Ram Felix Rengel, Jr.

The Mystery of the Virgin Mary on a Tree

There are things on earth that are truly out-of-this world, truly mysterious and unexplainable. I witnessed one of these things two weeks ago, while visiting the rural areas of Totolan, Dauis, Bohol, Philippines.

As we were traversing the barangay road leading to a real estate that we were to shoot for posting at my E-Realtor site, Cora--the person guiding me on this trip, and a native of Dauis, hinted me about an incident that happened months ago. She also told me that we will be passing through the place. Curious about the incident and the place, I queried further about its details. Here is the full recount of the incident:

It was a rainy day. The place is wet and slippery. It was also high tide, so the seawater has come inland covering the mangrove-d portion beside the marshland. A certain lady by the name of Lita was walking this deserted area. Although the place runs parallel to a narrow barangay road, at this moment, no vehicle or another person is in the area. Lita knows this area very well since she grew up here since childhood. She has been to this place almost everyday because this is the only way for her to reach their house, which is located in the farther outskirts of the barangay. The main road, which is a kilometer away, is pliable by public utility vehicles, but the barangay road leading to her place doesn't have a tricycle, even a pedicab.

Nearing the chapel, which happened to be shut down because nobody is bothering to attend the services held inside it, Lita felt a tingling sensation. She did not mind the feeling as she was very busy looking for a path that is not slippery. Passing the chapel, Lita was shocked to have heard the most booming thunder and to have seen the most brilliant lighting ever in her life. As these two simultaneous events happened, Lita was side swept to her knees with her eyes fixed on the place that the lightning struck. The specific object that the lightning struck was a big tree just beside the chapel that Lita has passed by moments earlier. To her amazement, Lita saw the specific spot of the lightning strike burning for a split second, and receded as the rain poured heavily.

Helping herself up after the fall, and after witnessing a bizarre lightning hitting a tree, Lita noticed something even more bizarre. The spot where the lightning struck resembled something familiar, something mysterious. Upon closer inspection, Lita cannot believe what she saw--that specific area of the tree looked like a carved figure of the Virgin Mary, complete with a crown, and a flowing gown on an outstretched arms. Mystified, Lita ran to her house and told her family about what happened.

When the rain stopped, everyone in her family and some of her neighbor visited the place. To their amazement, the figure just got clearer and better. This time the color of the robe is showing clearly, and the crown just got more formed.

After hearing the news, the barangay captain arrived to inspect the place, as well as the parish priest. It was decided by everyone to again open the chapel, and to make the place a shrine to the Virgin Mary. To this date, the area where this incident happened is visited by various people from all walks of life, and coming from different areas of the island--as well as foreigners.

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Comments:

From Alison, alison_nice@yahoo.com

This is so incredibly beautiful! Why can't we imagine that it is a figure of the virgin Mary? When I look at chipped wall paint, or dirty finger prints on the wall I can somewhat make out pictures with my imagination, same with the clouds in the sky but it's all to get myself in the mood for prayer! Authentic or not! It's Beautiful!

From Dr. Fasusto Honculada Loquias, loquiasdmd@yahoo.com

Its'a miracle. I saw it personally.