Church's name where Christ's Statue moved? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Arnold_OldSchool · 03-07-2008, 03:28 PM

I want to research online for any info on the church where they claim that their Jesus on a wooden crucifix shrine actually opened its eyes (Wasn't it on Good Friday?) I remember being underwelmed at the screen shots that showed the before and after.

I loaned my DVD's to my bro.

kamy · 03-07-2008, 04:20 PM

I don't recall this one, but it sounds good

justins5256 · 03-07-2008, 04:46 PM

I had to solve the mystery of my missing glasses and DVDs before answering this question.

It was the Holy Trinity Church in Ambridge, Pennsylvania

They have a webpage:
http://www.htgoc.org/

I believe the miracle was alleged to have occurred on Good Friday when several parishioners reported that the eyes of Jesus closed. It was a statue of the crucifixion. The archbishop conducted an inquiry to determine if this event should be classified as a miracle. The eventual decision was that there was not enough evidence to warrant the classification.

I tend to think this was a case of people seeing what they wanted to.

I would be surprised if this wasn't on the "Miracles" DVD.

Todd Mueller · 03-07-2008, 05:01 PM

I remember that one well...

One of the altar boys noticed it first. What was weird was that so many of the parishioners believed there was a difference, including the guy who had recently renovated the statue.

Like Arnold said, it didn't look like anything when they showed comparison photos at the end of the story. I also believe this was a case of people seeing what they want to.

Arnold_OldSchool · 02-26-2009, 11:14 PM

This isn't a UM youtube, so I think I can post this???

Its another statue's eyes opening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6erQnDt_W1g

Brianna3 · 02-27-2009, 04:53 PM

I have no doubt that this miracle happened. This is one of my favorite episodes of Unsolved Mysteries and I do love the Religious stories.. A Statue of Jesus Christ opening and closing His eyes is indeed a miracle for our benefit especially since it happened during Lent. The testimony of the painter says it all.

TheCars1986 · 02-09-2017, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna3

I have no doubt that this miracle happened. This is one of my favorite episodes of Unsolved Mysteries and I do love the Religious stories.. A Statue of Jesus Christ opening and closing His eyes is indeed a miracle for our benefit especially since it happened during Lent. The testimony of the painter says it all.

Well it appears the reverend interviewed in the segment was asked to resign after the segment aired. The churches connection to Medjugorje should also have raised red flags. I think they saw the attention that Medjugorje was getting at the time and tried to get in on the action. The church did not like the attention that the reverend was bringing, knowing that the story was most likely a hoax. JMO

Todd Mueller · 02-09-2017, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Well it appears the reverend interviewed in the segment was asked to resign after the segment aired. The churches connection to Medjugorje should also have raised red flags. I think they saw the attention that Medjugorje was getting at the time and tried to get in on the action. The church did not like the attention that the reverend was bringing, knowing that the story was most likely a hoax. JMO

Nice find, TheCars1986!

I think it was possibly an organized hoax. I wouldn't put it past someone to have made the eyes wet to give the illusion of crying.

But since the statue was just repainted by one of the parishioners, I think it is entirely possible the paint broke down (or reacted with moisture in the air) and that's what blurred it. They said it looked like the eyes were full of tears.

I don't doubt the sincerity of many of the parisioners. If it made them feel better, there is no harm. But there is also no true miracle.

Hot Jock · 02-09-2017, 05:47 PM

Complete and utter hoax if you ask me. But then again I believe that all of the religious based segments are pure nonsense due to my own personal beliefs, or lack thereof. I don't believe in ghosts either, but at least some of the ghost centric segments were well done and entertaining. Every religious UM segment is an instant fast forward for me though.

cordwainer1453 · 02-09-2017, 07:22 PM

I don't see why that would be a miracle anyway. Isn't there people suffering and dying everyday, and people waste their time claiming miracles on stuff like this?

TheCars1986 · 02-10-2017, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd Mueller

I don't doubt the sincerity of many of the parisioners. If it made them feel better, there is no harm. But there is also no true miracle.

I don't think the majority of them were in on some organized hoax, but I do think the reverend, altar boys, and possibly the painter were in on it. The segment mentions that "one of the parishioners received a message from Christ" and they read a portion of it on the segment. Not so coincidentally, it mentioned Medjugorje. And the reverend interviewed had recently been to Medjugorje. I found another article that said the reverend was adamant about not revealing who this parishioner was. Obviously the reporter wanted to talk to this person, but the reverend kept stonewalling them. Another huge red flag.

To the church's credit, they take these things very seriously, and are extremely strict about authenticating things like this. I wonder why UM even did this segment at all.

RobinW · 02-10-2017, 01:45 PM

I remember when this originally aired during my youth and I almost thought I'd be too scared to watch it, based on the description of the episode in the TV Guide ("Statue of Jesus is believed to have moved!"). But when I finally did watch it, I thought it was incredibly lame. Even as a kid, watching the re-enactment, I wondered how those altar boys could have possibly noticed the eyes had closed on a statue which was about 20-30 feet off the ground. And there's zero difference at all in those "before and after" photos they show of the statue's eyes.

asmitty · 02-10-2017, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

I wonder why UM even did this segment at all.

They had airtime to fill. I've often wondered if the network required X amount of segments for particular categories as there are some segments that just felt silly and there's always enough actual crimes to fill those spots.

LooksLikeCRicci · 02-10-2017, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asmitty

They had airtime to fill. I've often wondered if the network required X amount of segments for particular categories as there are some segments that just felt silly and there's always enough actual crimes to fill those spots.

I kinda got the same vibe. I always thought Stack came off with a really dry sense of humor during the aphrodisiac statutes segment, etc.

TheCars1986 · 02-10-2017, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asmitty

They had airtime to fill. I've often wondered if the network required X amount of segments for particular categories as there are some segments that just felt silly and there's always enough actual crimes to fill those spots.

Still costs money to fly out and film everything. And I've read that they were very stringent when it came to selecting their true crime segments (IIRC, they made Tommy Zeigler take a polygraph before they even considered his story), and I can't imagine why they wouldn't be the same with their supernatural cases. I'm guessing because of the amount of eyewitnesses they decided that was good enough.

03-07-2008, 03:28 PM	#1
Arnold_OldSchool Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jul 16, 2006 Posts: 681	Church's name where Christ's Statue moved? I want to research online for any info on the church where they claim that their Jesus on a wooden crucifix shrine actually opened its eyes (Wasn't it on Good Friday?) I remember being underwelmed at the screen shots that showed the before and after. I loaned my DVD's to my bro.

03-07-2008, 04:20 PM	#2
kamy UM Fanatic Forum Regular Join Date: Apr 25, 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 625	I don't recall this one, but it sounds good

03-07-2008, 04:46 PM	#3
justins5256 Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 08, 2002 Posts: 3,866	I had to solve the mystery of my missing glasses and DVDs before answering this question. It was the Holy Trinity Church in Ambridge, Pennsylvania They have a webpage: http://www.htgoc.org/ I believe the miracle was alleged to have occurred on Good Friday when several parishioners reported that the eyes of Jesus closed. It was a statue of the crucifixion. The archbishop conducted an inquiry to determine if this event should be classified as a miracle. The eventual decision was that there was not enough evidence to warrant the classification. I tend to think this was a case of people seeing what they wanted to. I would be surprised if this wasn't on the "Miracles" DVD.

03-07-2008, 05:01 PM	#4
Todd Mueller Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 11, 2005 Posts: 1,626	I remember that one well... One of the altar boys noticed it first. What was weird was that so many of the parishioners believed there was a difference, including the guy who had recently renovated the statue. Like Arnold said, it didn't look like anything when they showed comparison photos at the end of the story. I also believe this was a case of people seeing what they want to.

02-26-2009, 11:14 PM	#5
Arnold_OldSchool Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jul 16, 2006 Posts: 681	This isn't a UM youtube, so I think I can post this??? Its another statue's eyes opening http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6erQnDt_W1g

02-27-2009, 04:53 PM	#6
Brianna3 Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jan 25, 2009 Location: california Posts: 20	I have no doubt that this miracle happened. This is one of my favorite episodes of Unsolved Mysteries and I do love the Religious stories.. A Statue of Jesus Christ opening and closing His eyes is indeed a miracle for our benefit especially since it happened during Lent. The testimony of the painter says it all.

02-09-2017, 05:47 PM	#9
Hot Jock Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 09, 2016 Posts: 493	Complete and utter hoax if you ask me. But then again I believe that all of the religious based segments are pure nonsense due to my own personal beliefs, or lack thereof. I don't believe in ghosts either, but at least some of the ghost centric segments were well done and entertaining. Every religious UM segment is an instant fast forward for me though.

02-09-2017, 07:22 PM	#10
cordwainer1453 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jun 05, 2011 Location: Mass Posts: 268	I don't see why that would be a miracle anyway. Isn't there people suffering and dying everyday, and people waste their time claiming miracles on stuff like this?

02-10-2017, 01:45 PM	#12
RobinW Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2010 Posts: 1,874	I remember when this originally aired during my youth and I almost thought I'd be too scared to watch it, based on the description of the episode in the TV Guide ("Statue of Jesus is believed to have moved!"). But when I finally did watch it, I thought it was incredibly lame. Even as a kid, watching the re-enactment, I wondered how those altar boys could have possibly noticed the eyes had closed on a statue which was about 20-30 feet off the ground. And there's zero difference at all in those "before and after" photos they show of the statue's eyes.