In Ireland, the apparitions of the Virgin Mary have long been commonplace. But 1985 turned out to be rich in her revived statues.
The first message came from children in Esdee, County Kerry, in February, and by September more than thirty statues of Our Lady were moving in Ireland. In Irish, this phenomenon is called "Bogadh na nDealbh".
A group of teenagers and young people who prayed at St. Mary's Church in Azee (County Carrie) on February 14, 1985 saw the statue of Christ beckoning them with its right hand, and the eyes of the statue of the Madonna were moving. A month later, parishioners from the suburb of Bellidesmond announced that the statue of the Virgin Mary in their church had changed position, with a mournful smile on her lips. This was confirmed in writing by the ministers of the church.
Thus began a completely unusual period, when on the Emerald Isle, as Ireland is called, objects of religious worship began to move publicly. Many people witnessed the statues swinging, talking, smiling, bleeding or glowing.
Amazing evidence came from the village of Ballinspittl (County Cork), where a roadside grotto with a statue of the Virgin Mary was built like a grotto in French Lourdes. A human-sized figure of the Virgin Mary is placed at the entrance to the cave, and her head is surrounded by a halo of small electric bulbs.
In July, local residents began to assert that the figure had started to move for no apparent reason. The statue tilted, swayed, flinched, shrugged, or nodded its head. All this happened only after sunset. Three days later, several hundred people gathered at the grotto.
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One of the believers claimed that the statue swayed so that he was even afraid that it would fall. Ballinspittl became a place of pilgrimage. The very next day, thousands of people, expecting a miracle, crowded around the statue. Some claimed that her figure was moving, others did not notice anything.
But the most striking incident happened on the evening of July 22, all in the same Ballinspittl. When Sharon O'Magonie and her daughter Clara, having prayed, already decided to leave, the 152-kilogram statue of the Virgin Mary standing at the entrance took a step forward and then returned to its place!
This message also caused an unprecedented stir among the believers in the area: over the next few months, hundreds of people from all over Ireland flocked to Ballinspitttle to witness the miracle. And many, by the way, have witnessed incredible things: the huge statue swayed on its heels, shrugged its shoulders, turned its head.
Finally, Sergeant John Murray, who was observing the order, was completely dumbfounded late at night to see the majestic statue walk a few steps back and forth, and then, turning its head towards him, began to sway in place. Very frightened, the policeman called the outfit on the radio, but by the arrival of reinforcements, the statue calmed down, blocking the entrance to the church, and it had to be replaced.
Up to 20 thousand people arrived in Ballinspittl every day, among them many sick people, thirsting for healing. Religious chants sounded everywhere, prayers were read in chorus. However, many pilgrims left unsatisfied. By the end of September, interest had subsided altogether, and the number of visitors dropped sharply.
But from everywhere from Ireland there were reports of paintings and statues of the Mother of God, which moved, cried, oozed blood. There were many eyewitnesses to the miracle of the appearance of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes from the icon in the town of Karnes (County Sligo). Crowds rushed to the new attraction.
Not without sacrilege. On October 31, 1985, a tragic event took place in Ballinspittl: in the evening, two shaved vandals with insults attacked the statue with a hammer and an ax and mutilated its head, hands, crown.
Jumping into the car to the third friend, who was filming this scene with a video camera, the militant trinity disappeared. They were quickly caught, but the local court acquitted the vandals due to legal subtleties.
What happened in Ireland?
There can be only two answers to the questions that have arisen in this regard: either it is a supernatural phenomenon, that is, a miracle sent down to the Irish from above, or optical effects and mass hallucinations. For example, experts who studied the incident in Adzeya pointed out that there is a round window in the church between two tall statues, and if you look at it for a long time, and then look at one of the statues, it may seem as if it is changing position.
That is, rationalists argued that the illusion of movement arose each time after a long intense gaze into a brightly lit area. “Likewise, the glare from candles and lamps that illuminate statues in the dark can cause eye movement effects on the beholder. This is an acceptable explanation for most of the miracles that happened in the dark or in churches with their dim lighting,”- comments on the miracle that happened Kalm Toybin.
And this despite the fact that the researcher of mystical phenomena is a fellow in his book "See and Believe: Moving Statues in Ireland" more than a hundred testimonies and journalistic essays dedicated to these incredible events. This unique phenomenon was also studied by other researchers of anomalous phenomena.
One of them lists 47 places in Ireland from which, during 1985, there were numerous reports of the movement of statues and other phenomenal phenomena associated with the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ.
Nevertheless, modern psychologists are unanimous in the opinion that when it comes to mass hallucinations, the one who dreams of seeing something will always see, regardless of whether it exists in reality. And with mystical objects, this psychological situation is repeated over and over again, since people are blinded by faith.
But from what position to interpret the fact that the 152-kilogram statue of the Virgin Mary was moved, which was installed by a police patrol? But what about the written statements of many enlightened people who personally observed the movements of the statues of saints in the church at Ballinspittl?
One statue of the Virgin Mary was located twelve meters from the other. In half a day, the lower statue made its own way up a small slope and stopped at the veranda railing! Many people can attest to this. From what positions will modern science explain this phenomenon, because there could be no talk of any hallucinations here ?!