Thousands of pilgrims from across the globe embarked on the lengthy trek south of Perth, Australia, hoping to witness the remarkable Madonna statue at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, all for one extraordinary reason.
The statue was installed in 2003 and quickly captured the attention of devoted religious followers who observed what they believed to be a miraculous phenomenon. Within months of being displayed, visitors began claiming they witnessed the figure shedding oily tears.
Following news of a ‘miracle’ at a US church that saw worshippers allegedly witness a statue blinking, the Madonna statue serves as a representation of the Virgin Mary, embodying concepts of purity, motherly devotion, faith, hope, and redemption within Christianity. The word itself stems from the Italian expression ‘ma donna’, meaning ‘my lady’.
Before long, the archbishop initiated a formal inquiry into what believers were describing as a potential miracle, seeking to address the rumors and conjecture that the oil tears might actually be fraudulent. Though he professed to “believe in miracles,” Archbishop Hickey declared at the time that they couldn’t yet determine if this was “definitely one of them,” according to The Age.
Notably, the church maintains a specific set of official criteria that must be satisfied before any phenomenon can be proclaimed a miracle. In this instance, there were no established guidelines regarding a crying statue, yet no alternative explanation existed beyond supernatural involvement, reports the Mirror US.
He said: “I’m not saying it wasn’t a miracle, by the way; I’m saying we haven’t sufficient proof. I don’t know how it happened; all I can say is other interpretations are possible.” Following comprehensive examination by a doctor, priest, and microbiologist, no evidence of tampering was discovered during detailed analysis of the statue. The hollow figure underwent magnification, X-ray, and CT scan procedures across four days, the archbishop reported.
He stated there were no “hidden channels for the passing of liquids outside the statues.”
The testing revealed the oil was actually vegetable oil containing rose oil droplets, believed to indicate human manipulation.
The thorough investigation also tracked the timing patterns of the statue’s weeping, which allegedly started on March 19 during the feast of St. Joseph. It persisted throughout the four days of Easter that year, and during the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven, it wept almost nonstop until mid-January.
The archbishop noted there were several occasions when the statue remained dry. “One was the four days during which they examined the statue,” he said.
“And one was the month I asked for the statue to be isolated in the office of the parish priest of Rockingham.”
After the puzzling weeping incidents and thorough investigation, the statue was eventually returned to its original owner, parishioner Patty Powell. The weeping Madonna was never exhibited in church again.
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