Marian apparition

{{expand}} [[Image:Virgin mary toastie.gif|right|thumb|150px|Holy toastie!<br/>Wait, you can see Her, right? Or are you just hungry?]]{{christianity}}
A '''Marian apparition''' is an alleged phenomenon in which visions or images of [[Mary (Mother of Jesus)|Mary]] (the mother of [[Jesus]]) are perceived to appear in modern times. It usually takes the form of a situation where [[Pareidolia|a Christian might see an image of Mary, while a non-Christian sees in the same image either nothing or a generic woman's image- for instance, the heroine of a romantic novel]]. Many Christians (especially pastors and those on 
Crazy People Central
 [[Facebook]]{{nofact}}) love to use these images as an example to "prove" that Mary actually walked the Earth and therefore the rest of the Bible is true and their particular god is real{{!!}} (One has to wonder why nobody points to it as "evidence" that the heroine of a particular romantic novel is supposedly a 100% real woman.)

These can be visions claimed by one person, [[Fátima|appearances alleged to have been seen by large numbers of people in a particular place]], rumors that an image of Mary is appearing on a particular rock formation or shadow at a certain time of day, etc.  Some of these perceived "sightings" of Mary are forms of [[religious pareidolia]], in which "Mary" is seen in an ordinary object. It can be very easy to perceive images in random everyday objects that appear to confirm beliefs you already hold, especially if said beliefs are not supported by any evidence and you really, ''really'' want them to be true.
==Examples==

Some of the most famous "Marian apparitions" allegedly took place in {{wpl|Our Lady of Lourdes|Lourdes, France}} and {{wpl|Our Lady of Fátima|Fátima, Portugal}}- both with their own respective [[miracle]] claims.  <ref>http://www.skepdic.com/lourdes.html</ref><ref>http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4110</ref><ref>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790620,00.html</ref>

In the [[United States]], the visions of Mary by Veronica Lueken  from 1970 to her death in 1995 in Bayside, [[New York]] were heavily promoted with billboards and a 1-800 number you could call for a packet of brochures on Mary's message. Mary's message as [[channelling|channeled]] through Veronica Lueken was heavily infused with apocalyptic warnings of a coming [[New World Order]] conspiracy, because of fucking course it was.{{fact}}

In 2004, a woman put up for sale a 10-year old grilled cheese [[Fun:Sandwich|sandwich]]<ref group=note>Eeeeew, gross!</ref>, which she said had an image of the Virgin Mary on it.  It fetched $28,000.00 on eBay despite having a bite taken out of it.<ref group=note>Double gross!</ref> Eternal 
salivation
 [[salvation]] may be tempting, but come on, you just can't get enough melted cheese.<ref group=note>The ultimate buyer turned out to be {{w|GoldenPalace.com|a casino|,}} which made the purchase as a publicity stunt. Why someone else bid ''almost'' that much one can only guess...</ref>

==See also==
*[[Fátima]]
*[[Religious pareidolia‎]]
*[[Stigmata]]

*[[Confirmation bias]]

==External links==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye3Xg-kYoio ABC News: Virgin Mary Seen in Bird Poop]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui-Tz-kWsMA&feature=related Virgin Mary Appears in Toilet]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
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[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Apologetics and counter-apologetics]]
[[Category:Articles needing explanation]]

Categories: Christianity, Apologetics and counter-apologetics, Articles needing explanation