'Jesus image' has Flats in tizz
2005-03-22 22:49
Cape Town - Lavender Hill residents were in a state on Tuesday about images of "Jesus dying on the cross" that had appeared on a window in a block of flats over the long weekend.
Believers and non-believers alike are streaming to Janie Petersen's home on the Cape Flats to see the phenomenon, but so far only Lavender Hill residents have been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it.
"It is a sign of God that our days on earth are numbered and that he has come to fetch the faithful," says Petersen's daughter, 18-year-old Remona.
Remona apparently saw the image for the first time about 21:00 on Saturday.
"I was putting away the mop in the bathroom after cleaning up something. Something inside me told me to look up."
"I saw a bright light at the right-hand window, which was closed. The bathroom light was switched off.
'On top of the clouds'
"I had to look again to make it out. Then, I saw an image of Jesus hanging on the cross on top of the clouds."
Residents, who are arriving "in their hundreds" to see the image, just can't stop talking about it.
Belinda Mutala, who also lives in the block of flats, said: "My hair stood on end and I felt shivers all over my body."
Another resident, a Muslim woman who wanted to remain anonymous, said she thought her family had gone crazy when they told her about it.
"I believe it is a sign. The bright light means it is a glad tiding."
Another resident, who also asked to remain anonymous, said: "We can't explain it, but one is shocked out of one's faith.
"My whole body trembled. I was so filled with different emotions that I burst into tears."
Remona said the light streaming from the window was so overwhelming that it iwa easy to spot. "You don't need glasses to see it."
She described the image as that of Jesus on the cross. "It is a sad-looking Jesus on the cross, with his hands and feet nailed to the wood. The picture has a ring around it.
Image has appeared only twice
"On Monday, the Jesus image was surrounded by six angels."
By late on Tuesday, the image had appeared only twice: on Saturday and on Monday. It appeared between 20:00 and 24:00.
Remona said: "Many people have died here recently. People who don't believe that God died for their sins on the cross, can now see it and experience it."
A decade-old toasted cheese sandwich said to bear an image of the Virgin Mary has recently sold on the eBay auction website for $28 000.