A statue of the Virgin Mary is drawing crowds of people after visitors and even church officials attest that they've seen the figure of the mother of Jesus seemingly coming "alive" as it "grows taller, smiles and cries" at times.
The reported "miracle" is taking place at the Church of St. Thomas More in Subang Jaya, Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, the Star Online said.
The Virgin Mary statue, known as Our Lady of Fatima, is found in the grotto inside the church compound.
Our Lady of Fatima is one of the titles given to the Virgin Mary by the Roman Catholic Church based on the apparitions reported to have been experienced by three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
According to a WhatsApp message that has been circulating, the Our Lady of Fatima statue was recently placed on top of a box in the grotto after some parishioners noted that it was too small for the grotto.
The first miracle was seen on Wednesday, Oct. 14, when the blessing ceremony for the statue took place. Father Raymond Pereira, the parish priest, immediately noticed an "unusual occurrence"— the statue originally made of fibreglass had apparently turned to porcelain and "grew taller" by three inches (7.5cm), reports said.
Pereira declined to make further comments when approached by reporters, saying he needed permission from higher church authorities before making a formal announcement. "We are waiting for confirmation from the Vatican before making an official statement," he said, according to The Star Online. He said he will consult first with Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Julian Leow Beng Kim.
Scores of Catholic parishioners stood or sat on chairs opposite the grotto, their heads bowed and hands clasped in prayer.
Some sang the "Ave Maria" while others recited the "Hail Mary." Some took pictures of the two statues inside the grotto—the larger Mary and a small kneeling figure as water cascaded from a built-in decorative feature at the back of the grotto, reports said.
"We are strong devotees of Mother Mary and wanted to witness the miracle for ourselves so we made it a point to come here," one Catholic faithful said.
Earlier, a three-minute video circulated online showing the Virgin Mary statue which was apparently taken during Sunday Mass at the church last week. In the video, a parishioner claimed to have witnessed the "miracle."
"Her eyes were moving very slowly, all of us were there and we saw it," he said. "The father (priest) was saying, 'look at her, she's looking at us. She was full of life, she had a lot of tears in her eyes.'
"When we started singing 'Ave Maria,' she started smiling and her lips were moving.
"It touched all of us," the man said.
"The father had told us that he actually spoke to her. She will come more often, she also told father that she wants all of us to pray to her," the unidentified man added.
Last July, another Virgin Mary "miracle" was reported in Sydney, Australia, that was caught on video.
This time, the "miracle" was seen on a painting of the Virgin Mary. While the parishioners were reciting the Lord's prayer inside the St. Charbel's church during a Sunday mass in Sydney, they were stunned to see the lips of Mary in the artwork moving as if joining the people in prayer, the Mirror reported.
One of the parishioners filmed the "miracle" and posted it on Facebook.
These "miracles" were just two of the many reported "miracles" shown by the Virgin Mary worldwide since time immemorial.
