Fifty people stared straight at the sun to see the Virgin Mary and caused themselves to go blind.  It happened in THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India.

At least 50 people in Kottayam district have reportedly lost their vision after gazing at the sun looking for an image of Virgin Mary.

Though alarmed health authorities have installed a signboard to counter the rumour that a solar image of Virgin Mary appeared to the believers, curious onlookers, including foreign travellers, have been thronging the venue of the ‘miracle’.

This is not the first time I’ve heard of people staring at the sun to see the “Virgin Mary.”  Thousands of people have flocked to Medjugorje (in the former Yugoslavia).

Accounts of miraculous healings began to occur with frequency. . .  A cross on a nearby hill was said to sometimes turn into “a pillar of light,” and as at Fatima, the sun was said to “dance” in the sky—although only some of those present on these occasions saw the transmutation of the cross or the dancing of the sun.

One of my pals from childhood became a Catholic priest (I, on the other hand, became an ordained minister over the Internet).  He made a pilgramage to Medjugorje about 15 years ago.  He told me (shortly after he returned) that he believed that he saw a magic movement of light that represented the Virgin Mary communicating with him.  He said that dozens of people gathered to stare at the sun every day in Medjugorje.    I told him that I didn’t believe that he was looking at the “Virgin,” which didn’t go over very well. 

The point of this post is that religion can (sometimes) be harmful to your health.   Perhaps this standardized warning should be stamped onto the back of every church bulletin.