Bacolod City Marian image sheds tears

By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Following reports an Our Lady of Fátima image, a portrayal of the Marian apparitions, at a small chapel in Bacolod City shed tears, Watchmen Daily Journal yesterday looked into the case and witnessed the event first-hand.

Upon closer examination, there were no tubes or liquid containers found. In addition, the image itself is hollow, with a hole drilled in the bottom, a result of earlier investigations.

The façade was oily to the touch and smelled of flowers, along with fresh-looking blood marks in the eyes.

In an interview with the owner, who requested anonymity and to not disclose the location of the chapel, he said the image was a gift from his mother in 2004.

He said the image first shed tears in August 2013, when the eyes of the image turned red and emitted what appeared to be tears of blood in the form of a fragrant and oily substance.

The owner said he had earlier received a message in a dream requesting he encourage more people to pray the rosary and, at the time the image was shedding tears, a Bible placed at the altar began turning pages on its own, stopping at Matthew 24, which describes the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.

He believes the incident was a foretelling of the large earthquake that struck Bohol in October of that year and Super Typhoon “Yolanda,” which made landfall the following November.
The owner also thinks the image is connected to President Rodrigo Duterte’s rise to power and his current controversy with the Catholic Church.

“God indeed allowed Duterte to get the presidency, however, he [was] eventually blinded by his own power and started abusing it by becoming arrogant,” he explained. “The Blessed Mother is not happy and she is crying; she doesn’t want anymore bloodshed.”

The owner said the image began shedding tears again following the president’s recent pronouncements.
He said several mayors and high-profile individuals earlier visited the chapel, including a mayor from Cebu, who prayed for his wife to give birth to a son, which later came to fruition.

Despite Vatican officials earlier indicating, “99 percent of these cases were due to collective hallucinations, a play on light, a chemical phenomenon, and, sometimes, even the speculation of people with few scruples,” the owner believes the miracles he has witnessed have been genuine./DGB, WDJ