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Vista resident feels called to bring others to prayer
By: RUTH MARVIN WEBSTER - Staff Writer | ∞
Rita Sweeting holds a potato that she recently found in a bag of potatoes that she bought, which she thinks resembles the Virgin Mary while in her Vista apartment on Thursday.
HAYNE PALMOUR IV Staff Photographer
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Rita Sweeting says she used to wonder why the Virgin Mary had chosen to appear to her, a single mother in Vista scraping by on less than $400 a month.
"I used to think they were just gifts for me," Sweeting, 48, said of her religious experiences, "but now I know I was meant to build a prayer chapel."
The most recent experience was on the evening of Jan. 28, she said, when she came home from the grocery store with a bag of potatoes. Pouring out a few onto the kitchen counter, she was instantly struck by one potato's similarity in shape to that of a Madonna cradling the baby Jesus. She thinks the likeness is startling.
"Americans are a very religious people, but they seem to be somewhat conflicted," said Dr. Lance Nelson, chairman of the theology department at the University of San Diego. "They have the scientific training that makes them skeptical (about seeing religious visions), but you also see a sort of nostalgia for intense religious experience."
Hinduism and Buddhism and other Asian religions have no central authority to question visionary experiences, said Nelson. So whether a vision is authentic or not is often left to the discretion of the believers. On the other hand: "When there is a central authority, like with the Catholic Church, they (church officials) often feel threatened if individuals have access to the sacred without going through the apparatus of the church."
"Marian apparition" is the name given to the event when an image of the Virgin Mary is seen by one person or more, usually Catholics. The best-known ones are named after the town in which they were reported, like Lourdes, France, and Fatima, Portugal.
The Catholic Church distinguishes between public and private revelations in its Catechism, which states that Catholics are free to believe in private apparitions without Church approval, so long as the apparition contains nothing that contravenes faith and morals.
Throughout the centuries, the Catholic Church has approved dozens of apparitions as genuine. But despite a huge increase in the number of reported Marian phenomena, the Church has approved very few recently. Do to so requires exhaustive and repeated investigation supervised by the local archbishop or bishop.
"We are always very cautious about private revelations and making them a public one. That would need a lot of investigation," said the Rev. Donald Coleman, pastor at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carlsbad. But if a parishioner came to him and reported seeing a vision, "I would never be quick to call in a psychiatrist. I'm as open to the other side as anyone. Who is to say they're not having a revelation?"
Sweeting believes her recent sightings of the Virgin Mary are calling her to bring others to prayer. "It's getting to the point now where it has given me courage," she said. "Almost every four months, I am given a vision in the form of the Virgin Mary, and this is not just a coincidence anymore. I feel like I'm being pulled from the inside to accomplish something."
Since finding the potato, Sweeting said she has been inspired to speak publicly about it and has begun her larger mission to build a prayer chapel in earnest, on donated land and with volunteer materials and skill.
"It would be nondenominational, just a small prayer chapel," she said, adding that an architect friend of hers has already drawn preliminary sketches, and the Catholic Charities Rosary Society has donated 100 plastic rosaries for the group.
To finance some of the costs, she says, she plans to sell copies of a clay relief of the Virgin and Child as well as the potato and perhaps a valuable Italian lithograph she owns.
In the meantime, she has started a rosary group at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Oceanside, where the pastor, Father Michael Ratajczak, she says, is the only priest who believes her when she tells him about her visions.
"It was the first time I felt reassured that I wasn't crazy," she said. "All the other priests didn't believe me. But Father Mike did tell me that at Fatima, no one else could see the vision."
Sweeting has also contacted Dr. Christian Sorensen at the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas about using the center's parking lot for a walk-and-pray group on Saturday mornings. "We'll be doing the first group on March 31. We will be meeting at the parking lot at 9:30 in the morning," she said.
Last July, Sweeting said, she saw a similar sight to the potato ---- a Madonna and child ---- when she glanced down at a piece of modeling clay she was holding in her hand. "It's always on the heart side," she said of the baby's image formed in the clay.
"I asked for a miracle and the next morning at 8:00, I got a telephone call that there was an apartment ready for us to move into." Without this stroke of good fortune, she said, she could have been out on the street, a misery she and her children had suffered in the past.
Born in Detroit, the seventh girl of 13 children, she went into foster care and was on her own at age 16 and began to pursue a modeling career, though she had no training. She did have some stage experience, having danced ballet and jazz and acted in school and church Christmas plays from the age of 8.
Her first modeling job was in San Diego at a Bullock's department store. By 19, she was modeling in San Francisco for I. Magnin. In New York she was chosen by scouts from Glamour Models who were looking for haute couture models for the upcoming season. She moved to Paris, modeling for some of the big designers, including Yves St. Laurent and Givenchy. She also lived in Rome for a time, modeling for Valentino. "I led a model's life and all that means," she said.
Through the years, she continued to have religious experiences, she said.
In 1992, Sweeting returned to San Diego ---- with two young sons and financial difficulties. Recently, she started working for the National Health & Wellness Bureau, booking health seminars for corporations. She also has a real estate license, but she has made hardly any money at that, she says.
Though she has had a hard time making ends meet, she says she is often rescued in the nick of time through divine providence. Like when her car was stolen ---- another that she liked better became available for just the right price at the right time. Or when her son Henry, who had Tourette's syndrome, stopped showing symptoms suddenly a year ago without medication.
Sweeting believes prayer is therapeutic, too, and recites the rosary many times each day. "Prayer has a quality that brings balance, because it is out of your hands and in God's hands," she said. "It isn't personal. We take it and let it go, and it moves mountains."
In the silence of the little prayer chapel at St. Thomas More, where Sweeting now prays frequently, her fingers deftly touch each bead as she recites the rosary in her rich, soulful voice.
"I (once) heard a voice saying to 'hold on the remembrance of joy.' That's nice, isn't it?" she whispered. "I want every person who has someone in the war, to send them this message. They are losing their hearts and suffering so bad over there. Send them this message: Hold onto the remembrance of joy. I feel it is going to give them the chance to hold onto their soul and keep them focused on God."
-- Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 740-3527 or rwebster@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.
Marian Apparitions and Religious Pareidolia
Is it unusual to have a religious vision, or to see the face of God in an everyday object?
"Religious visions happen all around the world in all religions," said Dr. Lance Nelson, chairman of the department of theology at the University of San Diego and an expert in Hinduism. "People, particularly in traditional cultures, have had this experience of seeing beyond the ordinary into the world of the spirit, however they understand it."
Whether one believes they are explainable physical phenomena, hoaxes or otherwordly messages, visions of the Virgin Mary in food pop up with some regularity. In March 2005, a Rold Gold Honey Mustard pretzel made the news when it was considered to resemble the Virgin Mary holding a baby Jesus. In another example, many people thought they saw the image of Mary's face on a grilled cheese sandwich that eventually sold for $28,000 in an eBay auction in 2004.
More recently and closer to home, an image in a wood panel that looked like a standing Virgin Mary was noticed by customers at a Souplantation restaurant in San Diego. And a new movie, "Tortilla Heaven," looks at the complications that ensue when people see the face of Jesus in a tortilla.
Science calls the perception of a certain image in other objects a pareidolia. Religious pareidolia often involves faces of religious figures and in many instances, images of Jesus or other Christian figures.
In the Muslim world, religious pareidolia are often perceived as religious text in Arabic, particularly the word "Allah" and verses from the Quran. In 1997, Nike recalled a line of basketball shoes because the flames on them, when looked at from right to left, as if reading Arabic, resembled the word for Allah.
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hv81n wrote on Mar 16, 2007 6:18 AM:I do believe that Our Blessed Mother is manifesting herself to many, most specially to laity because they believe. It is also a call from Heaven for all of us to come back to God, to reconcile with one another, to forgive and ask for forgiveness from those whom we had hurt so God will forgive us of our sins. C. Robinson
Sandy wrote on Mar 16, 2007 9:35 AM:Hi Sweetings, I hope you read this, I think you are being called to visit Medjugorje a small village in Bosnia. Please look into this. Our Lady is appearing there now as she did in Fatima, Lourde's and many other locations. There are many trips during the year, especially the month of May. I have family and friends going each year, they go in Mary. Our Mother is calling.
vicki wrote on Mar 16, 2007 9:48 AM:I think the blessed virgin can manifest herself to someone and she is calling us to go back to God. What burns me up is how the catholic church only approves what THEY think is right or is a miricle; priests are always saying pray and pray but when someone comes forth and says they saw the virgin they are crazy; If you read stories on how the children at fatima saw the virgin you will see how the church doubted them and even had them thrown in jail for telling such lies till the real miracle happened when all the people there witnessed something.
Robbie wrote on Mar 16, 2007 11:54 AM:rita, I too believe your potato kind of looks like the blessed mother. It is faith that lets you see the beauty of God in all things, even vegetables! You courage is a witness to God, because you are not afraid to speak from your heart with honour for His mother. Even if no one else believes this you will be blessed, It's OKay to step out on a limb for our brothers and sisters in Christ to be a fool for God anytime. Who knows maybe this is a test for you, from the "All Knowing", to see if you would be willing to do His work no matter what the cost is! Pray the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and the Way of the Cross over and over with all your heart and see what happens. Miracles do happen! Keep up the good work. May Our Lady bless you all with her loving child, Jesus!
Ali wrote on Mar 16, 2007 12:27 PM:Do I believe, yes, I believe. In 1965, on a farm in upstate NY...2 nieces and a nephew experienced an apparition of a women, we believe was the Blessed Mother. At the time they were 12, 9, and 7 years old..were playing, in the field, on their knees singing "silent night"....when a light appeared over a bush and a tiny women as bright as the sun, holding a wicker basket filled with red roses appeared. She was dress in a white dress and blue veil. She never spoke to them only smiled. They were very frighted, looked at each other ..got up and ran to tell their mother. When family members came out to look they saw nothing. Five years ago another niece in our family, was diagnosed with lung cancer...they told her she had 5 months to live and we knew we had to go back to the tree where the Blessed Mother appeared to pray the rosary, my niece has faithfully gone back from May 13, through Oct. 13, since her diagnosis, .....that was 5 years ago March 13, 2007. We believe we have witnessed a miracle...down from the "hawthorn tree" where She appeared is a well, and our niece has been drinking the water. We are also seeing images in pictures..so yes we believe. God Bless and keeping praying for peace.
Arlo wrote on Mar 16, 2007 1:59 PM:Our Lady has said she would come to everyone as to make them believe. Just the fact that this woman prays the rosary makes me believe she is seeing her. Vicki, the children of Fatima did not get thrown into jail because of the Church, the government did it. Our Lady asked the children to suffer much for poor sinners........we are to accept the suffering that Heaven allows, to save souls. Satan can come in many forms, and so the Church has to be cautious. We leave it in the hands of God.....if it is from Heaven, good will come out of it!!
Elsie wrote on Mar 16, 2007 3:45 PM:Good point, Arlo. In defense of the Catholic Church, I'd rather she error on the side of caution than fall prey to false "visions". In any case, the important part is not whether the image of the Virgin and Child is on the potato. It seems the important part of the message is to build a prayer chapel that honors Jesus and Mary.
Danielle wrote on Mar 16, 2007 8:04 PM:The Church has to investigate be somewhwat of weary of apparitions because a false apparition can lead many faithful catholics astray. They are using prudence and usually decide on the case by looking at its fruits, good effects, a holy person to whom the apparition was shown, etc. The church was given authority by Christ himself and uses that authority in a prudent manner which gives glory to God. We shall all know the truth someday and not be so impatient about knowing everything right this second. Pray, go to mass, and to confession. These things are what it takes to get to heaven, not signs and miracles and false prophets.
Randy wrote on Mar 17, 2007 4:30 AM:Anyone who believes such patent nonsense needs to have their head examined! This strains the credibility of true religion.
Anita wrote on Mar 17, 2007 4:31 AM:I do believe that the Lord can cause a manifestation of His Mother to anyone He chooses to. A very close friend of mine had seen the Blessed virgin many times. Every manifestation is not for the whole world but is most times for the person it happens to, as with my friend. God is gracious and good and wants to encourage His children, especially in times of trouble.
Mary wrote on Mar 17, 2007 10:28 AM:If one is gullible enough, that person will envision whatever they wish.
Do Some Research wrote on Mar 17, 2007 4:18 PM:Anyone interested in Marian Apparitions should see the DVD "Messages from Heaven," ...
to Danielle wrote on Mar 17, 2007 4:41 PM:You wrote "Pray, go to mass, and to confession. These things are what it takes to get to heaven.." You might want to use the bible for some cross-reference against what you learned in catechism. First of all, only God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit)is worthy of praise and worship, but it is a common Catholic practice to pray to Mary, as if she were divine. The bible calls her blessed among women, but she is never exalted to the level of being worthy of worship. Even she saw her need for a savior, who was Jesus. So, believers need to be careful to whom prayer is directed. Secondly, you mentionned mass and confession as requirements for salvation. Mass & confession as the Catholic church requires it are laws made by men. It is faith alone that saves. See Galatians 3:6-27. Not that group worship & personal confession aren't important parts of living out that faith, but God wants us to believe in his son and receive the gift of salvation that was so costly.
elsie wrote on Mar 17, 2007 8:29 PM:to you who wrote to Danielle; it may also serve you well to cross reference the Bible with the Catechism in order to gain a deeper understanding of the Catholic Faith...after all, there would'nt even be a Bible to refer to if it weren't for the early Christian Church (ie; Roman converts) No where in the Bible does it tell us that all we need to do is read the Bible to be saved; it does however tell us that the "church" (that is the newly formed Roman Catholic Church with the Apostle Peter as it's first Bishop) is the "pillar and foundation of the truth". Check out the book, "Answer Me This" by Patrick Madrid, a protestant convert to Catholicism, for answers to the other questions you raised re: the Catholic faith...may God bless you and bring clarity to your good intentions...
Juan wrote on Mar 17, 2007 11:23 PM:Organized religion is so divisive. Reading all the proselytizing going on over a deformed potato seems mundane. The epitome of pride comes from those who claim to know what God wants by citing the words of others.
rita wrote on Mar 18, 2007 12:58 AM:Thank you everyone for your comments on this article. Please do not argue about religion as it is not anyone's faith at stake nor any church in question, the image of Mary and Child is a gift to render thoughtful all who will see and give hope and rest to those who seek quiet reassurance of the real presence of Our Lady here on earth. Please allow me to put you at peace that this is not a hoax and not only I have recognized the Virgin and Child in this simple potato;Chistian, Catholic or none such. Actually almost all who look at it. Pray for clarity in your hearts and minds as it is none other than for Love that we receive gifts and we all receive gifts... Thank you for your prayers and good wishes for the construction of the prayer chapel and courage to go forward with humour, love and down to earth spirituality and grace. May God send all a gift of such sweetness...pray the rosary and in all circumstances, be positive, loving and prayful with generous disposition towards other ideas and understandings. I will pray for you all and ... just pray,ask Mary for vision and God for faith as well as his beautiful son Jesus for patience and listening hearts. All will be accomplished in it's time.
Lucy wrote on Mar 18, 2007 4:11 AM:I do believe. Please do contine to pray the rosary and keep your faith.
P wrote on Mar 19, 2007 10:51 AM:1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Can anyone say mashed potatoes and gravy?
To Elsie wrote on Mar 19, 2007 12:53 PM:In response to your response to my response to Danielle...where you wrote "No where in the Bible does it tell us that all we need to do is read the Bible to be saved." I fully agree with that statement. I thought I made it clear that it is faith in God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) that saves, not just reading the bible. Can a Catholic disagree with 2 Timothy 3:16, where Paul writes "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness"? Christ's own words still cut us straight to the heart when he says "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies", in John 11. My point was that sinners are redeemed through Jesus's blood, not through compliance with Catholic policies & procedures (aka dogma.) Peace to you, Charlotte
James wrote on Mar 20, 2007 11:27 PM:A potato is a potato. If one looked long enough, and wanted to, they could eventually find one resembling Jimmy Hoffa or Elvis!
rita wrote on Mar 23, 2007 3:09 PM:HI Hoffa fan I love your comment... I laughed a lot.. You know if you want to see the potato perhaps you can through the times or I will show it somewherem my email is in the paper article of last week, Everyone almost everyone sees the Virgin and child immediatly even if they are not Catholic... But some times even a nun does not see it though she only saw the photo too. Any way who cares who sees it, since I see it and a lot of people do too. I like your funny comment anyway as what the who fun is fun in all cases! Keep your funny side and pray anyway since it is all about prayer and Love, Love, Love... Love to you James...:) rita
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