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American Morning
Boston-Area Hospital's Window Draws Catholics With Image Of Virgin, Child
Aired June 25, 2003 - 09:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: For the thousands flocking to a Boston- area hospital, seeing is believing for the faithful. For weeks they have been coming to view a window. An image in the window at the Milton Medical Center, an image that many say is the Virgin Mary and child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm already feeling, I know I'm feeling. But I want to touch the wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it looks exactly like the Virgin Mary and a little baby there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see it, absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes you feel really good. My 13-year- old didn't see it, but that's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really looks like the Virgin Mary and Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's some scientific way we can explain that but I think it's a miracle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Now there are others say they see yet another image in that hospital. Sharon McGarty's a doctor's assistant there at the medical center. Mary Joan Leith is an associated professor of religious studies at Stonehill College. Good morning to both of you. Thanks for sharing with us.
Sharon, you first. What is the second image that people are now saying they see?
SHARON MCGARTY, DOCTOR'S ASSISTANT: If you are looking behind me where the tarp is, if you look over to the right-hand side, there are some chimneys there and there's a lot of soot on it. If you'll look right in the middle you'll see some bricks that doesn't have soot and it looks like it's in the form of a cross.
Apparently it was seen one day when it was raining and soot was very dark and someone looked up and saw a cross. And it is up there. You can see it. I've seen it myself.
HEMMER: All right, it's out of the view of our camera. But what is not out of the view is that trap, that blue tarp. Why is that up now over the window?
MCGARTY: Well, when this first began, there was such an onslaught of people coming to pray. And what they did was they came up with a solution so that people who needed to see the doctors and needed hospital services can come here during the day without a crowd, but yet still have the people who want to pay their respects and pray to the blessed mother, be able to come from 5:30 to 8 at night. And it seems to have worked out well.
It does not keep people away during the day, though, by any means. If you look around, you can see there are people now. They leave flowers. It's beautiful.
HEMMER: How many people would you say?
MCGARTY: Well I heard yesterday that they think in the past three weeks they have had over 40,000 people come here.
HEMMER: Forty thousand people?
MCGARTY: Yes. It's been incredible to witness.
HEMMER: Mary, religion is your expertise, your area of expertise.
NARY JOAN LEITH, STONEHILL COLLEGE: Yes, it is.
HEMMER: What does this mean to those who look at it, the faithful?
LEITH: Well, I actually have to look at it more from a historical and scholarly point of view the eyes of the faithful see with the eyes of faith. And scholars don't really -- can't really say anything about the eyes of faith.
But I can bring a couple of perspectives in. First of all, apparitions of Mary and even of Jesus are not unusual. You can go to the world wide Web and if you punch in "apparitions of Mary" you'll get a lot of hits and they'll explain a great deal.
Not too long ago in the Boston-area, in fact, in the north end, a documentary filmmaker filmed a statue of the Virgin and on the footage it look as though she was blinking and this caused a big sensation.
And also, spin-offs are not unusual either. At least what I would sort of casually call a spin-off. So for instance, this vision on the chimney of the cross would be something that you might not be surprised to find because an apparition can generate its own additional miracle.
And maybe someone will hear a voice. That hasn't happened yet. And I haven't heard of any miracle cures, but one of the ladies who is here looking at the window was telling me that she expects miracle cures any moment. That's an example of the spin-off.
HEMMER: Now, Mary, what does the church say as a result of all of this?
LEITH: The church always takes a very low profile on this. In fact, Mary is a kind of lightning rod for popular piety in the Catholic Church. In other words, what I mean is that she kind of provides an end run around the official church authority. The church authorities will not reject this, but they will not endorse it either.
Usually in the Catholic Church you encounter the divine, you encounter Christ mediated by a priest in the mass. But for the layity, when an apparition appears this is a way of empowering them because it's a direct experience of the divine without any interference from the church.
HEMMER: We appreciate the two of you sharing with us. Forty thousand in one week and the numbers keep coming. Sharon McGarty, Mary Joan Leith and Milton, Massachusetts, a hospital near Boston. Thanks for sharing with us today.
MCGARTY: Thank you.
LEITH: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Of Virgin, Child>
Aired June 25, 2003 - 09:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: For the thousands flocking to a Boston- area hospital, seeing is believing for the faithful. For weeks they have been coming to view a window. An image in the window at the Milton Medical Center, an image that many say is the Virgin Mary and child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm already feeling, I know I'm feeling. But I want to touch the wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it looks exactly like the Virgin Mary and a little baby there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see it, absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes you feel really good. My 13-year- old didn't see it, but that's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really looks like the Virgin Mary and Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's some scientific way we can explain that but I think it's a miracle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Now there are others say they see yet another image in that hospital. Sharon McGarty's a doctor's assistant there at the medical center. Mary Joan Leith is an associated professor of religious studies at Stonehill College. Good morning to both of you. Thanks for sharing with us.
Sharon, you first. What is the second image that people are now saying they see?
SHARON MCGARTY, DOCTOR'S ASSISTANT: If you are looking behind me where the tarp is, if you look over to the right-hand side, there are some chimneys there and there's a lot of soot on it. If you'll look right in the middle you'll see some bricks that doesn't have soot and it looks like it's in the form of a cross.
Apparently it was seen one day when it was raining and soot was very dark and someone looked up and saw a cross. And it is up there. You can see it. I've seen it myself.
HEMMER: All right, it's out of the view of our camera. But what is not out of the view is that trap, that blue tarp. Why is that up now over the window?
MCGARTY: Well, when this first began, there was such an onslaught of people coming to pray. And what they did was they came up with a solution so that people who needed to see the doctors and needed hospital services can come here during the day without a crowd, but yet still have the people who want to pay their respects and pray to the blessed mother, be able to come from 5:30 to 8 at night. And it seems to have worked out well.
It does not keep people away during the day, though, by any means. If you look around, you can see there are people now. They leave flowers. It's beautiful.
HEMMER: How many people would you say?
MCGARTY: Well I heard yesterday that they think in the past three weeks they have had over 40,000 people come here.
HEMMER: Forty thousand people?
MCGARTY: Yes. It's been incredible to witness.
HEMMER: Mary, religion is your expertise, your area of expertise.
NARY JOAN LEITH, STONEHILL COLLEGE: Yes, it is.
HEMMER: What does this mean to those who look at it, the faithful?
LEITH: Well, I actually have to look at it more from a historical and scholarly point of view the eyes of the faithful see with the eyes of faith. And scholars don't really -- can't really say anything about the eyes of faith.
But I can bring a couple of perspectives in. First of all, apparitions of Mary and even of Jesus are not unusual. You can go to the world wide Web and if you punch in "apparitions of Mary" you'll get a lot of hits and they'll explain a great deal.
Not too long ago in the Boston-area, in fact, in the north end, a documentary filmmaker filmed a statue of the Virgin and on the footage it look as though she was blinking and this caused a big sensation.
And also, spin-offs are not unusual either. At least what I would sort of casually call a spin-off. So for instance, this vision on the chimney of the cross would be something that you might not be surprised to find because an apparition can generate its own additional miracle.
And maybe someone will hear a voice. That hasn't happened yet. And I haven't heard of any miracle cures, but one of the ladies who is here looking at the window was telling me that she expects miracle cures any moment. That's an example of the spin-off.
HEMMER: Now, Mary, what does the church say as a result of all of this?
LEITH: The church always takes a very low profile on this. In fact, Mary is a kind of lightning rod for popular piety in the Catholic Church. In other words, what I mean is that she kind of provides an end run around the official church authority. The church authorities will not reject this, but they will not endorse it either.
Usually in the Catholic Church you encounter the divine, you encounter Christ mediated by a priest in the mass. But for the layity, when an apparition appears this is a way of empowering them because it's a direct experience of the divine without any interference from the church.
HEMMER: We appreciate the two of you sharing with us. Forty thousand in one week and the numbers keep coming. Sharon McGarty, Mary Joan Leith and Milton, Massachusetts, a hospital near Boston. Thanks for sharing with us today.
MCGARTY: Thank you.
LEITH: You're welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Of Virgin, Child>
