Weeping Women (ATOM Study Guide)

This study guide to accompany Weeping Women, a documentary by CM Film Productions, has been written for secondary students. It provides information and suggestions for learning activities in Religion and English.

Weeping Women was written by Sarah Rossetti with additional narration written by Barrie Pattison and Bridget Curran, and produced and directed by Carmelo Musca.

Weeping Women examines the phenomena of crying statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Syracuse in 1953, a plaster plaque of Mary shed human tears. Apparitions of Mary have transformed the small town of Medjugorje into a Mecca of religious devotion. A tiny statue of Mary in Civitavecchia, near Rome, wept tears of blood in 1995. The Weeping Madonna of Rockingham cried her first oily tears in 2002.

A miracle is defined as an extraordinary event caused by divine intervention, which exceeds the laws of nature. Religious miracles are regarded as divine messages from God to his followers. Despite the hundreds of statues of Mary that appear to be weeping, the Catholic Church has declared very few to be miracles. The devoted are not deterred by the findings of scientists, the reservations of the Catholic Church and the disdain of sceptics. Fervent believers flock to places where miracles have allegedly occurred. For the pilgrims, the message is that God is able to directly intervene in this world.Weeping Women documents the perspectives of spiritual guardians, clerics, believers, scientists and sceptics, compelling us to move beyond curiosity and doubt to consider why people need to believe in religious phenomena.