NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A steady stream of people gathered Friday morning in the rain at the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to witness what some believe is an image of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus.
"It's her. It's amazing," said Zumma Canedo of North Providence.
Canedo, a native of Bolivia, said she had prayed the rosary while standing in the rain outside the church on Mineral Spring Avenue. "She's saying something," Canedo said.
A darker profile, interpreted by believers as that of the Virgin Mary, can be seen against the grey copper cross atop the church. Bystanders remarked that the profile did not fade despite the pouring rain.
Traffic backed up on the busy road, disrupting a funeral procession that was leaving the church at 11:30 a.m.
Carolyn Andreozzi, also of North Providence, said she was having her nails done around the corner when she heard of the sighting on the church steeple and decided to walk over.
Asked if she believed it was Mary as she headed to the church, Andreozzi said: "We need a miracle the way this country is going, the turmoil that we are in. Absolutely, I believe."
On her return, through the Walgreens parking lot a block up across the street, Andreozzi said: "I would have liked a more definite (sign), but I believe she is there."
Shortly after noon, a crowd lined up by a Channel 12 cameraman, waiting to look through the camera after he finished his report.
Brian Dowling, associate director at The Steel Yard, a nonprofit community arts program in Providence, said the discoloration is likely a chemical reaction.
"Like patina," Dowling said referring to the tarnish that forms on copper from oxidation and other chemical reactions. Copper, Dowling said, yields a wide spectrum of colors, from greens to browns to reds.
Parish officials had no immediate comment.
-- With reports from Journal staff writer Tom Mooney and Journal photographer Sandor Bodo