Posted on 04/30/2009 9:34:30 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
CALEXICO — For the past week the Las Palmas swap meet here has been able to boast more than just good deals on cheap clothing. It’s now also an official viewing site for a bona fide likeness of the Virgin Mary.
A chef at the Las Palmas restaurant, Hilda Maciel, discovered the image on a griddle she was cleaning last Wednesday. The next day, the Rev. Gerardo Fernandez of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Calexico confirmed the image was a true likeness of the Virgin, said Brenda Martinez, general manager at the restaurant.
Since then, the griddle with the image has been retired from service in the kitchen and put on display in a storage room. Martinez said her family is planning to renovate the room and will continue allowing people to view the griddle for free.
“It was shocking. We didn’t know what to think,” she said of the discovery.
Father Gerardo could not be reached for comment on the appearance of the Virgin’s image on the griddle Wednesday evening.
So far more than 100 people have dropped by to view the griddle, Martinez said, some traveling from San Diego for the privilege.
On Wednesday several Mexican wrestlers who were booked to appear at the swap meet as a special promotion crowded into the small room to admire the image.
For Maciel the discovery carried particular significance. Her brother died of a heart attack two days before the image appeared, she said. The day she discovered the likeness was her first day back at work.
“I believe that for me it’s to give me the strength to continue on,” she said.
For the vast majority, you are right. Sigh....
I’ve been a Catholic since birth, and that’s a loooong time. The nuns taught us NOT to accept silly claims of miracles, but only those which have been proven. And I agree with everything you said, Arthur. Especially about the Tilma.
how are they proven?
***how are they proven? ***
The Catholic Church is rigorous in it’s refusal to accept a miracle without absolute proof that a miracle has actually happened. For example, if someone has asked the Blessed Virgin to pray for them so that they may be cured of an incurable disease, and the cure happens, there has to be proof that it could not have occurred without a miracle.
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