A statue of the Virgin Mary in Mexico has been captured “crying” tears, prompting hundreds to travel to witness a “miracle.”
The statue, residing in a church in the town of El Canal, Colima, was recorded showing what looks like tears seeping out of the Virgin Mary’s eyes.
Hundreds have flocked to the church to witness the inexplicable miracle take place, The Sun reported.
Videos capturing the phenomenon have circulated social media, showing small water droplets falling from the statue’s eyes and cascading down her face.
Some witnesses believe the Virgin Mary’s tears are real, as the redness around her eyes indicates she has been crying.
"Similarly, when we cry, and our eyes become red, the same happens to the image,” Victor Ramos, a local resident, said, according to the outlet.
People have flocked in their hundreds to catch a glimspe of the weeping virgin— (CEN)
"So a couple of tears started flowing. This is the event, the phenomenon that is happening here in the church."
Mr Ramos also believes he may have an inkling as to why the statue has started to cry.
"We can associate it with... the violence rates that are being experienced here in the state of Colima, also here in the community,” he reportedly said.
Colima has been labelled the most dangerous city in Mexico and has held that ranking for six years, according to the Mexican organisation The Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice, reports The Daily Star.
According to Colima’s Prosecutors Office, by October of this year, 702 intentional homicides were confirmed to have taken place.
The US government advises people not to travel to Colima due to “crime and kidnapping.”
Some residents and worshippers believe they are witnessing a miracle before their own eyes— (CEN)
The government says that violent crime and gang activity are widespread in the state, with most homicides being targeted assassinations against members of criminal gangs.
Gang violence and shootings have been known to injure or kill bystanders, and there have been reports in the past of US citizens being kidnapped in Colima.
A visitor to the statue, Maria Mercedes Hernandez, hopes that the venerated saint will bestow peace on the gang-affected area.
"Peace, may she give us peace in Colima and throughout the world, that we may return to the Colima of before,” she said, according to The Sun.
Yet there are still some sceptics who do not believe that the mysterious tears are, in fact, a miracle.
Others believe that statues absorb water due to their porous material— (CEN)
Professor Luigi Garlaschelli told the outlet that statues can absorb water due to their porous materials.
"You need a hollow statue made of plaster or ceramic, which must be covered on the outside with a waterproof layer,” Mr Garlaschelli said, according to The Sun.
"By filling the statue with water through an imperceptible hole at the top, the porous material will absorb it, but the outer layer will prevent it from coming out. However, if a slight scratch is made in the protective glaze in the tear duct area, the absorbed water will come out through it as if it were tears."
Many other statues that have appeared to be weeping have been reported in the past, such as another Virgin Mary statue in the small town of Trevignano Romano, which attracted hundreds of pilgrims to witness the statue cry tears of what appeared to be blood earlier this year.
