The statues and wall mural represent the apparition as it appeared to the fifteen witnesses 125 years ago. Mary, St. Joseph and and St. John the Evangelist appeared in front of the gable wall. Beside the figures was a lamb on an alter, surrounded by angels.
Two church enquiries were held into the apparition, and the testimony of the witnesses (who were all locals) was accepted. Since it was a stormy night, it would have been nigh-impossible to fake an apparition using late-nineteenth century projection or lighting technology. Similarly it would have required quite a high level of collusion among the witnesses to maintain their stories (none of them recanted their stories). So, at the very least, one can assume that the witnesses themselves believed what they had seen. A miracle or mass hysteria? A question of faith, I guess.
 |
 |
 |
