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| Without any pretense of interpreting the following information, we feel it necessary, by way of simple notification, to update the events surrounding the Milton Hospital, a secular medical facility in a nearby suburb south of Boston Massachusetts: There are now visitors arriving at this location who have, not without some verifiable basis, identified, on the large brick smokestack rising about thirty 30 feet out of the three story building, a giant cross, in fact two giant crosses - one above the other and, for that matter, perfectly centered and almost shining against the otherwise soot stained chimney. As an isolated attestation, or phenomenon, if we can use the word, they probably would not attract much attention or call out particularly for an explanation, but within the present context of this increasingly mystifying case , they may well be part of a larger and still developing, if as yet unclear, pattern. |
| The Presence of Our Lady |
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| There was a thick heavy overcast, and we wondered whether, after making the journey, pilgrimage if you will, we would see anything at all in the evening dusk. As you approach the Milton Hospital entrance, there is an oversized highway message board flashing the warning that "window viewing" is only available from 5:30 until 8:30 each evening. |
| Immediately upon turning the bend of one of the hospital's jutting L-shaped wings, a hundred or so yards in the distance, one sees a single third floor window starkly in contrast, by colour, to the surrounding panes. Far from a faint shadowy reflection on a particular glass, one sees a completely white representation just as if someone had sprayed a Christmas decoration on his windowpane with artificial snow. Again, unlike a misty gray condensation, this formation was more like the thick white frost that forms only on the coldest days of winter between the inside and storm windows. |
| I have seen visual anomalies whose "take" very much depends on the position or perspective of the spectator - somewhat to this or that side, knees a little bent, leaning backwards with head tilted just a bit to the left. . . . The interesting thing about this glass impression, is that it can be clearly discerned from wherever one stands in the surrounding parking lot and although various nuances can be picked up from different vantage points, most visitors feel no need to re-position themselves once having found a free spot in which to pray, sing, ask for a grace or simply view the image. |
| Miraculous happenings are sometimes divided into formal miracles, having effects that are beyond the laws of nature, and material miracles, having effects that, while not in themselves beyond the laws of nature, happen in such a way that is unexplainable. If , for example, the image between the glass were formed of gold; that would be naturally impossible and would qualify as a formal miracle. If, on the other hand, the image resulted from some naturally known process such as condensation, that would not be a miracle in the strictest understanding of the term, but it might very well be miraculous in the utterly improbable way in which it occurred. |
| What does one, or nearly everyone, see? It is definitely not a phenomenon of the Rorchock ink blotch type, where each subconscious may project into it, its own haunt or fantasy. Nor is it an optical illusion or mirage whose reality depends on subjective or otherwise external circumstances. What is it? or who is it? It is not Eleanor Roosevelt or Amelia Earhart. Nor, for that matter, have we heard of their images continually turning up in the most disparate places around the globe. What then is it? A Madonna - plain and simple. Not, to be sure, a Raphael, drawn in neat coloured strokes, but a sort of archetypal semblance of the Virgin Mary. There is something of Murillo's Immaculate Conception in its overall standing majesty - the form of a Mexican character - the veil covered head, slightly tilting downwards and to the left, as in the "Madonna del Dito". The full sleeve covered arms are reminiscent of Ribera or Rini and one might say that they couch a baby whose head is alert and fully formed. The traditional and apocalyptic crescent moon is unmistakable under Mary's feet which could be viewed as crushing demonic elements and resting upon clouds and other variously interpreted forms. What we have is a likeness that thousands of ordinary people immediately recognize: Mary of Nazareth, the Mother of Jesus. If someone is looking for what is "perfectly natural" in all of this; it is that people immediately recognize an image of their mother - their heavenly mother. |
| While the representation is unmistakable, people would differ on the meaning of this unusual occurrence. It's hard not to focus on the improbable location for this manifestation: a hospital. Most structures, after all, are homes and then, next in a statistical rendering: stores and businesses. It should be noted that Milton Hospital does not, at present, offer abortion among its routine procedures. There are however reports that a possible future merger with a liberal Boston hospital might force a change in policy. Moreover, word among early followers of these events also claim that a second window (already removed) on the adjacent side of the building, was picturing, presumably by the same phenomenon, an image of a baby in the womb. |
| Some have felt such a grace to be indecorous here in scandal torn Boston, but, as Saint Paul assures us: "Where sin abounds, grace super abounds" (Rm.5,20) . One thing seems to be undeniable and of particular comfort and encouragement in these troubled and demoralizing times: Our Lady is with us. |
| Cruzada.net editorial, June 23, 2003 |
| Photo by J. Orlando |