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Virgin Mary appears on school baking tray
UPI ^ | Feb. 24

Posted on 02/27/2007 10:29:55 AM PST by Gamecock

HOUSTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A metal baking sheet from a Houston elementary school has become an object of veneration for hundreds of Catholics who see an image of the Virgin Mary.

The pan bearing what many believe is a miraculous religions image is now on display in the yard of Sylvia Calderon, a member of the PTA at Pugh Elementary School, the Houston Chronicle reported. Calderon gave the baking sheet a home after officials at the school said they could not accommodate the crowds who wanted to see it.

Guadalupe Rodriguez, a cafeteria worker at the school, discovered the image on Ash Wednesday as she cleaned off baking trays. She showed it to other workers who agreed that they saw the Virgin.

By Thursday, word of the find had gotten around and visitors started arriving at the cafeteria in droves. The pan was moved to Calderon's house.

School officials also believe it is a miracle, even though they can't accommodate it.

"I think someone was watching over us," said Lyda Guerrero, Pugh's principal. "I think someone is watching over this community and this school district and this school."


TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion; Mainline Protestant; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: avemaria; blessedartthou; dominustecum; fascinatedwcatholics; hailmaryfullofgrace; image; mary; materdei; nowandathourofdeath; prayforusmaria; prayforussinners; sanctamaria; whutsupwiththat
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To: Gamecock
When I joined the RCC a few years back, I was under the impression that the present-day Church frowned on the object-veneration that had been a cause of so much Catholic-bashing in the past. I love my Church, but this kind of stuff is embarrassing.
21 posted on 02/27/2007 11:05:44 AM PST by Magic Sam
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To: Magic Sam

Do not confuse popular veneration with official Church sanction.

There are many things the Church rejects - or at least, doesn't accept. Even making saints has been an arduous process.


22 posted on 02/27/2007 11:11:00 AM PST by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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To: highlander_UW

What is so terrible about people being attached to something that REPRESENTS to them, at least, something that God actually did?

If God dropped a Duesenberg in your back yard from the sky, would you be awed and be interested in keeping it or at least showing it to tell people how God had interacted with you? Or would you just discard it as "just another object"?


23 posted on 02/27/2007 11:14:03 AM PST by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
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Comment #24 Removed by Moderator

To: Alex Murphy
I wasn't sure what your point was, so I went for the most humorous guess.

Fair enough ... my point was the ease of mistakenly seeing faces.

25 posted on 02/27/2007 11:24:13 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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Comment #26 Removed by Moderator

To: Magic Sam
The church heirarchy certainly doesn't endorse it, but what are they going to do if rank & file Catholics get a kick out of this stuff?

Hey, I'm interested in art. Sometimes I might see The Thinker in a cloud formation.Does that mean the director of Musee Rodin should come over here & slap a gag order on me? The RC Church is most certainly not a democracy but it's hardly a repressive dictatorship that controls members' thoughts & actions around the globe.

I don't think it's really fair to extrapolate from this that these people are seeking validation for their faith in the cookie sheet or that they're venerating it in any way either.

In fact, to 'see' that here would require an imagination at least as overactive as these folks', I dare say.

27 posted on 02/27/2007 11:25:45 AM PST by leilani
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To: the OlLine Rebel
If God dropped a Duesenberg in your back yard from the sky, would you be awed and be interested in keeping it or at least showing it to tell people how God had interacted with you? Or would you just discard it as "just another object"?

Well gee, it is a Duesenberg. And it depends on how badly the car was damaged in the fall.


28 posted on 02/27/2007 11:31:04 AM PST by Alex Murphy
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To: rrc
For how many people is Carl Sagan an easily recognised figure?

"It's a face" is step one ... "Whose face is it?" is step two.

Or so it seems to me ...

29 posted on 02/27/2007 11:31:32 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Gamecock

Obviously a cookie sheet, isn't it a sin to eat chocolate chip cookies on the sly from the bottom?


30 posted on 02/27/2007 11:32:35 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who support the troops will pray for them to WIN!)
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To: napscoordinator

God Bless these people of simple faith. If it brings so many hundreds together in prayer, it's a good thing. I wish I could have that childlike faith again.


31 posted on 02/27/2007 11:35:45 AM PST by Palladin (You cannot glorify God better than by a calm and joyous life.--Spurgeon)
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To: Alex Murphy
there's a connection between the Cydonia "face" and the Shroud of Turin.

Oh, my ... that site is astonishing. Amazing. Astounding. Fantastic. Startling. Stirring. Unusual. It has to be an Analog of something, but I don't know what.

32 posted on 02/27/2007 11:38:07 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: the OlLine Rebel
What is so terrible about people being attached to something that REPRESENTS to them, at least, something that God actually did?

What does it say about someone's faith that they need a baking sheet to be reminded of God? And you're assuming without a shred of proof that God is behind a food stain on a baking sheet. Now if you pointed to a rainbow or the intricacies of a tree I'd say God's hand is evident...a baking sheet...sorry, no.

If God dropped a Duesenberg in your back yard from the sky, would you be awed and be interested in keeping it or at least showing it to tell people how God had interacted with you? Or would you just discard it as "just another object"?

Without a doubt, that is the most bizarre question I've ever been asked on a message board. I'll let you know once a Dusenberg drops in my backyard...until then it remains just an irrational question.

33 posted on 02/27/2007 11:38:14 AM PST by highlander_UW (I don't know what my future holds, but I know Who holds my future)
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Comment #34 Removed by Moderator

To: Gamecock

You never know when someone will pop up, eh :>)


35 posted on 02/27/2007 11:39:16 AM PST by irishtenor (Save the whales. Collect the whole set.)
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To: COUNTrecount
Diane Duyser, from Florida, says the sandwich has never gone mouldy since she made it 10 years ago.

Incorruptible!

36 posted on 02/27/2007 11:40:00 AM PST by ichabod1 ("Liberals read Karl Marx. Conservatives UNDERSTAND Karl Marx." Ronald Reagan)
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To: highlander_UW
What does it say about someone's faith that they need a baking sheet to be reminded of God?

What does it say about someone's faith that even so mundane an object as a baking sheet reminds them of God? Matt. 18:2-4

37 posted on 02/27/2007 11:40:50 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: rrc
please remember, catholics worship only God. the word veneration doesnt denote worship.

Veneration CAN denote worship, but even taking veneration to mean a high degree of respect and honor...well, I submit that a baking tray is not an appropriate focus. Honestly, don't you see why people think it's nuts to give reverence to a baking tray?

38 posted on 02/27/2007 11:40:56 AM PST by highlander_UW (I don't know what my future holds, but I know Who holds my future)
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To: the OlLine Rebel

It's just a doosie.


39 posted on 02/27/2007 11:41:02 AM PST by ichabod1 ("Liberals read Karl Marx. Conservatives UNDERSTAND Karl Marx." Ronald Reagan)
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To: ArrogantBustard

Yeah, how come they never say "MaDOHna mia, it's Sr. Mary Elephant from Parochial School!"


40 posted on 02/27/2007 11:42:40 AM PST by ichabod1 ("Liberals read Karl Marx. Conservatives UNDERSTAND Karl Marx." Ronald Reagan)
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