lightphenomena

Countless are the reports of strange formations or radiations that are attributed to the sun or to the way its light filters into a cameras. The same is true of other astronomical systems and to luminosities involving the northern lights. At times, there seems to be something very different about them. At times, they appear to form images.

Is it all just a coincidence -- the phenomenon of "pareidolia," in which we see what we want to see, in which we simply imagine -- or is it God inflecting hints into the course of nature?

The reports of sun miracles continue to come from around the world and have since the great Fatima sun miracle.

The sun seems to wink at times when we need it to wink, and there are many cases where its reflections have come at very interesting moments, from photos of John Paul II to the landscapes of churches. I have seen cases where the Virgin seemed to appear in startling details in the aura around the solar orb or where a full cross radiated down from the sun, to what seemed like ground level.

Sometimes, such matters are not so clear, but in certain cases it goes beyond normal plausibility. For example, at the home of Vicka Ivankovic Miatovic in Medjugorje, thick flames of light have been photographed on a number of occasions and seem like manifestations.

True, some of it could be light bleeding into film, or simple distortions. No doubt, there are a number of possible explanations. But it seems to defy the odds that the light comes from the sky through vines above and then from behind the seer going right through a prayer book she is holding.

Meanwhile, millions have reported the sun spinning and are able to stare at it in a way that defies science. They can look at it for five or ten minutes at a time, sometimes longer, without even experiencing spots afterward. There is the "disc" or Host -- as at Fatima -- that seems to move in front of it. I have seen this in Bosnia-Hercegovina, France, Italy, Venezuela, the United States, and other countries. I once consulted an astronomer from Columbia University named Dr. Joseph Patterson who said that ten seconds should be enough to cause damage by burning into the retina.

Just last week, we received the photo just above. There is distortion that might make an expert wince, but it is curious how similar it is to the photo (at the top) taken many years ago at the home of this woman whom many claim has healed them (causing them to feel sudden heat).

Yet a third similar light was photographed at Medjugorje coming toward a pilgrim through a statue on the Hill of Apparitions.

In one case a stream of light at Medjugorje, caught on film, formed a colored image resembling the Virgin of Guadalupe. In other cases, light "reflection" resemble a silhouette of the Madonna. Or statues themselves seem to illuminate.

We really don't understand what light is. I remember back in the 1970s, when I was startled by a headline in The New York Times that said scientists were now unsure how the sun worked. For decades, they had been teaching us that the closest star is a mass of nuclear-hydrogen reactions. Now, it seems, they aren't so sure. I don't think they know -- for sure -- to this day. Is it really just burning off its own fuel, or are stars portals to other dimensions (the other side of black holes, or at least a point at which energy from God streams into our domain?)

That's all wild speculation. What is not so wild is that the sun seems to cast rays at pointed times and many of us have experienced this. If the sun was actually doing what so many see, everyone in the world would notice, and they do not; it is individualistic, or confined to small groups, and it shows how the supernatural can control our individual realities, even the way we perceive.

Let us never consider such things as trivial. Nothing God does is trivial, and there is no such thing as coincidence, whatever "natural" explanations we can come up with.

Don't try to make God prove Himself. It's not up to Him to do that. It's up to us to prove ourselves to Him.

He owns nature and He is too big to be studied. He can be captured neither by a microscope nor a telescope.

God is love. Love is light. Light is life. God is the light of life that loves. This we need to know, and in the end it's far more important than how the sun shines or anything else.

Second Story

We get a lift from any communication that seems to be derived from the "other side," and as we pointed out a few weeks ago, that communication comes, it would seem, in many ways.

One way is through luminosity. Today, thousands claim an interaction with light. Oft-times, rays of sunlight or the flash of a camera cause a peculiar display that fits into a certain timing. It's one of those "you-have-to-be-there" type things (in other words, like so many subtle interactions, between you and the Lord).

To declaim such manifestations, to think they have no place in the modern Church, or to ridicule those who are open to such signs is perhaps to dismiss the way God works through everyday events. In the Bible, all kinds of signs, including light, bore significance. It is better to believe than not to believe. Throughout history, light has been an element of revelation, perhaps most pronounced in the visions of Ezekiel, the images in Revelation, and the light that converted Saul.

Still, there must be caution. You discern. Does light, which has been a phenomenon reported from Christians for 2,000 years (luminous statues, luminous paintings, luminous clouds) play a role in the spiritual life?

"This is a photo my cousin took of family pictures of her deceased grandparents," wrote Josephine Kuczenski of Boca Raton of the photo at the top. "We are all in agreement that the Virgin Mary is watching over them and they are in Heaven with her and Jesus. There was nothing at all to reflect the light that appears over the photo. After reading your first article on light (above), I was prompted to send this to you."

And so we have the photo above -- touching to those in the family. The touch of God?

Or there are interesting "glares," and maybe it's simply that. But Dan Costello of Oakdale, California, felt something more. "I went to Medjugorje and returned May 31, 2005," Dan says. "While there other pilgrims and I went ten miles out of Medjugorje to a small church under the title of the Divine Mercy. Up in the front on the right side of the Communion rail was a small familiar picture of the Divine Mercy with a piece of wood with a relic of Saint Faustina (who received the revelations). Although the wood was varnished, the picture was not, and it didn't have glass. The display was no more than a foot to a foot-and-a-half high. Before the devotion of the chaplet, Mass, and the Stations of the Cross, I took a picture of the display. After the devotions I took another picture. The angle was only very slightly different. The second picture shows a big round bright white perfect circle. The circle is on the picture of Jesus, not the board. It is a definite reminder of the Eucharist whether it is miraculous or a natural occurrence."

Is it just a different angle, allowing the flash to play on a surface that may not be glass but is in some way reflective? That's our guess. But does it take away from the feeling that results? Is it still something that Christ orchestrates? In such photos, there is often a sudden change in the very texture, depth of color, and quality, which is the case here. Study the quality.

Other beams seem to come (photos, left) at holy sites. The texture of the light reminds us of light seen around famed mystics like Maria Esperanza.

Meanwhile, there are other manifestations. Reports of exuding medals continue in Augusta, Kansas, where, as we have reported previously, a former monk and now a chiropractor named Allan Weilert traces the phenomenon back to 2003, when a single medal began exuding an allegedly mysterious substance. It began to do so in association, it seems, with St. Elizabeth Anne Seton. The medal was given to a psychotherapist by nuns at a convent established by the saint, and according to Weilert, who is a friend of the psychotherapist, the phenomenon "has spread to tens of thousands sacramentals in 48 states and 12 countries around the world. Reports have been coming in about the healing power of the Lord in association with the prayerful use of these oozing medals. A woman in California writes about her niece's husband, Steve, who suffered terribly from a brain tumor. He and his wife prayed daily for two months, placing the medal on his head where the tumor was. Anyway, he is doing well (no sign of tumor in his brain and is able to walk now with no problem) and has been back to work for some time now."

"Yet another young father was also healed of cancer of the brain, again, by using the oil-oozing medal," asserts Weilert. "Keith has no sign of cancer of the brain and is doing fine. He is so happy to be able to see his two-year-old child grow up!"

What are we to make of this? Light forms are one thing. Oiling medals -- and by the thousands?

Whatever the merits of a particular case, God gives us signs through things like healing -- for certain. Such miracles are also being claimed in connection with the intercession of John Paul II, who was a strong believer in such manifestations. Call them signal grace! It is how we gauge sainthood.

But back to Kansas, where new kinds of phenomena are the talk of town:

"In addition to healings and the unprecedented spread of oil to tens of thousands of religious articles, other incredible signs are happening to many who receive an oil-oozing medal," says the former monk. "Many people have e-mailed me with stories of 'escarchas' also emanating from the medals. 'Escarchas' means 'frost' in Spanish, a frost-like, metallic substance, similar to glitter but more like oblong filings of metal, seems to be associated with the oozing medals. The escarchas most often seem to be silver or gold -- but can be many-colored, as well. Often, I have noticed them on people standing near the oil-oozing statues in his clinic. A local newspaper reporter was shocked to see escarchas materialize on both his hands as he held an oozing medal. 'I wouldn't have believed it, if hadn't seen it myself,' he said as he grabbed a handful of medals to take home with him."

Hmmm. Interesting. We will file it for discernment.

If they are true, why would the Lord use such things?

"After a year and one half of further discernment, we think the main reason the Lord is causing medals and so many other sacramentals to exude oil is to get the attention of men who are discerning their vocations," says Dr. Weilert. "With all the scandals rocking the priesthood today, the Lord is answering with amazing signs and wonders to stir up the faith of the people of God. Yes, God is still in charge. Though the earth reel and shake, our God is Almighty, still on His Throne reigning over creation!"

Okay. That we can surely accept.
Originally published on spiritdaily as lightphenomena2

[If you would like to receive a medal, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to P.O. Box 877, Andover, KS 67002, but only after prayer and fasting for discernment]

6/28/05

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