Vision Quest : Thousands Flock to Site After Woman Says Virgin Mary Told Her to Erect Cross

SANTA MARIA —  The pilgrims began arriving not long after Carol Nole claimed that the Virgin Mary told her to build a cross on a hill directly in line with the back of the local Scolari’s supermarket.

At first, just Nole and a handful of people visited the hill and prayed there. But after Nole claimed that she heard 26 more messages from the Virgin Mary--giving even more details about the cross and how it should be built--people began visiting the hill from all over California.

The area, a desolate stretch of pastureland north of Santa Maria, has become so crowded on weekends that owners of the property have posted “No Trespassing” signs. Caltrans has prohibited parking along the highway near the hill. Still, the furor over the messages has not abated.

Today, three years after Nole reported receiving her first message, crowds continue to visit the area. They now flock to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Nipomo, a few miles from the hill, and pray that they will be able to buy the land and build a 75-foot cross. Others visit the church because they are sick and hope to be healed; some just want to attend services in a spot where, they believe, a miracle has occurred.

Skeptics abound, with the most doubting asking how the Virgin Mary is so knowledgeable about temporal matters--such as the location of a Scolari’s market.

“You’ve got to wonder why the Virgin Mary’s dealing in such trivia,” said Gerald Larue, professor emeritus of religion at USC. “If she’s finally going to speak to someone, why doesn’t she say anything more profound than to simply build a cross or say the rosary. Your parish priest could tell you that.”

The Monterey Diocese took the claims seriously enough to establish a commission of priests, psychologists and theologians to interview Nole and study the messages she has received. Leaders of the diocese will evaluate the results of the investigation and decide whether to discourage pilgrimages to the site or send the report to the Vatican for review.

Commissions to investigate supernatural claims are unusual in California dioceses, with only a few formed in the past 50 years, church officials said.

“Most of the time, these kinds of things die down and people lose interest,” said Ted Elisee, spokesman for the Monterey Diocese. “But so many people responded and continued to visit the area . . . we felt the church should look into the situation and make a determination.”

The reports in Santa Maria are among scores of similar episodes around the world in the past decade. Real, imagined or fraudulent, these occurrences are on the increase, partly because society is more receptive to supernatural claims, said Father Gregory Coiro, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

“In the past, if you told people you heard a message from the Virgin Mary, many would consider you insane,” he said. “But today, with the New Age movement and the fascination with the supernatural, there’s more of an acceptance of this kind of thing.”

Two years ago, thousands of tourists visited a yucca plant outside a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix, when a woman claimed that it resembled the Virgin Mary. Another Virgin Mary image was spotted last year by a Texas man on the bathroom floor of a shower stall at the back of an auto parts store.

An Atlanta woman recently said she saw the face of Jesus in a forkful of spaghetti on a Pizza Hut billboard. Now, throughout the city, believers are scrutinizing other pizza billboards, searching for signs. In one of the most famous cases, busloads of tourists descended upon a small town in New Mexico about 10 years ago to see a flour tortilla with the image of Jesus outlined by skillet burns.

The sighting that attracted some of the biggest crowds was in Montreal, when more than 10,000 people visited a house in 1986, to see a statue of the Virgin Mary that seemed to shed tears of blood. The statue’s owner later admitted that he used a potion of his own blood and Old Spice.

The events surrounding a small town in Yugoslavia, where six youths say they have been in contact with the Virgin Mary since 1981, have contributed to the increase in similar claims, Coiro said. More than a million people, including numerous Catholic tour groups from the United States, visit the small town of Medjugorje every year. The widespread publicity from events such as this has “created a type of hysteria that could influence spiritually excitable people,” Coiro said.

Many acknowledge that what has happened in Yugoslavia is a miracle--an economic miracle. Medjugorje is an impoverished mountain village in a country strapped for hard currency, and the countless tour groups have had a wondrous effect on the area’s economy.

Nole has visited Medjugorje, and, she said, she believes the visions there are genuine, just as she is convinced that the 27 messages she has received are genuine. Most of the messages, Nole said, are instructions about the cross and how to pray for it, but some give her general religious direction and spiritual advice.

“I know in my heart this is true,” she said. “Her voice is beautiful and gentle. It’s given us a lot of guidance and support.”

Nole is a quiet, soft-spoken woman who seems embarrassed by all the attention. She prefers to let her husband, Charlie, a gregarious, former real estate salesman, provide details about the messages.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people from throughout Southern California made pilgrimages to the area and gathered at St Joseph’s Church. First, they watched a one-hour video describing the messages and the cross project. Then they sat on folding chairs beneath an outdoor stage and listened to sermons, offered in English and Spanish.

Most viewed the hill briefly--they could only drive by because of the no trespassing signs--and returned to the church to attend Mass. Before heading home, they stopped by the gift shop, which did a brisk business all day. The shop sells 42 types of rosary beads, a variety of books, tapes and videos about miracles, and framed pictures of Mary and Jesus.

There is a festival air at the site, with its snack bar, gift shop and the faithful scurrying about, sharing stories about divine inspiration. But there are poignant moments.

Florence Naruta has inoperable cancer, is undergoing radiation treatment at UCLA, and recently visited the church for the first time.

“The doctors don’t give me too much time,” she said softly. “But I still have faith. I’m praying for a miracle.”

Those who regularly visit the church contend that miracles abound. Some claimed their silver rosary beads suddenly turned gold. Others said that when they stared at the sun, crosses and images of the Virgin Mary appeared.

About 10 families have moved to the area to be closer to the site. A few supporters have formed a nonprofit corporation called the Cross of Peace Inc., in the hopes of one day obtaining the land and building a large cross and church. Nole and her husband, who recently quit his job, are the only paid members of the Cross of Peace group, each earning about $300 a week.

One supporter of the Noles has offered $250,000 for the land surrounding the hill. A spokeswoman for the owners of the ranch said the property, used for cattle grazing, is not for sale.

The Noles say they are confident that if they keep praying, the owners will change their minds. And they hope that a favorable decision by the Catholic Church will help their cause.