South Philadelphia Woman Finds Image of Jesus On Window Blinds
By Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Family and friends are the normal guests at New Year's Eve parties, but a South Philadelphia woman says her visitor that night was... Jesus.
Outside, it was a noisy celebration.
"Fireworks, kids -- you know how South Philly is on New Year's Eve."
Inside, Patty Maiellano couldn't sleep.
"As I was coming downstairs, I saw a figure on my vertical blinds, which were completely shut."
She did a double take, and turned on all the lights. Was someone peeking in? No, she says.
"That was Jesus that appeared on my verticals."
Silhouetted in the window blinds of her front room, a figure appears to have his hands clasped, perhaps in prayer.
Maiellano took pictures (see above).
Her sister, a skeptic, came over.
"When she saw Jesus on my verticals, she dropped to her knees," recalls Patty.
They looked outside: no reflections, and nothing else that could have caused it, she says.
Some neighbors have been coming over to pray.
But why her? Maiellano doesn't know, but says it's a sign that she should keep the faith:
"This is a complete miracle," she says.
People have claimed to have seen Jesus in a cheese puff, on burned toast, even on a Walmart receipt. Just a tiny number of apparitions are recognized by the Catholic Church, but Maiellano says she believes -- and hopes it means her personal struggles soon will be solved.
