Lately, it seems the Mother of God is making more public appearances, in more unexpected places, than Angelina Jolie.

So perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised at this item in a paper from Reading, Pennsylvania:

They came — to an alley behind the nondenominational Church of Broken Pieces — armed with faith and hoping to see the mother of God.

Some in the crowd of 250 clutched rosary beads and whispered the prayer “Hail Mary, full of grace ….”

In silence, the crowd stood transfixed in front of an ordinary garage door.

An apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, had reportedly appeared several times on the garage door in recent days.

Hundreds had seen the ghostly white shadow that surrounded the outline of a woman in blue, flowing robes.

“It was so clear on Sunday,” insisted Martha Wasser, 73, of Minersville. “I saw the Blessed Mother on that garage door.”

Wasser thought it providential that the day before she saw the apparition she received a photograph of the Blessed Mother in the mail. It came from a group supporting Our Lady of Fatima, the name given Mary when she was said to have appeared to children in Portugal in 1917.

“The letter said there could be a miracle in your house,” said Wasser, who clutched a rosary and wore an Our Lady of Fatima medal around her neck. “Well, it happened on my street, that’s close enough.”

The Rev. Eric J. Gruber, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Minersville, said the Allentown Diocese is aware of the vision’s appearances but plans no investigation.

Gruber, who has had inquiries from some of his parishioners, has not visited the site.

“It’s great that people respond with faith,” he said, “while others are more skeptical.”

You can read more at the link, and see more pictures, along with a video. Count me among the skeptics.

Photo: by Ben Hasty, Reading Eagle