TESTS at two Western Australian universities have failed to explain the source of tears from a weeping statue of Mary which has attracted thousands of pilgrims to a church in Rockingham, south of Perth.
Scientists at Murdoch and Curtin universities did not find any holes in the eyes and no moisture inside the 85cm fibreglass statue, which is owned by Rockingham parishioner Patty Powell.
The tests were funded by Channel 7.
Even as the scientists were focusing a microscope on the eyes, with the statue on its back, it began weeping. A technician wiped the tears away four times.
A scientist who examined the liquid concluded that it was vegetable oil, possibly mixed with rose oil. He also said it was fresh.
The statue is hollow, with X-rays showing nothing significant inside.
Ms Powell said about the weeping statue: ‘The message coming through to me personally is that Mary wants people to turn back to God, to prayer and to reconciliation with Him and with one another.’
