Some 10,000 people descended on the Knock Shrine a few months ago to see a Marian Apparition, promised by "clairvoyant" Joe Coleman to appear in the sun. Mary Kenny of the Irish Independent asks "What harm if people derive comfort from what they believe to be a spiritual experience?" while an Irish opthalmic surgeon now reports that he has treated no fewer than five people already, claiming it "monstrous" to mislead people into thinking that altered vision and effects, such as seeing the sun dance, were a religious apparition when they were classic symptoms of solar retinopathy. [more inside]
posted by disillusioned on Dec 3, 2009 - 44 comments

Sold, for 28,000! Remember that Virgin Mary in the Grilled Cheese? Well, an online casino bought the famed sandwich on e-bay for $28,000 and now you too, can put a face on a grilled cheese sandwich. Blessed Virgin Elmo, perhaps?
posted by erratic frog on Dec 9, 2004 - 20 comments

Virgin Mary lurks in Boston hospital. Or something.
posted by xmutex on Jun 19, 2003 - 25 comments

Tonight, the BBC took the controversial decision to screen a documentary which investigated the plausability of the life of The Virgin Mary as it appears in The Bible. As someone who's spiritual without commiting to any one religion, it was a fascinating look at a people and a time. But I can understand why Christians would be offended, especially since the programme suggested that Mary (or Miriam) wasn't a virgin at all, that she was a 'mother bringing up a wayward son under difficult circumstances'. Was this the kind of programme which should be shown at Christmas time?
posted by feelinglistless on Dec 22, 2002 - 26 comments

There's Something About Mary. Miracles fascinate me, especially stories of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Fatima, Lourdes, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Medjugorje--the list is extensive and ever-growing. Skeptics scoff, agnostics ponder and various scientific theories are propounded.
posted by y2karl on Sep 4, 2002 - 19 comments