People stunned by ‘miracle’ caught on camera as Virgin Mary statue ‘blinks’

The statue is over 75 years old.

The alleged miracle happened on Friday at the Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Canton, Ohio, where the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima - commissioned more than 75 years ago - was on display.

Some photographs of the event, taken by worshippers in the church at the time, have been released.

The iconic statue has visited more than 100 countries, including Russia and China, and is believed to be the closest likeness of a documented apparition of Mary in 1917 - said to be 'worthy of belief' by the Catholic Church.

Many who have visited the statue have since claimed they've witnessed medical miracles, including a young boy some believe was cured of malaria. 

A report from 2017 claimed that a father and son in south Vietnam travelled to visit the statue while it was on a visit to their area.

The father presented his sick son to the statue, and claimed afterward that his boy 'ended up recovering.'

Katie Moran, a Canton local and the president of the World Apostolate of Fatima USA, posted one of the photographs of the 'blinking' statue to social media, and described witnessing the event to Fox 8 News.

"According to theologians, mystically her presence is there with the statue," she said.

"I took it (the photgraph) and thought, 'that’s really nice'.

"I took one more to be sure and when I looked at it, the eyes were closed," she continued.  

"I knew it was a miracle because I’d been looking at her all morning," said Connie Liptak, who also witnessed the phenomena. "They’re really closed. I mean, you can really see her lashes are down."

The sculpture was commissioned in 1947 following specifications of Venerable Sister Lucia, one of three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, who reported seeing apparitions of Jesus’s mother Mary in 1917, revealing secrets of hell and prophecies of war and the need for mankind to stop offending God.

There was also “the miracle of the sun,” which they say was foretold by Mary and witnessed by 70,000 people and reported in newspapers at that time.

Katie Moran has worked in the past to bring other versions of the statue to the state of Ohio. She says the “international” statue is different and special in many ways. 

The sculpture is believed to be the closest likeness of who the children of Fatima saw and was blessed by the bishop of Fatima and Venerable Pope Pius 12th.

It’s been traveling ever since and they say reports of healings and miracles follow her wherever she goes — from cancer to infertility.