Thousands of Christian worshippers flock to see 'miracle' statue of the Virgin Mary after it begins to 'weep oil'

 

A statue of the Virgin Mary that locals say is weeping oily tears has attracted ‘thousands’ of believers to a small apartment in Israel.

Osama and Amira Khoury say 2,000 people have turned up at their apartment in Tarsiha, near the Lebanon border, since they first witnessed the “miracle” in their living room.

Mrs Khory says the statue – which still has an oily gleam - spoke to her, telling her to fear not, after she first discovered it covered in oil recently.

The couple say they bought the statue last year but have only recently noticed it crying. They claim that wiping the statue does nothing to remove the oily sheen.

Word of the phenomenon spread after the Khorys showed the oily tears to a neighbour last week, and faithful have already been lining up to pray and sing in front of the icon.

It is not the first time the mother of Jesus has been the subject of a bizarre spectacle. In 2009, hundreds queued night after night in Egypt after a 'mysterious' light hovering above a Cairo church was thought to represent the virgin mother.