Prayer, confessions, weddings and funerals are just a few of the emotionally charged events that go on in churches. Paranormal investigators believe that a haunting can become charged by strong emotions that are associated with an event or person that once took place or existed in an area. Given the amount of energy and emotion released in religious centers all over the world, this theory makes a church a probable place for paranormal activity.
Famous Photographs of Church Ghosts From Europe
- A photograph was taken at the altar in 1965 by Reverend K.F. Lord at Newby Church in Yorkshire, England. This photograph, having undergone repeated testing over the decades, has yet to be proven a hoax.
- Another photograph has been compelling paranormal enthusiasts since 1925. It was taken in 1925 at the Domremy Basilica in Le Bois-Chenu Domremy, France. You can clearly see three figures in it: a woman standing in front of two men. Miss Townsend, the woman in the photograph, was alive and well at the time this picture was taken. The men, however, were not present.
- A photograph was taken in 1956 at the Church of Eastry in Eastry, England in which a man’s face appeared above the pew.
The Most Haunted Church in the United States
Many paranormal investigators and enthusiasts will argue that one church within the United States stands out from all others when it comes to paranormal activity. Residing within one of North America’s most haunted cities, St. Augustine, Florida’s Shrine of Our Lady Le Leche has often been named the most haunted religious chapel in the United States.
The first Catholic mass in the United States occurred on the grounds of Our lady Le Leche Shrine. The chapel itself was built later on September 8th 1565. The small, Spanish-style building is surrounded by the buried bodies of various Catholic nuns and brothers and is often called “America’s Most Sacred Acre”.
Ghostly Nun of St. Augustine’s Shrine of Our Lady Le Leche
Women, in particular, frequently make the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady Le Leche to pray for fertility, healthy pregnancies and to pray for healing and health during and after difficult pregnancies. Every year a number of visitors claim to experience paranormal activity on chapel grounds.
The most common claim is that visitors witness a ghostly nun dressed in black. She is seen kneeling at the altar within the chapel and has also been seen outside the chapel. Anyone that has ever attempted to talk to her has found that she immediately disappears into thin air. No one has been able to capture her on photograph.
Paranormal investigators theorize that varying kinds of physical disturbance to an area can stir up paranormal activity. Archaelogical work on mission grounds has been ongoing since 1993 and could be responsible for bringing out some of the spirits at the Shrine of Our Lady Le Leche.
Further Reading:
Real Ghost Photos: Evidence of Ghosts Caught in Photographs
Sources:
Lapham, Dave. Ghosts of St. Augustine. Pineapple Press, 1997.
