Candle Mary

This is a few months old but still worth a post
Mari Valenzuela of Alhambra, California made an astonishing discovery when she finished praying the rosary in December. According to the KTLA news website she noticed an image of the Virgin Mary formed in candle wax.

The wax figure is about six inches tall and appears to show a woman kneeling and praying.

Valenzuela showed the figure to her friends and family who say they've never seen anything quite like it form from wax.\

Valenzuela says she doesn't know what to do with the figure but wants to share it with as many people as she can. In the meantime, she's storing it in her refrigerator so it doesn't melt.

Hmm I wonder if she has ever heard of Ebay?

Ice Maiden

It's been a while since I had a simulacrum to post (so desperate was I for them that manipulated photos to create some of my own!). However we now have a good one to share.

Jennifer Bloomer of Dearborn Michigan claims to have seen an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) in a chunk of ice outside of the office formed from the drips of a leaky tap.

"It was crazy," Bloomer said. "We were both like, I can't believe we're seeing this right now. It was really cool."

The ice chunk is being preserved in a freezer on the property.

BVM simulacra seem to be relatively commonplace - or at least not unusual.

Two years ago in February she appeared outside a mobile home in Plymouth, Indiana. The ice formation was discovered at the base of the hitch, frozen to the structure. It gave the appearance of the Virgin Mary with her head bowed and her hands at her chest, clasped in a prayer.

In January 2007, a Morton, Texas, grocery store reported a Virgin Mary ice formation inside its freezer. An employee noticed that water dripping from the ceiling had created the image, and soon believers flocked to the freezer to see it for themselves.

Another recent sighting had nothing to do with ice but did manage to find its way into a refrigerator. Two months ago a California woman said her candle wax had melted in the shape of Mary kneeling and praying. In order to prevent melting and preserve the likeness, she placed it in the fridge.

Well there you have it. Perhaps Dearborn will supplant Lourdes as a pilgrimage site

The Virgin Mary tree stump

Ah there’s nothing like reporting on a good simulacrum story be it a nun in a bun or Alahu Akbar spelled out in the seeds of an aubergine, So here’s one from Ireland.

The Irish Times reports that almost 2,000 people have signed a petition seeking to prevent the removal of a tree stump on the grounds of a Co Limerick church. The stump is said to depict the Blessed Virgin Mary.

People from the town organised the petition in an effort to have the stump, which was due to be dug out of the ground yesterday (Wednesday 8 July) , made into a permanent fixture at the church. “We have almost 2,000 signatures on the petition already and we are going to continue getting more,” said shopkeeper Séamus Hogan.

“People have been coming from Kerry and Clare to see this tree, which we believe shows a clear outline of Our Lady,” he continued. Mr Hogan said the discovery was bringing people from all walks of life to Rathkeale to pray.It’s doing no harm and it’s bringing people together from young and old to black and white, Protestant and Catholic, to say a few prayers, so what’s wrong with that? There’s enough violence and intolerance going on in the world,” he said.

Local parish priest Fr Willie Russell said on a Limerick radio station that people should not worship the tree. “There’s nothing there . . . it’s just a tree . . . you can’t worship a tree.” Meanwhile a spokesman for the Limerick diocesan office said the “church’s response to phenomena of this type is one of great scepticism

Well I’m convinced. Those rosary beads around the neck are a dead giveaway

Virgin Mary on a griddle

Following on from recent sightings of Jesus in a kit kat and on the derriere of a terrier, the Blessed Virgin Mary has made a recent sighting in Calexico

Apparently people have been flocking to Calexico to view an image of Mary on a griddle. Brenda Martinez, manager of the Las Palmas restaurant, said more than 100 people have cometo gaze at the likeness.

Since the discovery, the griddle has been taken out of service and placed in a shrine in a storage room. Among the awe-struck visitors was a group of masked Mexican wrestlers who arrived for an exhibition. One, known as Mr Tempest, said: "This is amazing. It's a true miracle."

Make of the image what you will. Personally I cannot resist a simulacrum, be it the words of Allah in an aubergine, or Mother Theresa on a cinnamon danish.