Tears of Blood - A Medical Condition Or a Miracle?

Are tears of blood a miracle or a medical condition? There have been many interesting accounts of such tears with people from all over the world, but it is obviously more difficult to prove a miracle than it is to rule out possible causes for this. There is more of a focus on the scientific explanations for such occurrences and a sense of doubt pertaining to religious explanations. We want an immediate answer for things like this but we don't always get one. Anyone who brings up the religious angle is destined for ridicule and bound to be called a "religious nut".

I was listening to The Early Show on CBS the other morning while I was getting ready for work and something I heard grabbed my attention. "Stay tuned for our next story with a 15 year old boy who cries tears of blood." What? This has to be a unique story to say the least. I dropped my makeup and dashed to the living room to see the interview with the boy and his mother. Calvino Inman of Tennessee and his mother Tammy Mynatt brought the video of him crying tears of blood hoping to reach out to someone who can help them with this situation. His tears did not appear to be diluted in any way, they were pure blood! Calvino said that he thought he was going to die when he began crying the bloody tears. It happens randomly about 3 times a day and lasts for up to 15 minutes. The crying is not provoked by emotion as Calvino is not feeling sad when this happens or doing anything that would induce normal tear production.

There is a condition called Haemolacria that causes people to shed bloody tears, but the doctors cannot yet say for sure if he has this condition. Calvino went to five doctors with his mother and his condition has each of them baffled. He had an ultrasound, CAT scan and an MRI which were all normal. Haemolacria is usually a result of a larger underlying medical condition but he seems to be in good overall health. Calvino and his mom are continuing their search to find a diagnosis for his condition. He claims that the tears burn and are annoying. His peers at school teased him at first by calling him names and saying he was possessed but they have since apologized realizing that Calvino cannot control his situation and has visited many doctors in a quest to find its diagnosis.

According to information provided by CNN, a doctor from the University of Tennessee's Hamilton Eye Institute has studied this condition extensively and said that there were only four cases of this mysterious occurrence between 1992 and 2003. He is amazed that it is happening to a healthy young boy. He claims that Haemolacria can be caused by deep emotional trauma or a head injury, but agrees that Calvino doesn't even fit the bill for this disorder. Another doctor at the same institute said that the condition that Calvino has can be something very miniscule in size which can be difficult to pinpoint with any of the tests he has undergone thus far. He claims that they may have to wait for more symptoms to surface to get the full picture of what the cause might be. Evidently, the condition can be the result of anything from a tumor to a simple infection. It may be a repeat occurrence of the four cases from '92-'03 when the bleeding mysteriously stopped on its own.

This is claimed to have no religious significance. It is spelled out that religion is not a factor on most of the websites that I visited to gain more information. Could it be better for each of these unexplained cases to be a religious phenomenon rather than a medical condition? I understand that people want closure, especially the children and their parents. I also realize that it has to be extremely difficult to deal with this in your everyday life but history has shown that it doesn't last forever as the tears of blood will most likely stop as spontaneously as they began. Why is it such a taboo to consider this to be a miracle? There might not be a medical explanation for this simply because it hasn't been researched enough since it alone doesn't seem to be life-threatening. Perhaps it is something that is beyond our grasp of true understanding.

Some believers may say that this is a result of "vicarious suffering" which is believed to be the act of involuntary suffering for other people's sins so they can be forgiven. There is a 13 year old girl named Twinkle Dwivedi in India who is currently experiencing such tears and is displaying what is believed to be stigmata. Her palms, head and feet all emit blood yet she has no wounds. National Geographic will air her story on September 13th with Dish Network.

There are two religious statues of The Virgin Mary that cry tears of blood and are deemed to be genuine miracles according to the Vatican (others turned out to be staged). The two documented statues are the weeping statue of The Virgin Mary in 1949 in Syracuse, Italy and Our Lady of Akita in 1988 in Japan. Religious believers who feel that this phenomenon is a miracle are not sure why it's happening. Some believe an occurrence like this is a sign from God and are unsure as to whether it is good or bad. Some believe that the weeping statues are reflecting sadness for these difficult times of war, poverty and violence.

Calvino's story and the occurrence of weeping statues remind me of the young girl Audrey Marie Santo in my home town of Worcester, MA who was in a coma for 19 years before she passed away. Audrey was found in her pool at home when she was three and never regained consciousness. Doctors informed her mom that Audrey would only live a few years and suggested she place her in a nursing home. Her mom is a believer and decided that if the doctors can't help, perhaps a miracle can. She took Audrey to the shrine of Medjugorje. Audrey had a moment where she began to move and attempt to speak, which did not last very long before she returned to her previous state.

According to her parents, many religious experiences occurred in her room such as religious statues that wept oil and blood. One might think that the parents saw things they needed to see at a very sorrowful time, but this story reached neighbors and eventually the newspaper and news. Soon enough, people from all over the world came to visit her and to pray for her recovery and for miracles. Many visitors also gave testimony that they were present when such miracles had occurred. Audrey was said to have responded to one man's prayers for a loved one with a tear. Perhaps there was a miracle at the shrine of Medjugorje, not only for obvious reasons, but for the fact that Audrey lived to be 23 years old. She never had a bed sore, even with the fact that she was bed-ridden for 19 years.

Calvino Inman is from Tennessee which is a state well known for the amount of churches housed there in the Bible belt. Could there be a miraculous connection with Calvino and the religious beliefs of the people in his community? Could it be something even larger than that? I'm not stating that I believe this is a miracle, but I would rather hear that than find out this young teenager has a serious medical problem.

There is no scientific explanation for why this boy cries blood and there was none for Audrey Marie Santo who survived until the age of twenty three. There were no tangible explanations for what occurred with the religious statues in Japan and Italy. Will we ever know the reason behind these phenomena or will they forever remain a secret?