Coincidence?. . .Probably.

The Boston papers must be enjoying this Mt. Carmel story, because it doesn't want to die. It seems the parishioners attending the last mass at the church claim that a miracle happened.

The church's statue of the Virgin Mary, which stood in front of the altar, tipped over suddenly and thudded to the floor after Mass, seemingly unmolested by human hands, parishioners said.

Trembling and weeping, they called it a sign from God protesting the Boston Archdiocese's decision to close their church, part of the lifeblood of the working-class, Italian-American neighborhood since 1905.

''This is a miracle!" Gerri Costa exclaimed after parishioners righted the 5-foot statue, which was missing a few pieces from its back. ''Miracles do happen, and this is a miracle. Viva La Madonna!"

Not to be sacriligious, but if that was a miracle, it was kind of a lame one. If God really was that upset about the closing of Mt. Carmel, wouldn't she have provided a few more fireworks--some fire or brimstone, or maybe turning the Archbishop into a pillar of salt?

Aside from the "miracle" the Mt. Carmel plot thickens. The archdiocese may be renegging on the convent trade deal--something about leaky pipes and repairs, etc.

''We can't trust any priest," Gerri Costa shouted outside the church. ''Archbishop O'Malley, I thought you came to heal! You are a disgrace. I will never go to another church that has to do with the Archdiocese of Boston."

''Where are all the old people going to go?" asked Josephine Costa, 87. ''I'm going to be a Protestant. I'm not going to be no more Catholic."

I say amen, sister. If the church ladies are talking like the this, the Catholic Church in Boston is doomed.

--Boston Globe