Apparition of the Blessed Virgin to Joseph Reinholtz
August 15th, 1990 to Present

   The apparition of the Blessed Virgin was to retired railroad worker Joseph Reinholtz of
Hillside, Illinois. Joseph, a widower, suffered from blurred vision and occasional blindness. Joseph visited the Marian apparition site in Medjugorje, Bosnia Herzogovina. Upon returning home his sight gradually returned to normal. He visited Medjugorje again and met with one of the visionaries there called Vicka. Vicka instructed Joseph to look for a large crucifix next to a three branched tree when he returned home, and that Joseph should pray there. Joseph found the crucifix at Queen of Heaven cemetery and prayed at the site for two years. On August 15th, 1990 the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him there at this site. On November 1st 1990 Our Lady appeared to him with Michael the Archangel and three other angels. Supposedly the apparitions were a daily event except on Tuesdays. Jesus is supposed to accompany Mary on feast days, and Saint Joseph has also been seen.
   Pilgrims still visit the site daily where prayers and the Joyful Mysteries of the holy rosary are offered up for the clergy and the church. Some of the phenomena reported there is Our Lady and strange lights appearing in photos taken at the site. Also this crucifix was photographed bleeding. Other phenomena includes Rosaries turning to gold and the scent of roses reported in the area.
   While Joseph is allowed to speak publicly about his experiences the Catholic Church does not recognize this as an official apparition site and as is customarily their practice they discourage people from visiting.
   Cemetery officials allow the pilgrims to come and pray at the site. However people should be quiet and orderly as this is a cemetery and deserving of respect.
   You can see in the photograph that the feet of the body of Christ on the crucifix are a different color. Sadly that's because vandals broke into the cemetery at night and damaged the statue.