Thousands of devotees from distant places visited the St Paul Church in Nalasopara’s Nanbhat area after word spread through text messages and social networking sites that the image of Jesus Christ had appeared on the church’s tabernacle veil.

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The supposed phenomenon was first noticed by a widow who had stayed back in the church after everybody else had left after the evening prayer ended on Monday.

She told the parish priest that she could “visualise” the face of Mother Mary and Jesus Christ on the holy veil and, when all those present in the church at that time gathered, they too said they could see the faces and clicked photos.

The photos went viral and thousands of devotees from Mumbai came down to the small village to pray.

“My cousins are flying in from London to witness the miracle. I believe Jesus Christ gave us a sign saying he is present between us. We have faith that he guides us to a good path,” said Savio Fernandes, a resident of Bandra and an executive manager in a private institution.

Parish priest of the church Fr Robin Dias said, “After the prayers and communion on Monday, most of the devotees left but a woman sitting on the last bench stayed back. After a while, she came to me and asked whether I too could see the face of Jesus Christ on the tabernacle veil, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I could.”

“I think that the faith for our religion is much bigger than the appearance of Christ on the veil; nonetheless, it’s a sign that the Lord is still present among us,” Dias added.