Is This What Mary Looked Like?

Two items, from the mailbag.

You may have seen, firstly, the little video clip we ran of an SUV sailing over a car driven by an elderly priest, on his way to celebrate Mass. Talk about a “brush” with death!

As a service called Catholic News Agency reported, “Eighty-seven-year-old Father John Bok, OFM, escaped a major collision on Oct. 2, 2022, in Milford, Ohio, when an SUV went airborne and flew over his car. Now retired — although he considers himself ‘semi’ retired — Bok still helps to serve Mass at St. Andrew Catholic Church. On Oct. 2, he was on his way to celebrate 9 a.m. Mass on the Feast of the Guardian Angels. It was about 8:40 a.m. when Bok was nearing the church. That’s when something went wrong with another driver.”

How possibly could the SUV have gone airborne, on a relatively flat surface after mowing down a flimsy street sign?

“I slowed the video down and went frame by frame,” writes viewer Bruce McKay, “and sure enough, the angel is there under the front of the car until the priest is beyond danger. Why else would a car jump into the air like that after hitting just a small obstruction, I thought?”

Is that just dust — or an angel (or Christ) holding the SUV up?

You decide. (The priest hadn’t even realized that a vehicle took flight over him!)

And then there’s the sweet Virgin Mary.

This month (November 27) we recall her incredible apparitions in a chapel in Paris to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830. The apparitions were approved by the Church just six years later.

What might Mary (who now can take on any visage she chooses) have looked like, two thousand years ago?

From History of Yesterday:

“Mother Mary is described with high divinity within the scriptures, but nothing is mentioned of her [physical] appearance. Neither [has a description] of her appearance been discovered from biblical times. The mother of Jesus Christ has been overshadowed and it feels like her importance within Christianity is not given enough merit for the role she played. This may also explain why the authors of the scriptures did not take the time to dwell on the appearance of Mother Mary.

“Some people consider this portrait of Mother Mary painted by Julien Lasbleiz to be the most accurate depiction of Mother Mary. The reason for this is within this painting Mother Mary has quite a good resemblance to Jesus Christ, which is a strong argument and maybe the strongest based on the lack of evidence.”

The image recalls the Shroud of Turin.

Speaking of which: recently there has been an effort to create “hyper-realistic” images of Jesus based on the relic. It’s in an exhibition in Spain called “The Mystery Man,” which “is the result of an assiduous study of the Holy Shroud,” says a Vatican website. “The effort took more than fifteen years and was carried out by Spanish artists. It opened on 13 October and encompasses a floorspace of 600 square meters. It fills four rooms that narrate the Passion and Death of Christ, ending with impressive work of a model of what the body of Jesus of Nazareth could have looked like, according to historical and scientific data offered by the Shroud.”

Lastly, from a Facebook page for Guadalupana Mission For The World Since 1948, is an intriguing photo of a prayer gathering in Africa.

Notes a blog (for your evaluation): “The photo, allegedly taken at the Subukia Shrine in Kenya in early October 2022, seems to show the Blessed Virgin Mary in the sunset…”

Always, caution, in the age of Photoshop.

But in an age where belief is lacking, also: faith.