Tourists flock to images of Virgin Mary in Canada
Friday, January 10, 2003 Posted: 3:00 PM EST (2000 GMT)
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) -- Sightings of images of the Virgin Mary on windows and walls in northern reaches of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan have produced a minor tourism miracle for the remote villages involved.
Since September, mysterious images of Mary, mother of Jesus, have been reported in four villages -- three of which are accessible only by airplane -- spurring hundreds of people to visit.
The latest images appeared Monday on two homes in Beauval, Saskatchewan, which has fewer than 1,000 residents. The images appear to glow at night, and have been captured on video, said Bertha Durocher, who owns one of the homes.
Durocher said she didn't want to tell others about the image on her picture window at first. "I told my mom ... and she said, 'Oh you're probably seeing your own shadow,' so I thought people wouldn't believe me," Durocher told Reuters.
Since then more than 300 people have come from hundreds of miles around to view her window.
"It was just glowing so beautifully, I had tears in my eyes," Durocher said, adding she believes the sightings are some kind of divine message.
The Roman Catholic archbishop of the Keewatin diocese, home to the four communities, was away on retreat and unavailable to comment. A spokesman at his office said the diocese has not received any official reports of the sightings.
Sightings of images of Jesus, Mary and saints are not uncommon around the world, and have been witnessed in media as diverse as glass, water, a burrito and a Camaro muscle car.
Possibly the most famous recent Canadian sighting was a Jesus-like image on the brick wall of a Tim Horton's doughnut shop at Bras D'Or, on Canada's Atlantic Coast, in 1998.
