Virgin Mary's everywhere!

In the United States there are some ridiculous things that are bought and sold every day on E-bay. Some of the most absurd things that are actually purchased are items of food or certain materials that are said to contain the image of the blessed Virgin Mary. Some of these things include pieces of toast, a picture of spaghetti-o's or a ketchup stain on a piece of cloth. Some would claim that the Virgin Mary can appear anywhere, but the cynic would claim that everywhere, is now becoming anywhere. Personally I would believe that if the Virgin Mary wanted to appear to someone it would be in a church or holy place, but maybe the only way she can get noticed in our American culture is on a 2000 calorie burger bun, but I digress.
In Rome the Virgin Mary, is literally everywhere and on every street corner, or so it seems. The first few nights here my roommates and I noticed a flashing light over a hole in a wall near our apartment. We didn't think much of it at first but wondered why the light was there and why it could be flashing. A week later I saw the place during the day and realized that the hole in the wall actually contained a small white statue of the Virgin Mary. After noticing this one statue more and more began popping up everywhere I went. The blessed Virgin is an icon here maybe like nothing else, not even Jesus and his cross. She is usually tucked in a small alcove of her own high in a wall in seemingly random places all along narrow streets. But the one thing that they all have in common is that there is always a light shining on the Virgin so that she is noticed by anyone walking by and not made up by a money starved person praying on the blind faith of a grilled cheese eating America.