Posted on 12/10/2009 8:41:12 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Melrose - Wendy Golini has a reputation as boisterous conversationalist, a reputation well known to the customers at her Cedar Perk restaurant on West Emerson Street in Melrose, but when she recently saw an image of Mother Teresa on her cutting board at the restaurant, Golini said she only shared it with a few friends.
“I don’t want to be the crazy lady who saw something,” she told the Free Press, laughing.
The morning the image appeared, Golini said she’d been praying, particularly imploring Mother Teresa for help with tribulations relating to Golini and her friends and family. Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun who died in 1997, spent her life ministering to the destitute, particularly in the slums of Calcutta, India where she founded the Missionaries of Charity.
Golini said she then looked down and saw the image in the cutting board, and stood and stared — “Like I was afraid to move” — and began to cry, drawing the attention of others in the restaurant who were similarly taken aback by the image.
Golini then decided to post a photo of the image on her personal Facebook account, which is set to private and only visible to her friends. From there, “it started to snowball,” she said, with word spreading quickly, leading to e-mail inquiries from the press. News reports of a Methuen woman who recently said an image of Jesus appeared on her iron only exacerbated questions directed towards Golini, she said.
Curiosity about Golini’s image culminated when a television crew from WCVB-TV News appeared at Cedar Perk last week to interview her.
“All of a sudden at 11 a.m. [last Tuesday, Dec. 2] there’s news cameras here,” she said, laughing. “I went home and put on some eye shadow.”
Golini said she agreed to the interview and segment on WCVB because “when I thought it was going to get away from me, I took a little control and just put it out there.
“I’m not asking anybody to believe anything,” she continued. “I just wanted to share the experience, so if there was one other person who felt the way I did that day and who wasn’t as strong or was about to lose their faith … well, I’ve gotten that.”
The cutting board is now displayed on a stand at Cedar Perk for people to see, and people are continuing to drop in to see it. However, Cedar Perk hasn’t gotten much busier, Golini said, nor have religious devotees flocked to the restaurant.
Is Golini concerned that some are accusing her of engineering this simply as a publicity stunt?
Golini replied that she found that idea “funny,” particularly in light of her now-public plans to sell Cedar Perk in January and move into a new, non-restaurant business, while working on her long-held dream of starting a non-profit focused on child advocacy.
“For every snicker or smile I might see … I don’t care — as long as some people got something out of it,” she said. “I know that nobody likes to be outside of their religious or spiritual comfort zone. Nobody likes it to be pushed. I was forced outside of my comfort zone, but it’s about comfort. If this brings one person comfort, it’s worth it. It’s OK if I’m uncomfortable.”
“I was trying to get out quietly,” Golini said. “I’m not driving this; I’m letting it drive itself.”
The cutting board is now displayed on a stand at Cedar Perk for people to see, and people are continuing to drop in to see it. However, Cedar Perk hasn’t gotten much busier, Golini said, nor have religious devotees flocked to the restaurant.
Related thread:
Mother Teresa, the Nun Bun
FESTIVAL OF APPARITIONS:
Pretzel Madonna
Funyun Madonna
Chocolate Madonna
Agate Stone Madonna
Tree stump Madonna
Madonna inside a bar of soap
Madonna in a Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Madonna in a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, part 2
Madonna in a Grill
Madonna in a Steam Iron
Madonna in a Beach Pebble
Madonna in a football-sized rock
Madonna the Kudzu vine
Madonna in a Road Overpass Water Stain
Madonna in a Road Overpass Water Stain, part 2
Madonna on a Hospital Window, fading from view
Madonna on a Samoan church wall, promoting safe driving
Madonna on a Samoan church wall, promoting safe driving warning of an earthquake
Madonna and Jesus in Pancake
God in a Salami
Cross on a cow
Cross on an egg
Cheetos Jesus
Jesus on a Consecrated Wafer, at a Hospital Chapel
Jesus on a Laundry Room Door
Jesus in a Holy Land photo
Jesus in a Hospital Window
Jesus on a foggy truck window
Jesus in an MRI
Jesus on a Hillside
Jesus the Kudzu vine
Jesus in a Ukraine factory wall stain
Jesus in a Seat Cushion
Jesus on the bottom of a Steam Iron, pt 1
Jesus on the bottom of a Steam Iron, pt 2
Jesus on a Bathroom Door
Jesus on a Toilet Seat's Bumper Sticker
Mother Teresa, the Nun Bun
Mother Teresa on a coffee shop cutting board
Top five unexpected appearances of Jesus [Christ on a pancake, a Kit-Kat, a dog's bottom, and more!]
Make your own "Holy Toast"
Looks more like that girl from the movie “Beetlejuice” to me...
SnakeDoc
Too late!
Good grief, this day is going batty.
First there was the chicken who laid an egg with a cross imprinted on the end, then the lady with the fuzzy photo of a bloody Jesus in Jerusalem, now Mother Teresa on a cutting board.
Not to mention the lunacy in Copenhagen and Oslo.
It may be time to shut off the computer.
EXACTLY!
Winona Rider.
I could not recall her name until I saw the picture you posted.
EH lol
This supposed “miracle” wouldn’t be acknowledged as such by the Catholic Church. For that there must be solid proof that no reasonable alternative explanation could be made. These scratches, for one, barely even resemble a face, let along St. Therese of Calcutta. Nice that the woman’s faith was affirmed, but the only reason for anyone to focus on this is to ridicule what is clearly the woman’s wishful thinking.
Here’s one of Jesus.
Never mind. I see you already have it.
Is that a smirk?!
I think this is pretty much idolatry as Christ and the saints won’t appear on cutting boards, doors, or toast, but only in people’s hearts.
Not to be disrespectful here......but that cutting board is in terrible need to some ‘Clorox Cleanup’. Eeeek!
That people seem to be sufficiently overwrought (or something) to the extent that they "see" Jesus, or Mary, or some other person/being associated with Christianity in everything from Cheetos to exterior building walls I don't deny. But what is the point to posting these silly things on FR, Alex?
There are large numbers of religious "seekers" who lurk on this forum. This sort of thing, combined with the snarkiness and ambush-tactics we throw at each other while "discussing" our differnt theological views, can hardly further the Christian cause in their minds. We don't always acquit ourselves very well with our argumentativeness as it is, but at least that is the result of our common zeal for furthering our "positive" beliefs in the midst of honest (usually) disagreement. This sort of thing, however, is just childish, and serves no useful purpose whatsoever.
I respectfully disagree with your opinion that apparitions cannot happen, or that they are idolatry. But most of the time, they are not real. Occasionally, apparitions have happened and have solid, compelling evidence to support their reality. A good book on this topic is “The Miracle Detective.” Highly recommended for both skeptics and believers — the author is neutral at best, probably leaning more in the direction of skeptic, as a Rolling Stone reporter.
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