Visions of the Virgin Mary in California

From the San Francisco Chronicle comes a report of visions of the Virgin Mary. On the 13th of every month, they say, the Virgin Mary appears and speaks to a woman named Maria Paula Acuna. Crowds have gathered here, about 10 miles north of California City, for nearly 20 years.

Scholars who have studied the phenomenon see a pattern: Publicity draws the curious and faithful, but the excitement quickly fizzles. Rarely is a lasting community forged, said Lisa Bitel, a professor of history and religion at the University of Southern California who is co-writing a book on Our Lady of the Rock.

That the BVM would appear in California is a notion I find strangely warming...