There is something in the wind. As one person pointed out, it is like the smell of dampness before a storm. There is distant thunder. One cannot tell yet where it will hit nor how far away it is.

But one can hear it and it is not just the Israeli-Hezbollah war nor the global heat waves nor the actual storms that are so prominent and have been now (to those who have eyes to see) for more than a decade.

A great storm is coming and in extraordinary fashion Heaven is letting us know that it is fully cognizant of every aspect of our lives and is with us -- or so it would seem if but ten percent of the reported "miracles" are real.

Most recently, we are informed, a statue has been shedding tears in the port town of Dammam in Saudi Arabia -- a country that severely punishes Christian worship. This allegedly began on September 12, 2005, with a figure of Mary that is about three and a half feet tall and was made in the Middle East -- where Catholic worship has to take place in strictly clandestine circumstances.

It was on that date, we are informed, that a woman named Nancy who credited intercession by the Virgin for a baby daughter -- after seven barren years -- brought her child to the statue for prayer and was astonished to see the tears flowing from the cheeks.

We submit it for your personal deliberation -- with apologies for the sketchy details, due to both the remote circumstances and security considerations.

The tears were said to taste like "honey" -- a new twist in what are known as statue "lachrymations" -- and in fact the consistency seemed like honey and the spill onto a table was analyzed.

The message, it was felt, is that the Blessed Mother "will give a sweet sign, which can cure all illness." There also has been a Eucharistic miracle reported in this Muslim nation.

We don't know how that shakes out nor whether this was for a very personal situation, a local clandestine prayer group, or for the larger situation unfolding in the Middle East. If true it joins thousands of other reputedly weeping statues around the world along with a series of miraculous events across that specific and tumultuous region. Statue phenomena, visions, apparitions, and other mystical occurrences have been reported during recent times in such nations as Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

A parish priest witnessed it, and while the sweetness was the encouraging part, there was also a sense of sorrow and pain. One who stood before the lachrymation felt a voice was saying, "How long can I bear this? How long can I control this and pray for the Almighty Father's mercy on these wicked people? Wickedness, cruelty, abortion, same-sex marriage, enmity, killing, and exploiting poor and innocents, increasing day by day, even though there are ample signs of warning. The vessel of angriness of the Almighty is full and the drop of it comes as a tsunami."

At any rate, that was the impression felt by a person in the statue's presence and we are not ones to so quickly dismiss such "words" at a time when the Church thirsts for inspiration.

There was also a message that implored prayers for "priests, prayer groups, evangelists, state leaders, terrorists, children, and retreat centers."

Divine Mercy is a theme in the allegedly extraordinary manifestation at this certainly extraordinary time as matters congeal quickly.

Another manifestation has been reported recently at Holy Cross Church in Miramar, Wellington, which is in New Zealand.

An image was seen in the skylight of the presbytery, drawing small crowds, and some saw it as Mary, veiled, with hands raised in prayer, looking toward the tabernacle. The image was seen on one of two skylights and would disappear prior to the start of Mass. Others have seen saints like Joseph and perhaps Padre Pio.

In Mexico, according to initial reports, the Lord allegedly appeared to a Mexican village priest amid the miraculous ringing of village church bells and a message to the effect that little time is left before the Father's Hand of justice.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the push for Our Lady of America -- revelations granted to a nun from Ohio named Sister Mary Mildred Neuzil -- appears to be picking up steam, with increasing support from certain bishops and as well as a scheduled appearance of Father Peter Damien, a well-known Mariologist from Rome, for an August 5 procession at a church built by televangelist Mother Angelica in Hanceville, Alabama.