Santo Niño image said to shed tears of blood, draws Leyte townsfolk
CARIGARA, Leyte, Philippines — People have been streaming into a house in Barangay Pongon here to look at an image of the Santo Niño, which has reportedly shed tears of blood.
The crying image of the Holy Child Jesus in their house on Real Street, Barangay (village) Pongon, Carigara, has created so much curiosity that the family owning and living in the house have lost some privacy, said 78-year-old Matilda Marpa. Marpa, however, said they were not complaining.
The image that was made of wood was seen by her 8-year-old grandson, Onick Florence Marpa, “crying” on three occasions, Marpa said.
“At first, I did not believe him when he told me that the Santo Niño was crying tears of blood. But on the two occasions, I saw this myself. It was then that I believed what my grandson had told me,” she added.
Based on the account of Marpa, Onick saw the image crying on February 3, 5 and 6.
But Father Amadeo Alvero, spokesperson of the archdiocese of the Metropolitan of Palo in Leyte, said that while they were not prohibiting the faithful from believing in the news or venerating the “crying” image of the Holy Child Jesus, the local Church would conduct its own probe.
“First, there will be continuing observance of the events by the family themselves who will report to the parish priest. Then, the priest will study it,” Alvero added.
A blood sample taken from the image would also undergo some laboratory tests to determine if it was real blood.
Last January 27, Onick took the image from a garage inside the compound of the house. The image was left by its owner, Cynthia Negado, inside a box, where it remained for three years.
Onick wanted to use it for a procession of the images of Santo Niño in Carigara, 55 km away from Tacloban and once the seat of Catholicism in Eastern Visayas.
Marpa said that her grandson wanted the image to be placed in an altar after the procession.
Onick said he first witnessed the shedding of tears of blood on the evening of Feb. 3 upon his arrival from the Cassidy Elementary School at around 6 p.m.
Onick said the shedding of tears occurred again at around the same time on February 5 and 6.
The news that the image reportedly shed tears of blood spread fast, attracting people from all over the town.
Jay-R Benis, 25 and a resident of Barangay Ponong, Carigara, and Tessa Rae Insigne, 17, of Barangay Hugaban, said they believed that the tears of blood were real.
“When I entered the house, I felt some calmness in me. I really don’t know. It was a miracle,” Insigne said, adding that the joint pains she had been experiencing have gone after Onick asked the image to heal her.
