The Most Bizarre Miracles Ever Documented

These are the most bizarre miracles ever documented. From a statue of the Virgin Mary crying to a levitating monk, these are the strangest religious events throughout history.

10. The Clearwater Virgin Mary

In 1996, a stain on a glass window was discovered on the Seminole Finance Company building. This mysterious stain resembled the shape of the Virgin Mary. In the first few weeks, over 500,000 visitors paid homage to the image in Clearwater, Florida. By the end of the year, those numbers were well into the millions. Believers thought the Virgin Mary was sending a message to her followers. Some people thought it was nothing more than corrosion, but they couldn’t explain why it resembled the Virgin Mary.

Mike Krizmanich owned the building and believed it was divine intervention. He turned the stain into a religious shrine. The building was eventually sold to a Catholic charity. The image was present until 2004 when a teenager shot the shrine with a slingshot, damaging it permanently.

9. Our Lady of Akita

In 1973, the Roman Catholic Church recognized a miracle in Akita, Japan. Sister Agnes Sasagawa saw visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the town of Yuzawadai. It’s said that the Virgin Mother had a message for believers. She emphasized the importance of prayer and penance. Sister Agnes also had prophetic visions of persecution in the Catholic Church. Along with the visions, a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary began to weep. This phenomenon was even caught on national television in Japan.

In addition to the visions, Sister Agnes also witnessed stigmata on the wooden statue. This statue was said to have wept over 100 occasions. The miracle was also witnessed by other nuns at Yuzawadai as well. They reported that Sister Agnes also displayed signs of stigmata on her hands and feet. Samples of the tears and blood were collected from the statue. Both were determined to be real human tears and blood.

8. The Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles

The Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels is considered to be a sacred spot.

In 1635, a young girl from Cartoga found a small, black statue on a rock near a stream. Thinking it was a doll, she took the item home with her. The next day, the statue went missing from the house. The young girl and her mother looked everywhere for it but couldn’t find it anywhere. A few days later, the girl returned to the boulder near the stream and there was the little black, carved figure. She took it home once more but yet again the figure went missing, only to be found on the boulder by the stream. This went on for some weeks before the family contacted a local priest. He told the girl that it was a statue of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. He then placed it safely inside a box inside the church. Despite being secured in the church, the statue disappeared again, and as before, the statue was found sitting atop the boulder by the stream.

This odd series of events was eventually deemed a miracle and the statue is now on permanent display in the Basilica. The statue is kept in a golden box in the church. Pilgrims from all over the world flock to pay homage to this miracle.

7. Joseph of Cupertino

St. Joseph was born in Cupertino in 1603. He was an absent minded young boy who was abused by his mother at a young age. It wasn’t unusual to find young Joseph wandering the streets in the town. He tried his hand at shoemaking and failed at it. Joseph tried to join the Franciscan order, but he was denied. Eventually, the Capuchin Order did accept him for a short time. However, after eight months, they dismissed him. His mother sent him away to be a servant at a Franciscan monastery where he worked in the stables.

It is said that around this time, Joseph began to change. He started to pray more and complete more acts of penance. The Franciscan order finally allowed him to study to be a priest. After he was ordained, many people began to witness miracles around the young priest. It is said that he would levitate during mass or prayers. The first occurrence happened in 1630 during the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. One such incident even occurred in front of Pope Urban VIII. It’s alleged he levitated over seventy times before his death in 1663. He was canonized in 1767. Amusingly, St. Joseph is the patron saint of astronauts and pilots.

6. Saint Clelia Barbieri

Clelia Barbieri was born to a poor family in Bologna in 1847. When her father died, her mother moved the family to a local church. Barbieri began to reflect on her religious education and became pious in her young age. In 1861, she joined The Workers of Christian Catechism as an assistant teacher. Barbieri was in charge of the young girls’ doctrine. Over the years while teaching, she rejected various marriage offers in favor of serving God. The Suore Minime dell’Addolorata was founded by her at the age of 24. The order would help both the poor and the sick. She died in 1870 of tuberculosis after making a promise to never abandon her parishioners.

It was after her death when strange things began to occur. Exactly one year after her death, an unusual voice was heard singing with the choir. Witnesses said it was unlike anything they had ever heard. The devout believed it was Barbieri’s voice singing along with her congregation. Dozens of people said they heard her voice in churches and homes that she had visited. On most occasions she was heard reciting songs and passages from the bible.

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