Statue of Mary 'weeps'

A STATUE of the Virgin Mary bought by an Australian tourist in Thailand eight years ago is drawing thousands of pilgrims following reports it is weeping yellowish fragrant tears.

Patty Powell, 47, who bought the 30 inches tall fibreglass statue for EUR70, said the statue had started "weeping" on March 19 - St. Joseph's feast day - when she noticed its eyes were dripping an oily rose-scented liquid.

"That brought me to tears," she said. "I was overwhelmed with sadness.

"The message to me is the world is in turmoil."

Then the statue "cried" again from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. The "tears" appeared again during the Feast of Corpus Christie and again on August 14.

It has been weeping ever since, attracting at first hundreds to her home and then thousands to Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Rockingham, where pilgrims touch the oil.

Powell said that sick people have been mopping up the oil tissues.

The statue has been X-rayed at Perth's Curtin University and the oil has been taken for assessment at Murdoch University.

The head of Perth's Catholic church, Archbishop Barry Hickey, said that no official proceedings would be made to have the its powers formally recognised by the Church.

However, Archbishop Hickey said that the statute had had a powerful spiritual effect in calling people back to God.

Copyright 2002 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.