{"id":1798,"date":"2007-09-03T19:07:00","date_gmt":"2007-09-03T19:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2007\/09\/mary-is-that-you.html"},"modified":"2007-09-03T19:07:00","modified_gmt":"2007-09-03T19:07:00","slug":"mary-is-that-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/09\/mary-is-that-you.html","title":{"rendered":"Mary, is that you?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Lately, it seems the Mother of God is making more public appearances, in more unexpected places, than Angelina Jolie. <\/p>\n

So perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised at this item<\/a> in a paper from Reading, Pennsylvania: <\/p>\n

They came \u2014 to an alley behind the nondenominational Church of Broken Pieces \u2014 armed with faith and hoping to see the mother of God.<\/p>\n

Some in the crowd of 250 clutched rosary beads and whispered the prayer \u201cHail Mary, full of grace ….\u201d<\/p>\n

In silence, the crowd stood transfixed in front of an ordinary garage door.<\/p>\n

An apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, had reportedly appeared several times on the garage door in recent days.<\/p>\n

Hundreds had seen the ghostly white shadow that surrounded the outline of a woman in blue, flowing robes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so clear on Sunday,\u201d insisted Martha Wasser, 73, of Minersville. \u201cI saw the Blessed Mother on that garage door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wasser thought it providential that the day before she saw the apparition she received a photograph of the Blessed Mother in the mail. It came from a group supporting Our Lady of Fatima, the name given Mary when she was said to have appeared to children in Portugal in 1917.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe letter said there could be a miracle in your house,\u201d said Wasser, who clutched a rosary and wore an Our Lady of Fatima medal around her neck. \u201cWell, it happened on my street, that\u2019s close enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rev. Eric J. Gruber, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Minersville, said the Allentown Diocese is aware of the vision\u2019s appearances but plans no investigation.<\/p>\n

Gruber, who has had inquiries from some of his parishioners, has not visited the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great that people respond with faith,\u201d he said, \u201cwhile others are more skeptical.\u201d <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can read more at the link<\/a>, and see more pictures, along with a video. Count me among the skeptics. <\/p>\n

Photo: by Ben Hasty, Reading Eagle<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lately, it seems the Mother of God is making more public appearances, in more unexpected places, than Angelina Jolie. So perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised at this item in a paper from Reading, Pennsylvania: They came \u2014 to an alley behind the nondenominational Church of Broken Pieces \u2014 armed with faith and hoping to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMary, is that you? - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/09\/mary-is-that-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mary, is that you? - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lately, it seems the Mother of God is making more public appearances, in more unexpected places, than Angelina Jolie. 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