Catholic family from Jesup, Georgia is blessed with the image of the Virgin Mary in a window

June 18, 11:02 PMDenver Roman Catholic ExaminerTheresa Navarra

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Debbie Sapp of Jesup, Georgia with the image of theVirgin Mary

What would you do if the image of the Virgin Mary appeared on one of your windows? The Sapp family in Jesup, Georgia has been keeping what they believe is a miracle in a backroom for about 3 years, where it is the focal point of a small homemade shrine for the Blessed Virgin Mary. To protect the double-pane garage window from damage, the decision was made to bring the window inside. Roses, candles, and a purple crushed-velvet backdrop complete the special atmosphere that theSapps have created in honor of Our Lady.

Gregory Sapp recounted that a rock was thrown by a lawnmower that cracked the window several years ago, and then as some time passed, the window came to have an image in it, recognized as the Virgin Mary by the Sapp family, the landscaper, and several others who have viewed the window. Deborah Sapp considers the forming of the image on their window a miracle. According to Gregory Sapp "the image is unmistakable, it is perfect." He added that "The lady, Dora, who helps to clean the backroom, and our home, cannot speak about the image in the window without crying and tugging at her heart."

The Sapp family members are parishioners at St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Mr. Sapp has been a Catholic his whole life, although Mrs. Sapp just converted to Catholicism about a year ago. The couple invited Father Keith O'Neill for dinner one evening and asked him to take a look at the image in their window. He said that it is a "phenomena". Sapp has not yet contacted the archdiocese, and it was not until last week that he gave an interview for the Times-Union News here: http://tinyurl.com/virginmaryimage

Understandably, there has been no rush to get the word out about their special blessing, when there have been others who claim that the image of the Virgin Mary has appeared in bizzare places such as toast and a peanut can.

However, people who have seen or heard about the image in the window urged the Sapps to share the image of the Virgin Mary rather than keep it to themselves. Finally in October 2008, Sapp began working on a website to make the image available for public viewing by way of the internet with the desire that in all they do, God might be glorified. "The window is truly miraculous, it can call forth faith in people," stated Mr. Sapp. The website is still being worked on to some degree, but it is up, and several photos of the image can be freely viewed here: www.virginmarywindow.com

There are also a streaming video feed, roses, and candles available for a fee. Mr. Sapp has informed me that if they happen to receive a substantial amount of money from the video viewing, they will be using those proceeds to help others in some way. One possibility that he has on his heart, that I find intriguing, is his desire to assist with improving the water situation in Africa, even if that means digging wells.

Catholics do not worship anyone but God. Our Blessed Mother Mary is worthy of honor, and when we venerate her, we are giving glory to our Creator. That is based on our Catechism of the Catholic Church and Holy Scripture. As Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong has explained in (insert C-2) "Do Catholics Worship Saints?", "Are we somehow denying God the honor due him when we honor his saints? By no means! They are his perfected handiwork (see Eph 2:10) --and when we praise the craftsmanship, all the accolades go to the Craftsman. If even "the heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft" (Ps 19:2), how much more so do human beings who have been perfected in wisdom and justice, who "shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, And...shall be like the stars forever" (Dn 12:3)?"

Catholics do not pray to pictures or statues, or images of saints, either. Many Catholics do pray in front of statues, but this is exactly like somebody looking at a photo of a loved one. The feelings and attachment one has is not to the image, but to the actual person.

Believing in miracles such as apparitions of Mary is not a requirement of our Catholic faith. The Catholic Church has approved some of the Marian apparitions as genuine. Some people will believe and some are skeptical and refuse to believe the appearances of Mary for any number of reasons. Some people who are not Catholic believe and come to faith in Christ. Those who witness something miraculous tend to believe and have a passionate love for Our Blessed Mother, yet it should not be misunderstood or interpreted as worship.

 In our recent phone conversation, Gregory stated that he knows that "the image imparts grace." He added, "I have shown the window to only a few people and I have seen them all moved; the weak and the strong, the faithful and less faithful. This image is for everyone. I see it every day and I am awed and blessed every day."

This concludes part 1 in a series of several upcoming articles on The Blessed Virgin Mary; including apparitions, images and visions of Our Blessed Mother, the Sapp family and their Virgin Mary image window, and how the Holy Spirit is involved in some of these Marian occurrences.

 Another image of the Virgin Mary appearing in a window: