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An uncanny likeness of the Virgin Mary formed into the bark of a Scarborough tree has left dumbfounded residents wondering if their neighbourhood has been divinely blessed.Some have even been brought to tears by the surreal Mary in the tree."I don't know why it's there, but I think it's a blessing," said Christopher Moreau, 47, who discovered the tree-bound Mary last week. "It raises the hair on your neck, it gives you chills."It was after work and Moreau had just opened a beer in the backyard of his Danforth and Birchmount Rds.-area home when he noticed the familiar image of the Virgin, her arms outstretched, in his neighbour's tree."I'm not a wacko," Moreau said yesterday, adding he was stone-cold sober.Moreau, an 18-year superintendent of a downtown condo building, said he did a double-take."At first I thought I was seeing things," he said. "Then I went and got my mother-in-law to tell her. She was overwhelmed by it. She was crying."What's more, Moreau's mom-in-law, who is in her 70s and lives with the Moreaus, last week received test results showing that her lymph node cancer appears to have been cleared.As well, Moreau claims several of his neighbours who have seen the tree also say they have been profoundly affected by it."Some of the neighbours ... just started shaking," he said.Moreau said he doesn't want a lineup of thousands of gawkers coming to visit the tree. However, he said he hoped the tree could possibly help those who are ill or in need of a potential miracle."She's not there just for me," Moreau said. "She's there to share."Neil MacCarthy, of the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, said the church generally doesn't play a role in investigating or "authenticating" such claims to determine if they are in fact a sign from God."If it causes the individual or people seeing it to reflect on their faith then that's not a bad thing, that's something positive," MacCarthy said. "In terms of authenticating it, that's not something we would generally do."It's better to keep an open mind about such things, MacCarthy said."We have to careful about saying too specifically what they are," MacCarthy said. "People interpret these things in different ways."For Moreau, who was raised Catholic, the Mary incarnation "strengthens" his faith, he said. But despite the inspiration, Moreau said he won't be attending Mass more oftern. He said he disagrees with the Catholic church's emphasis on collecting money from churchgoers-and questioned why the Vatican is so rich when poverty is rampant."Why do I need to go to church?" Moreau added. "I feel that God has come to me."By BRETT CLARKSON, SUN MEDIA
As in the days of Noah...
