On the icon of the Madonna in the Church of Santa Chiara in Rimini (Italy) in 1850, eyes began to move. Countess Baldini, her adopted daughter and another young girl noticed this first. The two girls returned to the church the next day, along with the other women and the priest, and again saw how the Madonna's pupils rolled up so that only one squirrel was visible.
Pilgrims rushed to Santa Chiara, and the Bishop of Rimini ordered that the icon be transferred to the Church of St. Augustine, the largest in the city. A triumphal procession was undertaken through the main square of Rimini. When the Madonna was transferred to a new place, during which the Bishop of Faenza blessed the people with Her face, the movement of the eyes was again noticed.
Many famous noble people and clergy have confirmed this fact. Cardinal Chiacchi vowed that he saw Madonna's left pupil roll up seven or eight times: "I think I once noticed movement in my right eye, but I am not sure enough of it to swear."
The ruler of Urbino saw the eyes move slowly from left to right and back. The bishop from Pesaro, who had poor vision, climbed onto the table in daylight to see a miracle that he could not see in the evening. He was not disappointed:
“As I stood there, for five minutes or more, I could not see any change in the holy eyes, although the believers crowd below were so agitated that I knew from their passionate exclamations that they were seeing more than I was. I offered up a fiery prayer to the Virgin, pleading with Her … so that I too could see, at least once, the evidence of Her supreme power.
At that moment - and my eyes filled with tears - I noticed the shine of the pupils as they proceeded from left to right and back, and then I saw how the left pupil moved to the upper eyelid so much that it almost completely disappeared, and only the white remained. Tears flowed from my eyes, and I trembled so much that I had to go down with the help of two priests."
The bishop from Pesaro added that he then returned to Rimini with pilgrims from his diocese (parish) and spent many hours in front of the holy face of the Madonna, but did not see anything like it again.
The bishop from Pezena said that the Virgin lowered and raised her eyes and once looked at him "for a moment with such a gentle look that I could not hold back tears." Canon Kanzi of Bologna was unable to see anything through theatrical binoculars and brought strong binoculars that allowed him to see the movement of his eyes.
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Although Joseph Pini, a parish priest from San Gregorio (Bologna), noticed the movement of his eyes when he first visited the church, he was suspicious of it and went closer to the altar to check for any signs of fraud. He remained there for so long, blocking the view of the parishioners, that they began to whisper displeasedly. He stepped aside, and again screams were heard in the crowd that his eyes moved.
Pini's father said:
“I was convinced that nothing like this had happened … I exclaimed loudly:“No, no, we must not deceive ourselves. Virgo won't like it. There is no movement now.” Then the screams died down. ABOUT! My doubts only intensified! Who knows, I told myself, am I not mistaken? Who knows, maybe it's not just imagination? Then, after a moment, I saw absolutely clearly how two pupils moved to heaven and almost completely disappeared behind the eyelids, only a thin black stripe remained, and the protein spread over the entire eye.
The most thorough research of the icon of the Madonna was undertaken after the movements, which continued quite often for six months, almost ceased and the icon was returned to the church of Santa Chiara. The check was carried out by seven respected people, three of whom were priests.
Two needles were stuck into the icon, and a thread stretched between them marked the lower border of the pupils. Then the seven, who decided to watch the icon all night, began to pray.
With the words: "Turn Your blessed eyes, about our Protector, to us" - Madonna's eyes began to move from side to side. Each one in turn climbed onto the table and made sure that when the pupils rolled up, there was a significant gap between the thread and their edge, which disappeared when the pupils lowered.
Several witnesses in Rimini assured that Madonna's complexion also changed, from pale to pink. Some were convinced that they saw the movement of the lips, and Fathers Constantino and da Forli, both Capuchins, swore that they saw tears dripping from Her right eye.
The Bishop of Rimini, who checked the results of the commission's work, studied a lot of reports and testimonies about what happened in the churches of Santa Chiara and St. Augustine, including a large number of sworn testimonies, among which were the testimonies of a cardinal, three bishops, other clergy, nobility, artists, lawyers and doctors.
On January 11, 1851, he published his conclusion, which said: "The fact that miraculous eye movements were performed on the icon of the Holy Mother of God can be considered proven."