A few weeks ago we carried reports from The Desert Sun in Palm Springs
about
the alleged phenomenon of luminous crosses that seemed to be appearing
in
Southern California [see story]. Hundreds were gathering in places like
Indio
(which is part of Riverside, just southeast of L.A.) and the
neighboring town
of Thermal. In the case of a home in Thermal, owned by a man named
Jesus
Aceves, it was claimed bands of light descended from the sky, were
visible
in a backyard, and then "floated on the glass to form a cross,"
according
to the newspaper. This began on Ash Wednesday. We have learned that
there
are at least eight other homes in this poor, humble, and devout area of
immigrant
Mexicans on which crosses of light are said to be forming. Similar
phenomena
have occurred in other parts of the world. Some believe this is simply
an
effect of window glass forming a prism. "People want to believe it’s
true,
but they can’t be blinded to the possibility of natural causes," said a
spokesman
for the Bishop. We received this note from one of our readers,
Christine
C. Gomez, a devout Catholic whose note takes a believing stand, one
that
we offer for your discernment:
"It was a 63-year-old friend, Maria del Carmen, who called me the
week-end after Ash Wednesday to tell me that she had seen an apparition
on a Mexican TV station and that the apparition was nearby. I asked her
where it was, and
she told me that it was in Thermal, California, a little over one hour
from
where we live. I was surprised, but I did not take the initiative to
go.
Inside I just kind of felt that maybe the rain had formed a cross
design
and that people were probably exaggerating and making it out to be
bigger
than it was. I ignored it.
One week later, my same friend, Maria Del Carmen, called me in almost
total
hysteria to tell me that her friend Rita had driven her up to see the
cross
at the apparition site in Thermal. My husband and I went to her home
(her
home, by the way, is a shrine to Our Lord, Our Lady and all of the
angels
and saints, you should see it), we took her out to dinner and there she
told
us.."You must go, and you must go now, before it disappears....please
go,
and take me, I have to see it again!!!!" I promised her that we would
go.
On the following Saturday, I called my friend "Pancho," the one who
leads
the monthly Medjugorge Rosary, some friends, and Maria Del
Carmen.....we were
headed out that way, we were going to see the Miracle for ourselves. As
we
were driving up there, I was excited and full of anticipation. By now,
I
had seen the picture of the Cross on your Web site Spirit Daily and so
I
knew (or so I thought) what to expect.
Finally we are driving closer and closer to the apparition site. We
make
a right turn at Airport Blvd and an immediate right into Fillmore Road.
We
drive into a dirt road surrounded by very old mobile homes tucked among
date
groves and beautiful orchards, and there is a cardboard sign that reads
"no
donations please." We park outside on the dirt and then walk into
another
dirt area. Someone welcomes us and tells us that its the "last mobile
home"
on the premises on the left hand side where the "miracle" is. As we are
walking
in, everything looks very humble and there is a "peaceful" feeling that
I
got as I was approaching the miracle.....and finally as we approach the
home,
a lady by the name of "Adelina" welcomed us. She is the daughter-in-law
of
the owners of the mobile home. She said that the Cross of light first
appeared
to her husband, Jesus Aceves. It was he who first saw a "light" descend
from
the sky, move down in front of him, and then placed itself on the door
of
the mobile home. Adelina was wonderful. She welcomed us and told us to
walk
to the back of the mobile home.
Believe me, nothing and I mean nothing, not even the newspaper article
with
photo had prepared me or my friends to SEE WHAT WE WERE ABOUT TO SEE. I
WALKED
UP TO THE DOOR AND GAZED INTO THE WINDOW AND I KNEW BEYOND THE SHADOW
OF
A DOUBT THAT IT WAS OUR LORD OF LORDS, KING OF KINGS, PRINCE OF
PRINCES,
THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA who had placed this cross here. Everyone, fell
to
their knees and started to cry. I was overwhelmed beyond belief, and
all
of my sadness, my worries about my finances, my loneliness and my
depression
and pain, MEANT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT THIS VERY MOMENT!!! The severe
pain
that I had in my back was totally gone at this very moment!!!!! I was
shocked,
shocked beyond belief. I tried to get closer to the Cross and it now
has
a little fence around it because the owners don't want people tearing
anything
down in hysteria. But the closer I got to the cross, the more I
realized
that the CROSS WAS NOT IMPRINTED ON THE WINDOW. One is allowed to see
it
through the window, but it is as if "suspended in air." I then went up
to
the front of the mobile home. No one was allowed to come inside the
house.
I asked for the lady of the house and out came Maria de la Concepcion
Aceves,
another owner of the mobile home (Jesus's mother) who lives there. I
identified
myself and I kindly asked her in Spanish if she would "please" let me
in.
I just had to see the other side. I wanted to see what could be seen
from
the inside. Well, thank God, she let me in. As I walked into the house,
I
noticed there was an immense beautiful icon of Our Lord and a statue of
Our
Lady in their living room. As she led me into the laundry room, which
is
the inside of the door where the cross is appearing, I WAS SHOCKED
AGAIN
TO SEE THAT THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING SEEN ON THE INSIDE OF THE
HOUSE
DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS THAT LOOKED LIKE A CROSS; JUST A TYPICAL WINDOW.
THERE
WAS NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, VISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE. I snapped a
photo,
I touched the window. I examined the window, looked in between the
window
panes and there was absolutely NOTHING. Maria de la Concepcion told me
then
that after 7:00 p.m., she would let people into the house. She said
that
upon PUTTING OFF ALL OF THE LIGHTS ON THE INSIDE OF THE MOBILE HOME AND
THE
OUTSIDE, ONE CAN SEE THE CROSS START TO APPEAR FROM THE INSIDE OF THE
MOBILE
HOME.
And so, I waited and waited until 7:00 p.m, but at this point, someone
started
to scream outside of the house telling everyone that other "crosses"
were
starting to appear on Emerald Street and Dillon Avenue in the town of
Indio,
and so I decided to drive out there to see that was going on. Michael
Brown,
as I walked up to these streets, there were many people going from
house
to house. All of the owners of the homes close by were welcoming anyone
and
everyone to see what had happened in their homes also. These are humble
Mexican
and Mexican-American people who have always had statues of Our Blessed
Mother
in their front yards and purchased their older homes back in the 1970s
(as
you can see from the pictures). Their miracles also appeared on Ash
Wednesday
and sure enough, the crosses are there on their windows, but SMALLER
THAN
THE CROSS IN THERMAL.
Everyone is asking why Indio? Why Thermal? What does all of this mean?
After
a few hours, I drove back to Thermal, and there was a line of over 125
people,
waiting to see the Cross appear on the inside of the Aceves home. I was
in
the middle of this line and it took me two hours to get into the Aceves
home.
When I finally went in (remember, I had already seen that there was
nothing
to see from the inside during the day when Mrs. Aceves allowed me into
the
home) all of the lights were off and people inside were praying the
Rosary.
When I walked into the laundry room at night, THERE IT WAS, A HUGE
CROSS,
and so I decided to put my forehead on the window of the door/from the
inside)
to see what I could see. MICHAEL BROWN, I COULD SEE "ANOTHER DIMENSION"
WITH
THE CROSS SUSPENDED IN SPACE AND THE BOTTOM OF THE CROSS SEEMED TO BE
GOING
IN ETERNAL DIRECTIONS ON ALL ENDS. IT WAS SOMETHING I WILL NEVER EVER
FORGET
IN MY LIFETIME. IT WAS AS IF THE CROSS WERE LOCATED IN "ANOTHER WORLD"
THAT
WAS NOT THE EARTH AND THAT WE WERE BEING ALLOWED TO SEE THIS INCREDIBLE
MIRACLE.
I don't know how else to explain it.
My husband Sergio accompanied me to see the cross one week later and
says
that the window has been designated to be "a window to allow our eyes
to
see the GIFT OF THE CROSS." He feels that there is no apparent obvious
illusion
or trickery being used. He says that if someone can prove that a light
bulb
can actually produce a cross like that, then "I want the patent to
that"
because no regular light bulb can do that. He says that it would take
thousands
of dollars in laser light and computers to even think of coming close
to
achieving the effect of the cross that is on that mobile home. The only
thing
that the Aceves family has on in the day is a regular 50-watt light
bulb,
like they have always had before the apparition.
The following weekend, my husband and I went back again and after
viewing it from the inside again, someone took a picture from the
outside and you were able to see the cross from the inside, white. On
seeing it from the outside,
when people were taking pictures, as soon as the camera "flashed" the
cross
would turn RED or GREEN, or BLUE AND EVEN WHITE.
YOUR SISTER IN CHRIST,
CHRISTINE C. GOMEZ
FROM THE MAILBAG: WRITER SAYS 'CROSSES OF LIGHT' CAN NOT BE TRICK OF
REFLECTION
Are the crosses of light mysteriously appearing in Southern
California for
real -- or, as one physicist suggests, just a light refraction? [see
previous story] http://www.spiritdaily.com/INDIO.HTM We asked a
correspondent, Christine Gomez of California, to give us more details,
and
after an Easter visit to the area of Thermal, where the phenomena
allegedly
take place, she filed this new report:
Michael, I hope you and your family had a beautiful Easter Sunday, I
certainly did. My sister Ophelia came down and we both went up to
Thermal
on Good Friday to see the Cross of Light. When we arrived in the
evening,
there were over 125 people walking the Stations of the Cross on the
premises
of the Aceves family. It was very very humble and someone was carrying
a
very huge old wooden Cross for the Stations of the Cross. People were
praying and my sister and I walked up to the apparition site. On this
evening, the cross looked much, much brighter, it looked like snow,
PURE
WHITE snow, it was much more beautiful. It no longer looked gold.
Michael, this is also to let you know that on Saturday when my sister
and
I
did not attend, there was a gentleman who saw Our Blessed Mother
hugging the
cross of light and another gentleman who saw Christ himself with the
crown
of thorns on the cross of light itself. Supposedly this gentleman let
out
a
scream and then cried and cried and cried. He was hysterical. Several
people were also permitted to see this on Saturday night. A woman took
her
paralyzed little girl over to the apparition site and her little girl
got
up
from her wheelchair and started to walk. Her mother immediately
fainted.
My sister and I were told of these events today, Easter Sunday, on our
way
home from visiting our family in Indio. Michael, we also went to visit
the
other Crosses of Light in Indio on Good Friday after we went to
Thermal. I
was very touched because we were allowed into the home of Mrs. Olivia
Rodriguez, age 56. She has been a servant of the Catholic Church for 25
years along with her husband. They handle retreats for the Catholic
Church.
TWO CROSSES OF LIGHT HAVE APPEARED IN HER HOME. IN THIS VERY SPECIAL
HOME
SHE TAKES CARE OF HER ELDERLY MOTHER AND HER ELDERLY MOTHER'S SISTER
WHO
IS
A RETIRED NUN FROM MEXICO CITY. THESE OLDER LADIES ARE IN THEIR LATE
70s
OR
EARLY 80s.
I was very privileged to meet them and to go inside their home on
Good
Friday. Their entire home is a shrine to Our Lord and Savior. You
should
see the bedroom of the little old ladies, it is also an altar to Our
Lord
(yes, inside the home). Mrs. Olivia Rodriguez is a very special woman
and
a
wonderful daughter. On Easter Sunday the cross was still there and
there
were several very humble Catholic women (Mexican immigrants) who were
going
to do a vigil. They are going to pray because they are asking God for
the
favor that the cross stay there permanently as a sign for all to see.
Michael, I hope that this information helps you greatly in your
investigations. Also, I forgot to tell you that in one of the other
homes,
a
second cross has also appeared on the window; one is GOLD, the other
one
is
DEEP RED. (Yes, I'm sure this is light refraction to all of the
unbelievers
too!....and so is the appearance of our Lord and Savior). Anyway, my
sister
Ophelia TOOK SEVERAL PICTURES GOOD FRIDAY. SHE IS VERY TIRED TONIGHT
BUT
SHE IS GETTING THEM DEVELOPED TOMORROW AND WILL IMMEDIATELY E-MAIL THEM
TO
ME. GOD BLESS YOU MICHAEL.
YOUR SISTER IN CHRIST,
CHRISTY GO , ifornia
P.S. How does the physicist explain that the crosses all appeared on
Ash
Wednesday in all of those houses in Indio? How does he explain light
refraction making a perfect cross and 100 crosses within a cross with a
perfect (host-like) circle surrounding the entire cross? How does he
account
for the vision of the cross when there is absolutely no light in the
pitch
darkness? How does he explain that none of those houses had crosses
since
they were bought 20 years ago and more than 20 years ago? How does he
explain the fact that not all houses get the cross? So then light
refraction only applies in 10-plus houses in an entire city's windows
and
a
little bit of light "refraction" in the crosses that are appearing in
some
houses all over the country? So then the law of light refraction
doesn't
apply to anyone else unless you've had a house for more than 20 years?
How
about the weeping statues all over the country, the ones weeping blood
and
the ones oozing oil? What kind of refraction is that?
