---

AP, via the Boston Globe, USA
Jan. 19, 2006
www.boston.com

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 13301 • Posted: Friday January 20, 2006  

---

Maine woman to protect Madonna image

MEXICO, Maine –A Maine woman who discovered an image of the Virgin Mary on a blackened wall following a weekend house fire says she plans to rebuild the dwelling and cut out the image so she can put it on display.

The image was declared off-limits to visitors after Veronica Dennis followed her insurance company’s instruction to board up the house out of concern for the safety of people entering the fire-damaged structure.

Dennis’ home caught fire Sunday morning after a space heater in her daughter’s bedroom ignited a bed and a nearby dog bed. The image was revealed when she removed a framed painting from the kitchen wall, which was blackened by smoke and fire.

Dennis expressed concern that visitors looking to view the Virgin Mary image could turn her home “into a three-ring circus” and she was adamant that she has no intention of selling the property she has owned for 11 years.

“This is my house,” she said. “My neighbors wouldn’t appreciate it either if I sold the house and they turned it into a shrine. I will rebuild the interior, and, the image that’s on the wall is on paneling, so I will cut it out, and it will remain in the house,” she said.

Police and neighbors who have been keeping watch on the Burton Street home said they saw no unusual activity after news of the image spread through the media, including The Associated Press, which transmitted a Sun Journal newspaper photo around the world.

“This neighborhood’s good at watching, and, I told (Dennis) I would keep an eye on the place,” said Marlene Gile, who lives next door.

Gile said viewing the image led her to believe that it could be message from a higher being.

“I just believe that God’s letting her know that she’s not alone. It means things will get better, and, like I told her, things will get better,” Gile said.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Offbeat News Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Offbeat News Read Another Article Previous entry: Tape Attributed to Bin Laden Warns of New Attacks in U.S. Next entry: LDS church might press strip club battle RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Offbeat News Most Popular Today Megachurch founding pastors Randy and Paula White to seek divorce Randy and Paula White: Divorce shakes evangelical empire Evangelist Bynum attacked by husband in parking lot Jane Doe in Warren Jeffs case no longer seeks anonymity, shows photo The End of the World Cult: Michael Travesser Well-Known TV Minister Juanita Bynum Told Police Husband Savagely Beat Her Escape from polygamy: Ex-plural wife alleges rampant abuse in FLDS unions Televangelist Joel Osteen shuns lavish lifestyle Juanita Bynum, Thomas Weeks willing to reconcile? A church accounting: Joyce Meyer’s $23,000 toilet, Scientology, and more…

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.