A church in Chicago on the precipice of foreclosure seemingly received a supportive message from above when a painting of the Virgin Mary at the building began inexplicably crying over the weekend. The amazing sight was reportedly first noticed by a worker at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church on Sunday morning before services were set to start for the day. The 'tears' on the painting were described as being an oil-like substance that some in the parish believe could have healing powers.
As is often the case with such mysterious and possibly miraculous occurrences, word of the crying painting quickly spread throughout the community. On Sunday alone, around three hundred people flocked to the site to see the weeping icon and even more awestruck individuals, including a number of church officials, journeyed to the house of worship the following day. What makes the crying painting particularly poignant is that the tears appeared during what has now turned out to be the church's final days.
That's because, due to significant financial hardships, the building was actually foreclosed on in bankruptcy court this morning. Parishioners had hoped that the crying painting could have somehow saved the church, but this proved not to be the case and it was subsequently sold by the bank to a different religious organization at Tuesday's hearing. The parish now has 75 days to find a new building where, presumably, the painting will be displayed prominently.
Although skeptics will undoubtedly dismiss the tears as the product of some kind of natural phenomenon, the timing of their appearance is rather uncanny, considering the precarious state of the church on Sunday. And while the crying painting did not wind up resulting in the building's foreclosure being delayed, we're guessing that it provided some solace to the heartbroken members of the parish poised to lose their place of worship.
