[marshmallow]

Merry Christmas to one and all.........

[iowamark]

Note that this is at Notre Dame University in Indiana, not Notre Dame in Paris.

[Pravious]

My first thought was... it’s snowing. Snow got in front of the lens.

[1_Rain_Drop]

Nice Photo.
It’s a snowflake close to the camera.

[nuconvert]

I thought it was steam. Is there a pipe on the ground inside the grotto at that location, maybe for water or something?

[nuconvert]

ON second thought, after looking at it more closely, there’s a smaller very similar image to the left...it’s a snowflake falling

[poconopundit]

Beautiful shot, marshmallow.

I went to college at Notre Dame and know the grotto's sacred spell. At dusk, during a snowstorm, or in the midst of a deep fog, the Notre Dame campus, with many Gothic style buildings can indeed be an enchanting place.

Emerson tried the best he could to capture this feeling in words...

Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration.

In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith. My head is bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -- all mean egotism vanishes.

I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God.

Nature, R. W. Emerson

Merry Christmas.

[ops33]

Nowhere in the article does it mention that this is a representation of the Grotto in Lourdes.

[tired&retired]

Several years ago I was in Barcelona Spain where I was severely sunburned all over my upper body when I fell asleep on the beach. Two days later I was in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris and was in tortuous pain. My skin was red and super tender. I itched all over and the skin was peeling.

I couldn’t get up the energy to walk around and see the beautiful stained glass and architecture as I was in distress, so I sat in one of the chairs in the front row of the cathedral facing the alter.

I began praying for relief and almost instantly this magical energy moved into my body. It’s hard to describe as it was more in me than on me. It felt like complete full body hug that left a feeling of peace.

As the feeling drifted away I noticed that I no longer itched anywhere. My skin was no longer peeling and the redness was gone. Completely healed instantly. Often when I think of this event the warm hug feeling returns in me and I re-experience it again.

Yes, the Cathedral of Notre Dame is a very special place.

[ragmop]

Thank you for posting, it’s a beautiful photo and story. The Blessed Mother holding the Infant Jesus appeared to my mom shortly before mom passed. What a blessing for mom and for all of us.

[faucetman]

Why not get excited about the actual image of JESUS CHRIST the God man instead of some phony photography anomaly?

http://www.newgeology.us/presentation24.html

[Boogieman]

“Afterwards, it was snowing that wet and heavy snow.”

Looks like some of it got on the lens.

[cloudmountain]

Two comments:

BEAUTIFUL photo.

BRRR!

[Delta 21]

Why cant the Virgin Mary appear without being photoshoped?
..and now an extinction level asteroid is gonna destroy Indiana!

[aMorePerfectUnion]

"Little children, keep yourselves from Idols."

Apostle John

[LydiaLong]

I had that same image in my granola this morning.

[PGalt]

Thanks for posting. What is that person along the wrought-iron fence doing?

[Salvation]

Amazing story.

[Western Phil]

If anyone is looking for a natural explanation, this appears to be a cold weather fumarole Cool surrounding air is drawn into the lower levels of the Grotto where it picks up a little moisture as it is warmed. The warm air rises, cools, the moisture condenses and under favorable conditions becomes visible as a slowly rising fog. Apparently this particular cloud was not dense enough to be noticed by the writer, but the physics of the camera was able to detect it.

Somewhat similar phenomena resulting from fortuitous configurations of small animal dens, road culverts and other drainage systems can sometimes be seen in the cold of winter. Also related is the early morning mist arising from warm bodies of water after a strong cold front has gone through, mostly seen in the fall. Wind will quickly dissipate any of these things.

[Batman11]

Pfl

[Spruce]

One of my saplings just got accepted to Notre Dame