Church Claims Virgin Sculpture Cried Tears of… Virgin Olive Oil?
Take THAT and put it on your salad.
Image: iStock
Is it a miracle? Or is it just a very well-crafted parlor trick?
This question is being asked around the world after the parishioners at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Hobbs, New Mexico, noticed their statue of the Virgin Mary had begun to weep back in May.
A sample of the “tears” was sent last week for chemical analysis, and as it turns out, investigators have concluded that those tears are actually made of olive oil, which was perfumed with roses.
So far, the Catholic Church has not found an explanation for the strange phenomenon. The interior of the sculpture is hollow, and the manufacturer of the sculpture has claimed it to be impossible for liquid to leak from the sculpture.
Coincidentally, rose-scented olive oil is the same substance used to perform certain Catholic rituals, like baptisms. While cameras in the church did not detect any nefarious sculpture tamperers, outgoing Bishop Oscar Cantú has been slow to declare the phenomenon a miracle.
"I'm checking best practices," he told the Las Cruces Sun News. "Certainly, I have a final say, but I would defer to the wisdom of Pope Francis."
He doesn’t mind much either way. The mysterious weeping has provided “tremendous spiritual consolation” to many, he said—particularly in terms of refugee struggles and parent-child separation at the border—so as long as the sculpture helps, it’s a positive thing.
According to U.S. Census data, the population of Hobbs is 57.7 percent Hispanic or Latino.
While the Catholic Church will continue to investigate the oily occurrence, we will be fixing our eyes on a nice salad. We hear rose-scented oil makes an awesome dressing.
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