78 TIME-LIFE MIRACLES OF FAITH
TEARSTAINED FAITH
WHEN ART CRIES
What is the significanceofreligiousstatuesand paintings
that seem to weep real tears?I
n October 2013, the elderly village women who
cleaned the Sacred Church of the Archangel
Michael in Rhodes, Greece, noticed something
strange. Tears seemed to be streaming from the
eyes of Michael in a painting that hung on one of
the church walls. The women informed the church vicar,
and soon news of the crying icon spread throughout the
island.
The local Orthodox Church leader, His Eminence
Metropolitan Kyrillos of Rhodes, visited the icon to see
the miracle for himself. Finding no signs of tampering or
a hoax, he instructed that the icon be moved to Ialyssos’
Sacred Church of the Dormition of Theotokos so that
the church leaders could observe how the phenomenon
evolved.
The painting is said to have wept on and off since then,
drawing crowds of believers to the new location. Many
have reported witnessing the tears of the archangel Mi-
chael, whose name means “who is like unto God” in He-
brew and who is widely seen as a defender of Christianity
against the dark forces of Satan. Some believe that the icon
cries as a warning of dark days to come.
Though reports of “crying” icons
aren’t unusual in Eastern Orthodox
churches, there is growing skepticism
about the phenomenon. Most recent
cases have been debunked as practical
jokes, naturally occurring phenomena,or outright frauds. Hoaxers created holy “tears” by using
calcium chloride, animal fat, or vegetable oil. At best, sci-
entific tests have been deemed inconclusive.
Weeping or not, icons have played a crucial role among
the Orthodox faithful for more than 2,000 years. They are
viewed as sacred windows to heaven that help worship-
pers’ prayers reach whichever holy figure they depict—
from Jesus and the Virgin Mary to angels and saints. They
are also seen as God’s way of bestowing his grace and mer-
cy upon the world.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the emphasis is not
so much on the tears as on the impact they have on believ-
ers. “The miracle is...how praying in front of that icon
changes people’s lives,” said Father John Matusiak, editor
ofTheOrthodoxChurch, the official publication of the Or-
thodox Church of America.
The Roman Catholic Church also investigates cases of
miraculous activity centered on holy objects, and Catholic
officials have declared a number of cases of weeping and
bleeding icons to be hoaxes over the years. Still, many be-
lievers continue to be drawn to the sculptures and paint-
ings in question.
“I think we need to respect people’s
experiences through the eyes of faith,
and God does use these things to bring
us closer to him,” one Catholic priest,
Father James Murphy of the diocese of
Sacramento, stated in 2005. ▪BLOOD AND TEARS
The Madonna of Medjugorje
in Civitavecchia, Italy. The
phenomenon, though
unexplained officially, for some
is an act of mourning. For others,
it is a premonition.MARY AND THE SAINTS