A few days ago in the Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Canton, Ohio, a presumed divine miracle took place.
A woman named Connie Liptak was photographing the statue of Our Lady of Fatima (the Virgin Mary) on display there, taking several shots almost consecutively.
In one of the photos, she later noticed that the face of the Virgin Mary had changed, and her eyes appeared to be nearly closed.
The photos with the statue’s eyes open and closed were taken from slightly different angles, roughly a step apart, but people believe that this effect of closed eyes cannot be solely explained by the angle.
Eyes Open
Eyes Closed
In the photo with closed eyes, the Virgin Mary’s head appears to be slightly more bowed than in the photo with open eyes. Is this a lighting effect? Or is it truly something supernatural?
“I know this is a miracle. They are really closed. I mean, you can actually see that her eyelashes are down,” says Connie Liptak herself.
This statue of the Virgin Mary does not belong to the Basilica of St. John the Baptist but was temporarily displayed there as part of its long “tour” around different countries of the world. This is not the first miracle attributed to it—there are rumors that people who prayed to it for healing have indeed been cured of cancer, heart disease, kidney issues, etc.
The statue’s caretaker, Larry Magino, also says that during its long “tour,” the statue has cried at least 15 times.
Officially, it is called Our Lady of Fatima, the Pilgrim Virgin, and was created in 1947 at the request of Sister Lucia. Lucia was one of three shepherd children from Fatima, Portugal, where the so-called Fatima Miracle occurred in 1917.
The three children experienced visions of the Virgin Mary several times, and in one instance, around 70,000 people witnessed the sun’s inexplicable behavior in the sky. It seemed to “dance” and then fall downward.
