For those who had no idea what I was talking about with the religious 'miracle' in Smithtown..
This is apparently what it was all about.....
In vision, faith takes wing
BY THERESA VARGAS
STAFF WRITER
To some, it is a mere shadow, a scientifically explained by-product of the lighting system at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Smithtown.
To Linda Riopel, it's angelic.
'It's absolutely beautiful,' she said, leaving the church yesterday morning.
'It's something to believe in,' her husband, Bill, of Smithtown, added.
The couple, like hundreds of others from across Long Island, flocked to the church this week to see a shadow behind the huge crucifix cast in the likeness of an angel above the pulpit. A wing appears to extend under Jesus' right arm, and below his crossed feet are two shadows stretched outward in different .directions.
'I walked through the door and said, 'Oh my God,'' Corrine Rodriguez, of Hauppauge, said. 'I'm not someone who comes to church every Sunday, but to walk in and see that, I think it's amazing.'
Her mother, Jane Orphens, stood by her, gripping a flier handed out by the church yesterday, three days after news of the 'phenomenon' began to spread by word of mouth. The lightbulbs that shine on the crucifix had been changed this week, the flier said, along with the angle they point.
'I don't believe it,' Orphens said of the technical reason. She came Friday and Saturday to see the image. 'You just get chills and you just get a sense of peace.'
The flier couldn't explain that.
'Any statement that this shadow is an indication of divine revelation is solely the responsibility of those making such statements,' it read.
Msgr. Frank Parisi also downplayed any divine explanation. 'We just don't want people to become hysterical or fanatic,' he said. 'We want it to be true piety, true devotion.'
But even amid reasoning, he found it difficult to break the spirit of one observer.
'One little boy said, 'I think Jesus is in our church,'' Parisi said. 'And, of course, I had to say to him, 'You're right, Jesus is in our church.''
He couldn't come soon enough for Gerry Mendola, 74.
'I'm ready,' she said. 'With everything that's going on in this world, I hope he comes fast.'
She had come that morning from Lake Ronkonkoma. Another worshiper drove an hour Friday from East Marion.
'I went in to see it and to say to my daughter-in-law, 'Honey, this is nothing, it's a shadow,'' the woman said, asking to not be named. 'I realized something is there ... I thought those are the wings of the pope and he's gone straight to heaven.'
Christine Spahr of Smithtown saw the shadow under different lighting, altered for a Communion ceremony yesterday, making it appear less distinct. She said sometimes people need to believe.
'To me, that's the miracle. It's the people coming,' she said. 'We all need a little that we're being taken care of.'
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
In vision, faith takes wing
BY THERESA VARGAS
STAFF WRITER
To some, it is a mere shadow, a scientifically explained by-product of the lighting system at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Smithtown.
To Linda Riopel, it's angelic.
'It's absolutely beautiful,' she said, leaving the church yesterday morning.
'It's something to believe in,' her husband, Bill, of Smithtown, added.
The couple, like hundreds of others from across Long Island, flocked to the church this week to see a shadow behind the huge crucifix cast in the likeness of an angel above the pulpit. A wing appears to extend under Jesus' right arm, and below his crossed feet are two shadows stretched outward in different .directions.
'I walked through the door and said, 'Oh my God,'' Corrine Rodriguez, of Hauppauge, said. 'I'm not someone who comes to church every Sunday, but to walk in and see that, I think it's amazing.'
Her mother, Jane Orphens, stood by her, gripping a flier handed out by the church yesterday, three days after news of the 'phenomenon' began to spread by word of mouth. The lightbulbs that shine on the crucifix had been changed this week, the flier said, along with the angle they point.
'I don't believe it,' Orphens said of the technical reason. She came Friday and Saturday to see the image. 'You just get chills and you just get a sense of peace.'
The flier couldn't explain that.
'Any statement that this shadow is an indication of divine revelation is solely the responsibility of those making such statements,' it read.
Msgr. Frank Parisi also downplayed any divine explanation. 'We just don't want people to become hysterical or fanatic,' he said. 'We want it to be true piety, true devotion.'
But even amid reasoning, he found it difficult to break the spirit of one observer.
'One little boy said, 'I think Jesus is in our church,'' Parisi said. 'And, of course, I had to say to him, 'You're right, Jesus is in our church.''
He couldn't come soon enough for Gerry Mendola, 74.
'I'm ready,' she said. 'With everything that's going on in this world, I hope he comes fast.'
She had come that morning from Lake Ronkonkoma. Another worshiper drove an hour Friday from East Marion.
'I went in to see it and to say to my daughter-in-law, 'Honey, this is nothing, it's a shadow,'' the woman said, asking to not be named. 'I realized something is there ... I thought those are the wings of the pope and he's gone straight to heaven.'
Christine Spahr of Smithtown saw the shadow under different lighting, altered for a Communion ceremony yesterday, making it appear less distinct. She said sometimes people need to believe.
'To me, that's the miracle. It's the people coming,' she said. 'We all need a little that we're being taken care of.'
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
