What many believe is an imagine of the Virgin Mary has appeared on a bedroom wall in Membertou, Cape Breton.
According to the Cape Breton Post,
on Jan. 12 . . . [Denise] Simon first noticed something different on her bedroom wall. In one of the four corners in her bedroom appeared a silhouette in the likeness of the Virgin Mary.
She said her grandfather, a devout Roman Catholic, was an important part of community’s St. Anne’s Mission Church, and carried his spiritual duties with the utmost respect.
“He worked so hard for the church. To me, he’s a saint. . . . And I think … he’s responsible for her being there.”
Simon set up the bedroom as a shrine to the Virgin Mary, and thousands of “people of all beliefs, and some skeptics too, have walked through her home” to visit the room and recite the rosary.
The pastor of St. Anne’s Church in Membertou, Father Don MacGillivray is not convinced the image is a miracle but he does see the image as a positive sign:
“I have seen the image, and there is something there, but I don’t know what it is.”
“I do know it is helping people with their faith, and there is nothing wrong with that,”
“The way people are reacting to it is for the good.”
As for whether it is a miracle, MacGillivray had to pause.
“Is it a miracle? We don’t know, but I’ll say once again, it is helping people with their faith, and that is a good thing.
It is in MacGillivary’s and the diocese’s interest to put a positive spin on the image because Membertou resident Janice Paul believes,
the Virgin Mary appeared to send the people of Membertou a message to maintain their faith in religion and their church, which has been threatened with closure by the Diocese of Antigonish.
On January 20th Bishop Dunn announced the Church’s plans to close churches in the Diocese.
It will take more than a miracle for the Catholic Church to placate the thousands of parishioners who are outraged by church closures and who are disgusted with the behaviour of the clergy in the diocese.