The Holy Virgin risked over-exposure this week after Our Lady of Mount Carmel popped out yet again to the delight of Colombian villagers. The seemingly ubiquitous deity’s image was spotted on a wall at a cross-roads by a young boy in Cumural, central Colombia.
“It’s true!” said one over-excited neighbour, who personally saw a picture of the Virgin, sporting a crown, robe and scapular and cradling baby Jesus in her arms.
Among theories circulating as to how Our Lady got there, the favourite appeared to be that she was “beamed from the heavens” following a thunder storm.
It wasn’t long before the story, which broke on Tuesday, had gone completely viral, attracting even the most hardened cynics from around the department, reports Notillano.com.
Her Holiness does not seem to be publicity-shy. She’s made a number of impromptu appearances this year, even turning up in three different guises on one palm tree in Sucre.
Some have been unkind enough to comment that the Virgin is becoming increasingly lax when it comes to finding imaginative hiding places.
Previous efforts have seen her spectacularly materialise out of burning candles, guanabana trees, coffee cups and even a stain on hospital floor in Bogota. Fortunately, this rather more pedestrian incarnation does not seem to have affected her status as a crowd-pleaser.
You might say it’s virgin on a bit of a joke.