WEBVTT - Season 6 Episode 18: Tears, Idol Tears

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<v Speaker 1>Every river has a source, a point of origin from

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<v Speaker 1>which it all begins. Sometimes it can be large, like

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<v Speaker 1>a glacier or a lake, or sometimes it is formed

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<v Speaker 1>from a tiny babbling spring. Other times, like in the

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<v Speaker 1>case of the River Churchina in Italy, it begins on

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<v Speaker 1>the slope of a mountain, formed over time from what

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<v Speaker 1>starts as just a few drops of rain, landing like

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<v Speaker 1>tears onto rock and earth, sliding down the surface in gentle,

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<v Speaker 1>silent rivulets. Gradually the rivulets converge or collect in pools,

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<v Speaker 1>spilling over, finally as gravity takes hold, and now a

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<v Speaker 1>stream is beginning to gush down the mountain side, ever

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<v Speaker 1>increasing in size and intensity. As more and more streams

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<v Speaker 1>collide into one another, creating pathways in the landscape for

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<v Speaker 1>later rains to follow, and as these pathways converge into one,

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<v Speaker 1>it deepens and grows wider, until from what began as

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<v Speaker 1>only a few drops of rain, an entire river has emerged.

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<v Speaker 1>For the dark, silty waters of the River Churchina, this

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<v Speaker 1>process begins somewhere in the Callina Metallifera, or the metalliferous

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<v Speaker 1>hills in western Tuscany, where two waterways converge in the

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<v Speaker 1>province of Grosseto to form the Churchina. From there it

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<v Speaker 1>meanders gently west through the pale Tuscan countryside all the

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<v Speaker 1>way to the small coastal town of Chechina, the river's namesake,

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<v Speaker 1>in the province of Livuano, where its waters flow out

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<v Speaker 1>into the Lago Urian Sea. And it is from there

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<v Speaker 1>one quiet morning sometime in the late nineteen forties that

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<v Speaker 1>a local sculptor makes his way towards the banks of

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<v Speaker 1>the river to the east of the town and begins

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<v Speaker 1>his working day. In the distance, rolling Tuscan hills as

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<v Speaker 1>steadily reddening under the rising sun, while birds cheap happily

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<v Speaker 1>in the scrub and a light breeze rustles the long grass.

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<v Speaker 1>As the sculptor carefully picks his way toward the river's edge.

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<v Speaker 1>Plunging his hands into the cool waters, he tears a

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<v Speaker 1>thick chunk of clay from its bed and pulls it

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<v Speaker 1>up above the surface. He plays with it in his hand,

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<v Speaker 1>testing it for consistency, watching as the water streams off,

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<v Speaker 1>dripping back into the river in thick, cloudy drops. Satisfied,

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<v Speaker 1>the sculptor, a man named amor Car Santini, set about

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<v Speaker 1>collecting as much sodden clay as he could, shoveling it

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<v Speaker 1>into a bucket before hauling it back to his studio

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<v Speaker 1>later that day. Back in his workshop, Santini begins the

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<v Speaker 1>laborious process of purifying the clay, then dissolving it in

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<v Speaker 1>water and filtering the resultant mixture numerous times through gauze,

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<v Speaker 1>with all impurities removed. What remains it's poured into a vat,

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<v Speaker 1>where it is left for weeks as the clay steadily

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<v Speaker 1>separates from the water. Only then, when the time is right,

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<v Speaker 1>is it ready to be used. At first, Santini doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>quite know how to begin, as he takes a large

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<v Speaker 1>ball of the clay and tries to visualize the gentle

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<v Speaker 1>folds and contours of the shape it must become, when

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly he is struck by a sudden bout of inspiration.

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<v Speaker 1>Taking the clay, he begins to roll it between his palms,

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<v Speaker 1>feeling its damp plasticity as he teases it expertly into

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<v Speaker 1>shape with his fingers. It is a strange feeling that

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<v Speaker 1>has come over him. It's almost as if his hands

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<v Speaker 1>are being guided by some one else. First, he constructs

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<v Speaker 1>the torso before moving on to the arms and finally

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<v Speaker 1>what will be the figure's head begins to emerge on

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<v Speaker 1>He continues over the course of three days until finally

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<v Speaker 1>the piece is finished. As he sits back to admire

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<v Speaker 1>his work, what stands before him is a thirty centimeter

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<v Speaker 1>high bust of Mary, the Virgin Mother of Jesus. Her

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<v Speaker 1>body is clothed in a tunic and robe, while over

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<v Speaker 1>a subtly bowed head sits a shroud, the folds of

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<v Speaker 1>each seeming almost to be in motion, so delicately have

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<v Speaker 1>they been crafted. The figures left hand grasps the opening

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<v Speaker 1>of her tunic, holding it back, while her right rests

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<v Speaker 1>on the striking image of her heart, which protrudes from

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<v Speaker 1>her chest and has a finely carved flame shooting out

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<v Speaker 1>the top of it. The strangely macabre image is known

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<v Speaker 1>as the Immaculate Heart of Mary, an icon of the

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<v Speaker 1>Catholic Faith, with its prominently displayed heart serving as a

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<v Speaker 1>symbol for her undying love for God as it pertains

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<v Speaker 1>to the Catholic Faith and for all humankind. Santini had

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<v Speaker 1>been commissioned to make a version of it for a

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<v Speaker 1>company located in nearby Banyard Luca, who hope to mass

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<v Speaker 1>produce it as a religious effigy for people to hang

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<v Speaker 1>up in their home. It was the first of its

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<v Speaker 1>kind to be made by the well respected sculptor, whose

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<v Speaker 1>work wouldn't ordinarily be affordable for most people. Little did

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<v Speaker 1>anyone know that it would become just about the most

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<v Speaker 1>famous depiction of the Immaculate Heart of Mary ever created.

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard McClean smith. Once finished,

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<v Speaker 1>Santini's sculpture was sent to a factory in Banyard, Luca,

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<v Speaker 1>where molds were made of it before being promptly added

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<v Speaker 1>to the production line. Over the next few years, hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of copies of Santini's model were churned out cast from

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<v Speaker 1>a simple mix of plaster before being painted and then

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<v Speaker 1>mounted onto a forty by thirty centimeter block of black

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<v Speaker 1>opaline glass. In early nineteen fifty two, just one such

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<v Speaker 1>model emerged from the production line, no different from any

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<v Speaker 1>of the others that had come before it, with its

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<v Speaker 1>sad forlorn eyes painted sky blue in color to match

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<v Speaker 1>its robe, while its prominent heart was given a striking

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<v Speaker 1>scarlet hue after being coated in varnish and left to dry.

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<v Speaker 1>It along with a number of others, was boxed up

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<v Speaker 1>and shipped out to the ancient terra cotta town of

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<v Speaker 1>Syracusa on the east coast of Sicily. It was sometime

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<v Speaker 1>in October nineteen fifty two that Our Mary of the

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<v Speaker 1>Immaculate Heart was removed from its box by shop keeper

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<v Speaker 1>Salvatore Floresta and placed alongside the thirty or so other

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<v Speaker 1>Marys he'd ordered on a shelf at the back of

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<v Speaker 1>his shop at number twenty eight Corsa Umberto. Salvatore looked

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<v Speaker 1>at his latest items with quiet satisfaction as they stood

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<v Speaker 1>silent and still on the shelf, then turned and headed

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<v Speaker 1>back to the front of the shop and opened up

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<v Speaker 1>for the day. It was roughly six months later, with

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<v Speaker 1>most of the models sold, that a woman came into

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<v Speaker 1>the shop looking for a gift to give a relative

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<v Speaker 1>who was due to get married. Well, what better than

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<v Speaker 1>an effigy of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, suggested Salvatore,

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<v Speaker 1>the shopkeeper, the ultimate symbol of undying love and faith,

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<v Speaker 1>and so Our Mary was finally plucked from the shelf,

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<v Speaker 1>placed inside a paper bag, and taken away. Twenty year

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<v Speaker 1>olds Atonina and Angelo Ianuzzo didn't quite know what to

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<v Speaker 1>make of the thing. Although they'd been polite and courteous

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<v Speaker 1>when they received it at the wedding, in truth, neither

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<v Speaker 1>were especially religious and had little interest in an effigy

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<v Speaker 1>of Mary, not least of all one that was so garish.

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<v Speaker 1>Not having the heart to throw it out, however, they

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<v Speaker 1>eventually decided to hang it above their bed, perhaps hoping

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<v Speaker 1>it might in the very least bring them some good luck.

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<v Speaker 1>The couple were married in late March nineteen fifty three, and,

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<v Speaker 1>with only Angelo working carving out a modest living as

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<v Speaker 1>a laborer, the pair had moved into Angelo's brother's home

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<v Speaker 1>on Via delhi Orti de San Giorgio to live with

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<v Speaker 1>Angelo's brother and his wife. It was only a week

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<v Speaker 1>or so later when Antonina fell pregnant. Perhaps the effigy

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<v Speaker 1>of Mary had brought them good luck after all, they thought,

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<v Speaker 1>as they delighted in the news. Wasn't long, however, before

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<v Speaker 1>Antonina noticed strange things occurring to her body. It started

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<v Speaker 1>with a swelling in her hands and face. Then her

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<v Speaker 1>urine began to darken, going almost slate gray in color.

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<v Speaker 1>At first, she assumed it was a natural side effect

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<v Speaker 1>of the pregnancy, but then the headaches started up steadily.

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<v Speaker 1>They grew worse and worse each time, Antonina feeling that

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<v Speaker 1>she might pass out from the pain, until one day

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<v Speaker 1>she collapsed to the floor. Her husband could only watch

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<v Speaker 1>on in horror as her face twisted into a hideous

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<v Speaker 1>rictus and her body began to shake uncontrollably. Having eventually

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<v Speaker 1>come round, Antonina was finally taken to see a doctor,

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<v Speaker 1>who gave her the terrifying news that she developed toxemia,

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<v Speaker 1>an old fashioned term for what would be described today

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<v Speaker 1>as pre eclampsia, a condition which causes high blood pressure

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<v Speaker 1>during pregnancy and can lead to serious complications if left untreated. Antonina, however,

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<v Speaker 1>had entered the later stage known as eclampsia, and her

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<v Speaker 1>prognosis was not clear, and despite the doctor's best efforts,

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<v Speaker 1>her condition only seemed to worsen steadily over time. If

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<v Speaker 1>the terror of possibly losing her baby wasn't enough, Antonina

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<v Speaker 1>began to go blind. It was three am in the

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<v Speaker 1>morning of Saturday, August twenty ninth when Angelo was woken

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<v Speaker 1>by Antonina's body twitching and convulsing beside him. Realizing she

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<v Speaker 1>was having another seizure, he did his best to keep

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<v Speaker 1>her from hurting herself until the fitting finally abated and

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<v Speaker 1>his wife came round again. But when she looked for

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<v Speaker 1>his face, she saw only darkness. Her sight had now

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<v Speaker 1>completely gone. As the couple wept together through the night,

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<v Speaker 1>Antonina eventually found sleep, while Angelo had no choice but

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<v Speaker 1>to head out for work. It was sometime around eight

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<v Speaker 1>thirty am that Antonina is said to have woken again.

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<v Speaker 1>When she opened her eyes, she thought at first she

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<v Speaker 1>was still dreaming. She could see everything, the bed, the walls,

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<v Speaker 1>the sunlight flooding in through the windows. It was a miracle,

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<v Speaker 1>she thought, as she touched her face, pinching herself to

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<v Speaker 1>know it was real. Then she looked up to the

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<v Speaker 1>effigy hanging on the wall above the back of the bed,

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<v Speaker 1>and into the forlorn eyes of Mary, when she noticed

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<v Speaker 1>something strange. The effigy appeared to be crying. Gratzia, Antonina's

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<v Speaker 1>sister in law, was brought rushing to the room by

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<v Speaker 1>Antonina's astonished cries. Thinking first that Antonina was having another seizure,

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<v Speaker 1>Gratzia was astonished to find her standing at the head

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<v Speaker 1>of the bed. Look, she said to the bemused Gratzia

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<v Speaker 1>as she pointed to the statue. Do you see it?

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<v Speaker 1>It's crying. Gratzia looked with startled pity at Antonina, thinking

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<v Speaker 1>she was clearly hallucinating, but when she tried to help

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<v Speaker 1>her into bed, Antonina pulled back. She was cured, she said,

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<v Speaker 1>pointing to her eyes she could see. Then Antonina turned

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<v Speaker 1>back to the effigy on the wall. Gratzia followed her

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<v Speaker 1>concentrated gaze, screwing her face up in bewilderment as she

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<v Speaker 1>tried to comprehend what she was looking at. The effigy

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<v Speaker 1>was covered in small rivulets of water that were dripping

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<v Speaker 1>steadily on to the headboard of the bed below, and

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<v Speaker 1>as far as Gratzia could make out, the liquid was

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<v Speaker 1>coming from Mary's eyes. Completely dumbfounded, Antonina and Gratzia, along

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<v Speaker 1>with Angelo's aunt who was staying with them too, grabbed

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<v Speaker 1>the effigy from the wall and ran immediately into the

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<v Speaker 1>street as they showed it to their neighbors and anyone

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<v Speaker 1>who was passing by. One by one, the plaque was

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<v Speaker 1>taken and stared at in disbelief. The eyes dabbed and

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<v Speaker 1>the material examined for any sign of water see pitch,

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<v Speaker 1>but nothing was found, and yet the tears continued to fall,

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<v Speaker 1>with many neighbors, aware of Antonina's recent health struggles to

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<v Speaker 1>see her then standing before them positively glowing. It was

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<v Speaker 1>clear to them all that a genuine miracle was taking

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<v Speaker 1>place right in front of their eyes. Before long, talk

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<v Speaker 1>of the weeping Madonna had extended far beyond the Ianusom

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<v Speaker 1>home as words traveled quickly, first through the neighborhood and

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<v Speaker 1>then out into the wider town, and soon a large

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<v Speaker 1>crowd had formed outside Antonina and Angelo's home as people

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<v Speaker 1>from all over Syracusa demanded to see the effigy for themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>Having been alerted to the developing incident, the police promptly

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<v Speaker 1>arrived to disperse the crowd, only to find themselves being

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<v Speaker 1>swept up in the moment too, when the effigy was

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<v Speaker 1>brought out to them, still crying apparent tears from its eyes,

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<v Speaker 1>But as the crowd in the street continued to grow,

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<v Speaker 1>the police had no choice but to confiscate the item

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<v Speaker 1>and take it back to the station for a closer look.

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<v Speaker 1>By the time they'd arrived there, however, the crying had stopped.

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<v Speaker 1>That night, with the crowd almost all but gone. The

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<v Speaker 1>police returned to the Iannuso home, sorry to say that

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<v Speaker 1>whatever it was that had taken place had now finished.

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<v Speaker 1>Then they handed what was by then a completely dry

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<v Speaker 1>statue back to Antonina and Angelo, with a few people

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<v Speaker 1>from the earlier crowd choosing to remain outside the house.

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<v Speaker 1>Despite the apparent miracle having come to an end, the

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<v Speaker 1>Iannusos decided to leave the statue on a table outside

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<v Speaker 1>should anyone else turn up, hoping to see it. By

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<v Speaker 1>the following morning, it was weeping again. On the second day, Sunday,

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<v Speaker 1>August thirtieth, the Archbishop of Syracusa, Attore Baroncini, traveled to

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<v Speaker 1>the Yanuso home, where he too claimed to witness the weeping.

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<v Speaker 1>So stunned by what he'd seen, he rushed back immediately

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<v Speaker 1>to his official residence and began organizing a scientific commission

0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:42.159
<v Speaker 1>to have the object formally analyzed. All the while, word

0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:47.600
<v Speaker 1>of the miracle in Syracusa continued to spread as hundreds

0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:52.280
<v Speaker 1>descended once more to Antonina and Angelo's home. The couple

0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:56.280
<v Speaker 1>decided eventually to simply nail the effigy to their front

0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:59.360
<v Speaker 1>door so all could see it and touch it if

0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:03.919
<v Speaker 1>they so wished. Many even brought pieces of cloth and

0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:07.600
<v Speaker 1>wads of cotton in an effort to harvest the tears

0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:13.080
<v Speaker 1>to keep for themselves. Others came simply to pray, like

0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:17.760
<v Speaker 1>Pietro Sebastiano, who, on seeing the liquid emerge from the

0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:23.200
<v Speaker 1>statue's eyes, burst immediately into tears of his own. Feeling

0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:27.000
<v Speaker 1>suddenly ashamed for crying so openly in public, he then

0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:31.400
<v Speaker 1>turned round to find that everyone else there, too, was crying.

0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:38.119
<v Speaker 1>It was early on Monday, September first that Archbishop Baroncini's

0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:43.320
<v Speaker 1>commission arrived at the ian Usou property. The group of

0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:48.200
<v Speaker 1>seven men, comprised of four scientists and three trusted colleagues

0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:54.240
<v Speaker 1>of Baroncini's, was led by doctor Michel Cassola. Cassola was

0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:58.159
<v Speaker 1>an avowed atheist and had been chosen by Baroncini for

0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:02.720
<v Speaker 1>that precise reason. After being led through to the living

0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:07.760
<v Speaker 1>room where the effigy was then being kept, Cassola couldn't

0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:11.400
<v Speaker 1>help but feel a little unnerved by the humble looking object,

0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:16.119
<v Speaker 1>this strange and passive thing, no different from many similar

0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:19.439
<v Speaker 1>objects he'd seen hung up in people's homes over the years,

0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:25.880
<v Speaker 1>quite clearly emitting some kind of inexplicable liquid. He brushed

0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.280
<v Speaker 1>at its eyes with his thumb, then rubbed the wetness

0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:35.159
<v Speaker 1>between his fingers. Then, taking a sterilized prepete from his bag,

0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:39.880
<v Speaker 1>he proceeded to take a sample of it. Turning their

0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:44.520
<v Speaker 1>attention to the object itself, the team carefully removed the

0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:48.240
<v Speaker 1>bust from its plaque and examined it closely for any

0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:51.280
<v Speaker 1>sign of a crack or evidence that it was simply

0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:57.440
<v Speaker 1>leaking from insight, but they found nothing. Having got everything

0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:01.880
<v Speaker 1>they needed, the team screwed the effigy back together, then

0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:07.399
<v Speaker 1>handed it back to Antonina and Angelo, and left a

0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:12.280
<v Speaker 1>short time later that morning, at roughly eleven forty am,

0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:25.520
<v Speaker 1>the crying ceased, never to occur again. Madonna de la Lachrymae,

0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:29.840
<v Speaker 1>or our Lady of the Tears, as the peculiar object

0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:32.480
<v Speaker 1>would come to be known, was said to have wept

0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.880
<v Speaker 1>on fifty eight separate occasions over a total of four

0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:41.520
<v Speaker 1>days before it stopped. This apparent weeping was also filmed

0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:45.280
<v Speaker 1>by a local cinematographer, the footage of which can be

0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:50.560
<v Speaker 1>seen on YouTube. For some, with the crying having finished,

0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:55.440
<v Speaker 1>the miracle was now over. For many others, however, it

0:20:55.480 --> 0:21:01.480
<v Speaker 1>was only just beginning. On the afternoon of Saturday, September fifth,

0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:06.480
<v Speaker 1>a young girl called Enza Moncada, who had suffered from

0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:09.520
<v Speaker 1>the paralysis of her right arm since she was a baby,

0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:12.639
<v Speaker 1>was said to have been brought from her home to

0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:16.040
<v Speaker 1>kneel before the effigy in the hope that it might

0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:20.320
<v Speaker 1>cure her. As she was led through, the crowd, which

0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:24.119
<v Speaker 1>had remained as large as ever, many began to pray

0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:29.199
<v Speaker 1>for her. While the young Enza stirred underneath the plaque.

0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:33.240
<v Speaker 1>A piece of cotton was brought forward, still apparently damped

0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:37.320
<v Speaker 1>from the idol's tears collected almost a week before, and

0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:41.320
<v Speaker 1>applied to her right arm. As the crowd watched on,

0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:46.560
<v Speaker 1>some began to chant Long Live Mary, Long Live Mary.

0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:51.640
<v Speaker 1>When suddenly the young girl's arm began to twitch, drawing

0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:57.360
<v Speaker 1>gasps from everyone around, and then it was rising higher

0:21:57.359 --> 0:22:02.639
<v Speaker 1>and higher into the air. Enza's mother burst into tears

0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:07.040
<v Speaker 1>as her daughter stood before her, gleefully waving her once

0:22:07.160 --> 0:22:12.600
<v Speaker 1>paralyzed arm high above her head. It was four days

0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:18.960
<v Speaker 1>later when doctor Michel Cassola published his team's findings. According

0:22:19.000 --> 0:22:23.639
<v Speaker 1>to them, incredibly, the liquid taken from the effigy was

0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:27.359
<v Speaker 1>found to be comprised of a watery solution of sodium

0:22:27.440 --> 0:22:33.800
<v Speaker 1>chlorite with traces of protein, just like human secretions. The

0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:38.120
<v Speaker 1>liquid was then put through a series of chemical reactions,

0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:42.480
<v Speaker 1>the results of which were found to mirror almost identically

0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:48.280
<v Speaker 1>the results of similar tests conducted with human tears. As

0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:52.480
<v Speaker 1>a direct result of these startling revelations, priests all over

0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:56.760
<v Speaker 1>Italy reported a huge surge in members of their congregation

0:22:57.280 --> 0:23:01.680
<v Speaker 1>visiting their confession boxes, only spurred on by the now

0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:09.320
<v Speaker 1>seemingly verified miracle. Doctor Cassola's team also examined around two

0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:13.520
<v Speaker 1>hundred and ninety reports of inexplicable healing, such as that

0:23:13.640 --> 0:23:19.000
<v Speaker 1>apparently experienced by the young girl Endza Moncada. Though most

0:23:19.080 --> 0:23:22.240
<v Speaker 1>were dismissed, as many as one hundred and five are

0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:25.919
<v Speaker 1>said to have been considered of special interest to the church.

0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:37.200
<v Speaker 1>With the release of the commission's findings, the seemingly miraculous

0:23:37.320 --> 0:23:41.359
<v Speaker 1>effigy had forever been transformed from what was once a

0:23:41.480 --> 0:23:46.320
<v Speaker 1>humble wedding gift to a deeply venerated icon of immense

0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:51.439
<v Speaker 1>religious significance. As such, it had effectively ceased to be

0:23:51.480 --> 0:23:57.360
<v Speaker 1>the private property of Antonina and Angelo Ianuso, after agreeing

0:23:57.359 --> 0:24:00.240
<v Speaker 1>with the Church to have it removed from their home.

0:24:00.920 --> 0:24:04.000
<v Speaker 1>A vast crowd followed as it was taken from their

0:24:04.040 --> 0:24:09.159
<v Speaker 1>door and led through the streets into nearby Piazza Euripide,

0:24:09.200 --> 0:24:14.120
<v Speaker 1>where it was set to remain indefinitely. Watching on as

0:24:14.119 --> 0:24:17.600
<v Speaker 1>it was installed at the edge of the square, Archbishop

0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:23.440
<v Speaker 1>Baronzini addressed the crowd solemnly remarking that the effigies tears

0:24:23.840 --> 0:24:27.800
<v Speaker 1>were not only indelible proof of God, but also a

0:24:27.880 --> 0:24:31.040
<v Speaker 1>symbol of all the suffering that remained in the world.

0:24:32.480 --> 0:24:38.040
<v Speaker 1>In December, at Sicily's annual Bishop's Conference, it was unanimously

0:24:38.080 --> 0:24:43.119
<v Speaker 1>agreed that, on account of the findings of Baronzini's scientific commission,

0:24:43.640 --> 0:24:48.720
<v Speaker 1>the miracle had been real. A few days later, on

0:24:48.760 --> 0:24:53.399
<v Speaker 1>what for many is Christmas Day, with Antonina Ianuso having

0:24:53.480 --> 0:24:58.280
<v Speaker 1>by then completely overcome her illness, she and Angelo welcomed

0:24:58.359 --> 0:25:03.600
<v Speaker 1>their first child into the world, Mariano. The couple would

0:25:03.640 --> 0:25:08.480
<v Speaker 1>go on to have three more healthy children. The following year,

0:25:08.920 --> 0:25:13.040
<v Speaker 1>the Vatican confirmed the findings of the bishop's conference, with

0:25:13.280 --> 0:25:17.199
<v Speaker 1>Pope Pious the twelfth also declaring the miracle to have

0:25:17.280 --> 0:25:22.119
<v Speaker 1>been real. The Ianuso effigy remains the only article of

0:25:22.160 --> 0:25:26.200
<v Speaker 1>its kind to be formally recognized by the Roman Catholic church,

0:25:27.920 --> 0:25:31.560
<v Speaker 1>and as its mythical status continued to grow over the years,

0:25:32.040 --> 0:25:34.800
<v Speaker 1>it was eventually decided to build it a sanctuary of

0:25:34.800 --> 0:25:40.359
<v Speaker 1>its own. The Basilica Sanctuario Madonna de la Lacromae in

0:25:40.480 --> 0:25:44.760
<v Speaker 1>Syracusa was formerly opened by Pope John Pauled the second

0:25:45.000 --> 0:25:48.679
<v Speaker 1>in November nineteen ninety four, and you can visit the

0:25:48.720 --> 0:25:52.520
<v Speaker 1>object to this day where it is displayed along with

0:25:52.600 --> 0:25:55.240
<v Speaker 1>the reliquary that is said to hold a vial of

0:25:55.240 --> 0:25:59.040
<v Speaker 1>its tears, as well as a number of tear soaked cloths.

0:26:02.560 --> 0:26:05.119
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0:26:40.280 --> 0:26:43.280
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0:26:43.359 --> 0:26:45.439
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