piece on it, as has local TV. Once the story breaks, people flock. Some find the shadow inspirational, while others are just out to take a gander.

Here is another “M”: Media.

Oh, and one more: Madonna (of the Toast)