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HagiaSophia
Guest
When asked about an image of the Blessed Virgin that allegedly wept tears of blood, Bishop Girolamo Grillo recalls a famous line from Scripture.
“A tree is known by its fruits,” says the prelate, 10 years after the tears were first reported in the town of Pantano, near Civitavecchia, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Rome.
The phenomenon was first manifested on Feb. 2, 1995. The bishop of Civitavecchia was a direct witness of the lacrimation on March 15 of that year. In this interview with the Italian newspaper Avvenire, he assesses its effects.
Q: What has happened in these 10 years?
Bishop Grillo: Judge for yourself. Since then the presence of pilgrims has not only not diminished, but it has been purified from all obstacles of sensationalism.
The people who go to Pantano are impelled by a great need for conversion. And it is demonstrated by the fact that I have had to arrange for the continual presence of five confessors.
They have told me that they have been able to reconcile many people with God who have been estranged for many years; not rarely, also offenders.
Close to 1,000 broken families, due to divorce or separation, have been reunited, and today this is anything but usual.
Many women have been granted their desired maternity and then they come to have their children baptized here.
Finally, many have asked for baptism, including former Muslims. So why not make these fruits known to the world?
zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=66134
Code: ZE05020903
Date: 2005-02-09
A “Weeping Image” of the Virgin, 10 Years On
“A tree is known by its fruits,” says the prelate, 10 years after the tears were first reported in the town of Pantano, near Civitavecchia, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Rome.
The phenomenon was first manifested on Feb. 2, 1995. The bishop of Civitavecchia was a direct witness of the lacrimation on March 15 of that year. In this interview with the Italian newspaper Avvenire, he assesses its effects.
Q: What has happened in these 10 years?
Bishop Grillo: Judge for yourself. Since then the presence of pilgrims has not only not diminished, but it has been purified from all obstacles of sensationalism.
The people who go to Pantano are impelled by a great need for conversion. And it is demonstrated by the fact that I have had to arrange for the continual presence of five confessors.
They have told me that they have been able to reconcile many people with God who have been estranged for many years; not rarely, also offenders.
Close to 1,000 broken families, due to divorce or separation, have been reunited, and today this is anything but usual.
Many women have been granted their desired maternity and then they come to have their children baptized here.
Finally, many have asked for baptism, including former Muslims. So why not make these fruits known to the world?
zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=66134
Code: ZE05020903
Date: 2005-02-09
A “Weeping Image” of the Virgin, 10 Years On