Berlin and Canada
By Joseph A. Citro
BLOODY BERLIN
Sometimes I think we need a miracle. The last one that I know of took place not so very long ago, and in – of all places -- Berlin, New Hampshire.
The amazing event began on Thursday, June 1st in the year 2000. On that day, between 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Mr. George Arsenault, a Eucharistic minister, came face-to-face with the supernatural.
Mr. Arsenault, a lifelong member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church, noticed something peculiar behind the alter. As he watched, tiny red dots began to appear on the wall directly under a crucifix. Oddly, they were precisely positioned beneath the wounds on Jesus's hands and feet.
Understandably fascinated – but not wanting to disturb the service – Mr. Arsenault waited until the end. Then he showed the curious crimson droplets to his wife. By that time, however, the dots had expanded into red lines. It looked as if blood were flowing down the wall of the church.
Mrs. Arsenault called the other church-goers, and pretty soon a small group had assembled around the statue, all trying to understand exactly what they were seeing: Could the crucifix be bleeding?
Mr. Arsenault ran up to the church attic to see if something was dripping down from above. But everything up there was absolutely dry.
At around 9:00 o'clock Father Roberge, the pastor of the church, inspected the scene. With a white linen cloth, he wiped some of the mysterious substance off the wall.
Then he and Mr. Arsenault used a ladder to determine if the fluid was actually flowing from the statue. They found the crucifix to be "dry and dusty," but red trails were still visible below.
News of the alleged miracle spread quickly when the story hit the news. Soon, hundreds of people had arrived with cameras and telescopic equipment. Everyone wanted to know, "Was a real miracle happening in New Hampshire?"
Some witnesses testified that they saw blood actually appear on the statue. Others dismissed the whole thing as mass hallucination. But hundreds of people showed up at the church – people wanting to see for themselves. Some were so unruly and disrespectful that Father Roberge closed and locked the doors. Then he stated publicly that "there is no evidence of any unusual activity in relation to the crucifix or the surrounding area of the church."
This decidedly unmiraculous judgment seemed to be corroborated when the samples from Father Roberge's white cloth were scientifically analyzed: no trace of blood could be detected.
But George Arsenault and the scores of people who saw the mysterious substance stood by their accounts. Some questioned the validity of the testing. Maybe Father Roberge had rubbed so hard that the sample was polluted by all kinds of particulate matter from the wall.
Others suggest that since a miracle can happen very suddenly, it can also vanish just as quickly.
So, as far as I know, the jury is still out: Did Berlin, New Hampshire experience a miracle... or a mistake?
I spoke with my friend Charlie Jordan, then editor and publisher of "Northern New Hampshire Magazine," who was there during the thick of things. He said, "I believe [George Arsenault] and others did see something – I don't know what. Maybe we all want to see miracles in our lives. [As] one woman... said to me, with tears welling-up in her eyes, 'I want to believe it's true, I really do.'"
So for a short while a miraculous mystery endured and the most attentive churchgoers in Berlin, New Hampshire had a good reason to stare at the wall.
Today all traces of the mysterious red substance have apparently vanished. And, sadly, the St. Joseph Catholic Church was closed shortly after these mysterious events.
Or at least that’s the story…
A CANADIAN “KEEP OUT!”
My search for oddities sometimes takes me a little out of the way. I recall the time I was in the northern part of Pittsburg, New Hampshire — about as out-of-the-way as you can get. Pittsburg is the Granite State's northernmost town.
Anyone who has visited this vast, unspoiled region realizes it is a world unto itself. Bordered on the north and west by Canada, on the east by Maine, and on the south by the forty-fifth parallel, this remote rural rectangle once declared its independence from everything, setting up as the Indian Stream Republic.
But I hadn’t come looking for history; I was tracking mysteries. And surely Pittsburg has a few of its own, but the one I was after was just across the line into Canada.
In fact, it's just across the line. Following Route 3 north, I crossed at New Hampshire’s only border crossing. The Customs booth was immediately visible at the bottom of a hill. I obediently stopped, and after promising I was not planning the overthrow of the province, I revealed to the officer the true purpose of my trip. I asked him where to find the. . . (here I cleared my throat and spoke a bit more softly) the “Anti-gravity spot”.
Apparently, he was used to the question so he didn’t roll his eyes or give any indication that he might have thought I was nuts. He simply smiled and pointed to a nearby sign that marks the spot and gives instructions.
I turned around and parked my car at the bottom of the hill, on the same road that had brought me into Canada. I shifted into neutral, made sure my foot was off the brake, and waited. Soon – surprisingly soon — and against all logic, common sense, and natural laws, I found myself moving, rolling upwards, actually accelerating back up the hill.
Was it anti-gravity? An optical illusion? Or some kind of magic? Who knows? All I can say for sure is that it is fun, strange, and effective. I sensed powerful unknown forces dragging my car uphill... with me in it!
It was indeed mysterious but became almost funny when I realized those mysterious forces were propelling me right back into the United States!
Welcome to Canada and Bon Voyage!
NOTE: "Magnetic hills" such as this are rare, and this one is especially convincing. It's well worth going a little out of your way to see it, and you don’t even have to leave Canada.
Joseph A. Citro is a Vermont author and folklorist known for collecting New England’s ghost stories, legends, and strange-but-true lore. His most recent book is The Vermont Ghost Experience, available at local bookstores or wherever books are sold. You can also ask your local library to order it for your enjoyment and the enjoyment of other library patrons. In Passing Strange, Citro shares folklore with a curious eye, a storyteller’s warmth, and just enough mystery to make you look twice on the ride home.