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Holy
Family Church
The
Parishioners have seen a white apparition here.
St. Rita's Church
I
vividly
remember the first time I heard about the terrifying apparition at St. Rita's
Church, located at 6243 S. Fairfield in
Chicago. My fifth-grade teacher told my
class this story, and I had nightmares for days. Though now the story seems
fantastic, I still cannot think of it without experiencing a brief stab of the
fear I felt when I was 10. Over a dozen parishioners were keeping vigil in St.
Rita's on All Souls Day, November 2, 1961, when the church organ began playing
on its own, a series of random notes. The congregation turned to look at the
organ in the loft above the main doors and observed six robed figures -- three
in white and three in black -- flanking the organ as it continued to play. The
figures were described as semitransparent, neither hands nor faces visible
through the fabric. The parishioners rushed in terror to escape the church, but
the doors refused to open. Horrified, they watched as the figures floated down
to the main floor and glided over the pews to the front of the church while a
voice was heard saying "Pray for us." A wind blew through the church,
and the doors flew open, allowing the parishioners to escape. Officially, the
event never took place. Parish priests described the story as a teenage hoax or
deny it ever happened at all. The witnesses, however, (some of whom are still
living) stand by their account of the events of that night though it has never
been repeated.
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