Video: Irish Catholics Give New Meaning to "Virgin Timber"

Catholics in Limerick, Ireland have decided that the Virgin Mary has magically appeared in the trunk of a tree as it was being cut down. Apparently, Mary is now the goddess of arborists.

This “Virgin timber” looks much more like Mary with the rosary, don’t you think?

I couldn’t make this up. Well, I probably could, but I didn’t:

NEARLY 2,000 people have signed a petition seeking to prevent the removal of a tree stump on the grounds of a Co Limerick church, which they believe depicts an image of the Blessed Virgin.

The local news report:

Best of all are the responses from the local Catholic priest and the diocese themselves, the hosts to this woody wonder!

Local parish priest Fr Willie Russell went on the local radio station to tell people not to worship the tree. “There’s nothing there . . . it’s just a tree . . . you can’t worship a tree.”

Better yet, the diocese comments:

The church’s response to phenomena of this type is one of great scepticism.

While we do not wish in any way to detract from devotion to Our Lady, we would also wish to avoid anything which might lead to superstition.

Well, that’s a relief. I’m sure we can all agree that the last thing people who claim crackers magically turn into the flesh of a 2,000-year-old corpse at a wave of the hand from a man in a dress and funny hat want to do is encourage superstition!

Would removing the stump be blasphemy? Would it then be illegal, under the anti-blasphemy legislation passed by the Irish Parliament this week?

As for the “image”, that’s a phenomenon called “pareidolia“, our Anti-Superstition Word of the Week:

Pareidolia is best described as the psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus being perceived as significant. This includes seeing shapes in the clouds and hearing satanic messages when playing 80’s rock music backwards.

Now you know how to explain it when someone sees Jesus in a candy bar, or under the tail of a dog . . .

Related articles:

1. Pareidolia Strikes Again: Not-So-Virgin Mary Condom
2. Irish Catholics Stare at Sun; Believe Blindness is Miracle
3. Unlike in U.S., for Irish President secular values trump religious dogma
4. Catholics, secularism, and Nazism
5. Catholics Being Called Home

Mike Daniels is co-editor of Secular News Daily.

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