May 4 Thu.
This image of the Virgin Mary shed tears.

In Hungary, the country that Pope Francis just visited from April 28 to 30, the Shrine of Máriapócs houses the replica of a Marian image that shed tears in a miraculous way like its original icon.

In this picture of the icon, the Virgin can be seen with a black dress and red veil, holding the Child Jesus in her left arm. Mary's right-hand points towards her Son (she always refers us to Him), while the Divine Child does the same with his Mother (he refers to her as “even more blessed are all who receive the word of God and put it into practice”).

The Prelature of Opus Dei indicates that the image was made in the 17th century by the painter Stefan Pap. It was commissioned by a Christian who managed to escape from the Turks. The painting was placed in the parish of Máriapócs until the supernatural events began.

From November 4 to December 8, 1696, tears came from Our Lady's  eyes. This caused great commotion among the faithful, and since then, the place became a center of pilgrimage.

Nevertheless, Emperor Leopold I ordered the icon to be taken to Vienna, and it was installed in St. Stephen's Cathedral. It remains there to this day.

The Hungarian faithful were very sad because they felt that something very valuable had been taken away from them. So, a replica of the Marian image was placed in the Shrine of Máriapócs. Later, the miracle was repeated with the new icon.

On August 1, 2 and 5, 1715 the replica of the image of the Virgin Mary also began to weep. The same thing happened centuries later, in December 1905. It is said that on this last occasion it shed tears for almost a month.

In 1955 the original image in Vienna was visited by St. Josemaría Escrivá, Founder of Opus Dei. The saint implored her for help for the "countries of the East" then under communism. "Sancta Maria, Stella Orientis, filios tuos adiuva!" (Holy Mary, Star of the East, help your children), he prayed to her.

St. Josemaría, moreover, named her, Stella Orientis, "Morning Star" or "Star of the East" and spread devotion to this Marian image with this invocation.

Later, in 1991, St. John Paul II visited the Shrine of Máriapócs, Hungary, where the miraculous replica is located, emphasizing the importance of praying the Angelus and the victory of Christianity over those who try to destroy it.