Ukraine Christ sighting: miracle or mould?
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Hundreds of people flocked to a small town in western Ukraine to pray before a mysterious mark that appeared on a wall last July. For some, it's a sign from heaven. For others, it's urban legends.
Hundreds of people flocked to a small town in western Ukraine to pray before a mysterious mark that appeared on a wall last July. For some, it’s a sign from heaven. For others, it’s urban legends.
A miracle. For several months now, the town of Velyky Berezny has seen dozens of visitors come to pray every day before the indisputable evidence of God’s existence. The "sign" causing such commotion? A trace of mildew on a humid factory wall, its sihouette somewhat resembling that of Jesus as portrayed in Orthodox Christian tradition. Fervent Orthodox faithful come to leave flowers, kiss or touch the sign on the wall, turned into a de facto improvised chapel.
These stories bring to mind the 2004 episode in which a Florida woman sold a sacred relic... On a piece of burnt toast on which the Virgin Mary's face could be made out. The lucky relic was sold for the whopping price of $28,000 (€19,000).
Photo published on the site kp.ua.
Photo published on the site kp.ua.
Other examples of "sightings"
Jesus on the cross in Russia
Another 'Jesus on toast' sighting
"The only real sightings are intimate ones"
Archpriest Wladimir Yagello (Father Wladimir) runs the Notre-Dame-du-Signe Orthodox church in Paris's 16th arrondissement.
If people are actually going places to spot what they are told is proof of God’s existence, they’re just being naive. The fact that there has been so much hype around these pseudo-sightings proves that they are fakes. People who believe in them are gullible, simple-minded folk. One can even wonder how profound their faith is, because true faith does not need visions to exist. These people are in fact just searching for their faith.
The only real sightings are personal, intimate ones. When the Lord’s mother appeared to Saint Serge in the XIVe century, only he saw her. It was a personal vision, come as a token of his faith.
Representations of Christ and the Virgin Mary occupy a central position in the Russian orthodox faith for historic reasons. In particular, they refer to the images of the Lord’s mother painted by Luke the evangelist and the image of Edessa, an image of the Christ's face on a cloth now lost.