Irene Munoz, 30, walked past the crowd before deciding to see what everyone was looking at. If that image helps more people feel closer to God than maybe that is a good sign.' 'It makes me feel good that there are people with faith. 'I see just a concrete wall and an image that could happen anywhere,' he said. Victor Robles, 36, who got a close look, remained skeptical. 'Sometimes people ask us to look into it.

'These things don't happen every day,' Dwyer said. The Archdiocese of Chicago has not received any requests to authenticate the image, spokesman Jim Dwyer said. 'This is like Our Lady appearing in Chicago in a grotto under the Kennedy,' he said.īut he was also light-hearted about the image: 'There's a little graffiti around that says `Go Cubs,' so it looks like Our Lady is rooting for the Cubs.' Grzesik compared the image under the expressway to an apparition of the Virgin Mary that appeared more than a century ago in a grotto in Lourdes, France. I think Our Lady is always with us, and this is another sign she is with us.' But as I got closer it resembles Our Lady,' he said. 'I was looking at it and thought it might be an oil spill. Michael Grzesik, who leads people on religious pilgrimages, said that when he first looked at it, he saw nothing unusual. 'What is miraculous is that a natural event like a stain from leaking water and a supernatural event like seeing Mary converge.' 'Most often, the people who see the image interpret it as a sign of affirmation of an event or behavior or a condemnation of an event or behavior,' she said. 'We have no plans to clean this site.'Īpparitions of Mary hold different meanings for believers, but people may draw connections to current events, like the death of Pope John Paul II, said Cristina Traina, an associate professor of religion at Northwestern University. 'We're treating this just like we treat any type of roadside memorial,' Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Claffey said. Thousands of Greek Orthodox flocked to Athens in 2001 to see a 'bleeding' Virgin Mary statue.įor now in Chicago, the image will be allowed to stay on the wall, surrounded by less identifiable water stains and paint marks. A Canadian woman also said she saw the Blessed Mother and baby Jesus on a Lay's Smokey Bacon Chip. In November 2004, a piece of popcorn shaped like the Virgin Mary was auctioned on eBay. It is not unusual for people to claim to see an apparition of the Virgin Mary or Jesus in unusual places. 'For me, it's not a watermark, it's the Virgin Mary.' 'There are many people here who believe in her. To others, it looked like an ivory pawn from a game of chess.Īs believers came to the spot throughout the morning, police put up temporary barricades to prevent people from driving and parking in the area on the north side of Fullerton Avenue.ĭelgado said she had been praying to the Virgin Mary to help her pass a final in culinary school when she saw the image. To some who saw it, the image appeared as a white outline of the Holy Mother's face wearing a shadowy cloak.

Most snapped pictures with digital cameras and cell phones. Groups of people filtered past the site all day, some lighting candles and leaving flowers, others praying the rosary. I don't even know how I got home.'īy Monday morning, dozens had gathered to see what they believe is the image of the Blessed Mother on the wall of the underpass. She saw the image of the Virgin Mary in a large yellow and white stain on the concrete wall at the Fullerton Avenue entrance last week. Obdulia Delgado turned toward the on ramp of the Kennedy Expressway when she saw something in the middle of traffic that made her stop.

Underpass virgin mary