January 11, 2017 - Reported [here] and [here]. A statue of the Virgin Mary said to have wept in front of witnesses is being studied by Catholic Church miracle investigators. The humble plaster statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe began to shed tears in front of its owner after she finished praying at her home in Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero in south-western Mexico. The saint is a Mexican version of the Virgin Mary, nicknamed la Morenita, or the brunette.

Her shrine became one of the Catholic Church's most worshipped sites after she appeared to a peasant in Mexico City nearly 500 years ago. Now church leaders are investigating claims made by Guadalupe Hernandez, whose statue of the virgin apparently sheds real tears. Images and video footage of the statue with tears seemingly streaming down its cheeks have astonished devout followers who have flocked to Acapulco to worship it. Owner Guadalupe explained: 'It was midday and I stood in front of her and I spoke to her. I finished my prayer and looked at La Morenita and I saw her crying.'

She added: 'It is a gift from God, I do not know why and I do not know what is behind it, but, well, we will wait.' Guadalupe first showed the statue's tears to her neighbour, Max. She said: 'I told him, Max, come in, watch the Virgin. Watch, I am not sure if it is wrong. I don't want people to misunderstand this.' But local priest Father Juan Carlos Flores removed the statue from a makeshift shrine, where pilgrims gathered to honour it.

He told local media it has been sent to a religious colony in Emiliano Zapata where its tears will be investigated by senior priest Father Octavio Gutierrez Pantoja. Father Octavio would neither confirm nor deny the miracle but asked believers to pray. The Virgin of Guadalupe basilica was established in a Mexico City suburb in the 1500s after Mary appeared to a peasant and asked him to build her a church.