Regarding why our Mother Mary was crying, we should ask Georgina to see if we can shed some light on it. In the meantime, I searched on the internet, and this is what came up (the date is 1997).
Reported cases of statues "crying" in the 1990s.
In the 1990s, there was a noticeable increase in reports of statues and icons of the Virgin Mary that were supposedly shedding tears (of water, blood, oil, or similar substances). This wasn't exclusive to 1997, but it was quite common during that era.
Some notable examples:
* 1995, Civitavecchia (Italy): A statue of the Virgin bought in Medjugorje (Bosnia) shed tears of blood 14 times. The local bishop investigated it and, although initially skeptical, declared it inexplicable. It attracted thousands of pilgrims and sparked debates about miracles vs. fraud.
* 1997, Platina (Brazil): A statue of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart shed a red liquid starting in April 1997 onward. It wasn't officially verified, but it was reported as a spiritual sign.
* 1992–1993, Lake Ridge (Virginia, USA): Several statues of the Virgin cried in a Catholic home, coinciding with a mystic who was experiencing stigmata. The local bishop witnessed them and linked them to issues of clerical abuse in the Church (more on this below).
Other cases: In 1994, an icon in Toronto (Canada) shed tears; in 1997, at the Kykkos monastery (Cyprus), an icon of Mary and Jesus shed oily tears with a perfume-like scent. There were also reports in Hungary, Argentina, and Macedonia in nearby years.
These phenomena weren't new—there have been cases since the Middle Ages—but in the 90s they multiplied, possibly due to the rise of communications (early internet, TV) that spread news quickly.
From a Catholic or devotional perspective, Mary's tears are seen as divine signs of her motherly sorrow for human suffering. She doesn't cry out of displeasure, but out of compassion and as a call to conversion, prayer, and reparation.
In the 90s, this was associated with global contexts:
* Wars and conflicts: The 90s saw the end of the Cold War, but also ethnic wars (such as in Bosnia, near Medjugorje, where Marian apparitions continued since 1981). The tears were interpreted as lament over human violence and division.
* Church scandals: In Virginia (1992), the crying statues were linked to early revelations of sexual abuse by clergy. Devotees saw it as Mary weeping for the "suffering of the Church" and the innocent affected—an ignored "spotlight" that foreshadowed the global scandal of 2002.
* Moral and spiritual crises: The end of the millennium brought anxieties (Y2K, secularization). Mary "wept" as a warning against sin, materialism, or turning away from God, calling people back to faith. In contexts like Medjugorje, it was tied to messages of peace and prayer.
* Cultural meaning: In Latin America and immigrant communities (such as in the U.S.), these phenomena strengthened Catholic identity during times of social change (migration, inequality).
-- Felipe