story
TEARS OF LOVE
"If a Christian doesn't turn himself into a living Gospel,
the atheist will never be converted"
(Trad. by C.B)
On the 21st of March 1953, it was celebrated in Siracusa
the marriage of two simple souls, Angelo Iannuso and Antonina Giusto.
The young married couple received as gift for the marriage, among others, a plaster figure representing the "Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary".
They put the figure as bolster of their double bed.
The young bride got pregnant very soon, but she fell ill with gravidic toxicosis, nowadays known as gestosis. Though many people suggested to the young bride to have a miscarriage, she addressed a simple prayer to her "Madonnina" (Small Madonna): "Would You grant me to give birth to my child? Afterwards, Thy will be done".
The morning of the 29th August 1953, after one of the many sudden illnesses she had, which had made her temporarily blind, Mrs Iannuso looked at the modest bolster, the gift received by her sister-in-law, and was filled with emotion and wonder since she immediately noticed that some tears were flowing from the eyes of Mary. 
A great crowd immediately flocked to see the "Madonnina" of the young bride crying. The plaster figure of the Madonna continued shedding tears for the following 3 days, and also for an issue of public order, the figure was moved outside so that everyone was allowed to see himself that extraordinary event.
On the 1st of September, the fourth day of lachrymation, the liquid flowing out from the figure was analysed by a committee arrived to take a liquid sample.
Right after the sample, about thirty drops, the figure suddenly stopped crying as a sign: The "Madonnina" of Siracusa had spoken by Her eyes and everyone could have seen.
The drops when analysed resulted to be chemically identical compared to a child drops, hence they were real human tears. Moreover traces of proteins and urates were found in the liquid, whereas traces neither of components of the plaster nor of colouring matters were found.
Afterwards, the figure of the "Madonnina" of Siracusa was moved to the close Euripide Square, where a first temporary Sanctuary of The "Madonna delle Lacrime" (Weeping Madonna) was built.
In 1968, the figure was moved to the first built part of the definite Sanctuary of The "Madonna delle Lacrime", part which is now the crypt of the Basilica.
In November 1994, John Paul II inaugurated the upper part of the Basilica, where the figure was moved to. In occasion of the 50th anniversary of the lachrymation, the figure was crowned by Cardinal De Giorgi.
Visiting the Basilica, one can see the plaster figure of The "Madonna delle Lacrime" that seems to "speak" to all pilgrims by the same eyes who "spoke" to the whole world in 1953!