Catholic Church Opens Investigation After 'Possible Miracle' Stuns Small New Mexican Town
A Catholic diocese in New Mexico is investigating allegations of a weeping statue of Mary to determine whether it is a genuine miracle.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in the city of Hobbs reported that some sort of liquid had begun weeping from a hollow, bronze statue within the church in May and has continued to do so.
Catholic faithfuls and others from across the country began traveling to the church to see the statue, and Bishop Oscar Cantu announced an investigation into the nature of the phenomenon in June.
That investigation continued Friday when the diocese collected a sample of the liquid coming from the statue and sent it for chemical analysis.
Analysis revealed that the liquid was olive oil, which neither proves nor disproves the alleged supernatural nature of the weeping statue.
“And we determined it was olive oil, a scented olive oil,” Cantu said, according to Las Cruces Sun News.
“Some of the witnesses claimed it smelled of roses, so something similar to the oil I bless and consecrate each year that we use for baptism, for confirmations and for ordination of the priests.”
Diocesan officials also reached out to the manufacturer of the statue to ask whether it was possible that any moisture or wax had remained in the bronze during the manufacturing of the statue that would account for the liquid now leaking out. The manufacturers assured them that that was not possible.
The diocese is continuing its investigation. Should the diocese conclude that the weeping statue is supernatural, Cantu said the church would have to discern whether the supernatural event was of God or of the demonic.
“If it is supernatural, then is it God? Or it of an evil spirit? We do believe in the fallen angels,and we renounce the fallen angels because we believe from the scriptures that they’re frustrated and they want to make everyone else frustrated — and sometimes they use things, they can be rather cunning.” Cantú said, according to LCSN.
“So that would be other piece: what are the fruits? If it’s from God, it’s going to produce positive fruits of joy, of peace, of healing — perhaps physical healing,” he added.
Cantú said that of the testimonies concerning the stature that he has read, all have been positive.
“I’ve read most of those written testimonies, and they are stories of tremendous faith, people who have been dealing with terrible suffering in their lives and have felt a tremendous spiritual consolation that Mary walks with us in our tears,” he told LCSN.
The bishop said that, when it comes time to make a decision about the nature of the statue, he will likely defer to Pope Francis.
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