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When you work in a library you hear a lot of stories--especially if you provide reference assistance at night. A young man stopped by my office one evening this summer (1997) and related a story I wonder if other people have heard anything about. I’ll call this tale The Legend of Pointing Mary, because this is how the VU student referred to the statue of The Holy Mother in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, near Willow Street in Vincennes, Indiana.
It is a simple enough idea, and though it sounds a bit disrespectful to the mother of Jesus, it is one that probably is common in any cemetery and bears exploration from a folklore standpoint. In folk literature it is not unknown that if a supernatural deity can represent goodness, then perhaps the reverse is not impossible and the icon can generate feelings of fear and danger as well. Ronald Baker’s Hoosier Folk Legends (Bloomington: IU Press, 1988), which is required reading for anyone interested in folklore and urban legends, documents several interesting cemetery-related tales in Indiana, and no doubt many individuals can relate their own, unrecorded stories.
It seems that this young man and a few other student thrill-seekers (perhaps students from area high schools as well) are in the habit of visiting Mt. Calvary Cemetery at night, where they go to the area next to a large statue of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story related is that if visitors stand in a semi-circle and stare at the ghostly, night-shrouded statue long enough its arm will appear to rise and point at one member of the group. This is a portent, he said (though he didn’t use that word), that the person being pointed at will soon have a tragic experience--perhaps death.
I seem to recall that there was a variation of this story circulating in the mid-1970s, in which visitors claimed the statue’s eyes would stare at them and perhaps follow them in an eerie manner as they strolled about.
If anyone has heard of this tale or different versions of it, I’m sure readers of this Web site would be interesting to read your about your experiences, if you would care to submit them to me.
EMAIL: rking@indian.vinu.edu