Paul McCarthy

Spirit photographs

I have taken many photographs of the materialisation of spirit over the last two decades.This website showcases 12 of these photos, as well as several photographs of orbs and other spirit phenomena.I recommend that you spend some time looking closely at each photograph, then read the description of it before looking at the annotated photograph.These buttons are shortcuts to the photographs.

• Jesus
• St Gregory
• Jesus & Pio
• St Francis of Paola
• Carmelites
• St Francis Xavier
• Virgin Mary
• Saleh
• St Mark & Lion
• Kuthumi
• Unknown
• St Rita of Cascia

The Crucified Jesus in Montreal, Canada (2013)

I took this photograph at the Mission of St Francis Xavier in Kahnawake, Montreal, Canada on 14 March 2013.I was in Montreal for a few days ahead of a meditation event in Toronto. I was not aware of this shrine and had no plan to visit it until a series of nudges and help from spirit got me there.I had been introduced to St Kateri Tekakwitha, known as “the Lily of the Mohawks”, in Xavier del Bac in Arizona a week earlier. Kateri was the first Native American to be canonised (less than 6 months earlier in October 2012).I saw a postcard with Kateri's image on it at several churches in Montreal and when I asked why I was told she is a Canadian saint and buried in Kahnawake.Having venerated the relics of St Andre Bessette and St Margureite Bourgeoys, as well as the Jesuit Martyrs in Notre Dame Basilica of Montreal, I felt compelled to visit the Shrine of St Kateri. The fact that Shrine is located in a former mission named in honour of St Francis Xavier made it more compelling.The shrine is simple and beautiful and reminds me a little of St Mary Mackillop’s in Sydney. We had it to ourselves and this enabled me to have a deep meditation and connection with St Kateri. After making my prayers for the people of Canada and the upcoming event and energising my rosaries on the tomb of St Kateri, I visited the nearby museum and gift shop dedicated to her.The museum is interesting. I discovered that Kateri was known by the Jesuits as “Catherine”. Curiously, I’d been ‘hearing’ for days that I needed to find "St Catherine" but, knowing no Canadian saint by that name, I ignored the nudges!Filled with gratitude for St Kateri and the lovingly tended shrine, I decided to leave a small quartz crystal in the grounds in appreciation. As the ground was covered in snow, I decided to pummel it into the earth up against the church wall under a poster of St Kateri. To remember this experience, I immediately took a photo of the spot.While I could see beautiful orbs of light in the photograph, and was appreciative of this, I did not think anything more about it.At the meditation event several mediums commented on the new bright light beings around me. I took this to mean the saints of Canada, including St Kateri, had answered my prayer.Several weeks later, I was awoken early by a booming voice in my head saying “you’ve missed something very important in the top right hand corner of the photograph”. While I was not expressly told which photograph I intuitively knew it was this one.When I saw the image of the Crucified Jesus with the Crown of Thorns I fell to my knees in awe and reverence.This was not a grace I had specifically asked for. I had, for years, been wondering why I only captured orbs and light in my photographs while friends were capturing other spirit phenomena. So, perhaps, this was an answered prayer?I presumed I had received this photo to help people but did not know what to do with it.I shared the photograph discreetly at first and then more broadly. The response was fascinating. Some people saw the image of Jesus instantly and were deeply moved, others could not see it. Some priests could see it, others could not.I returned to Kahnawake with a large print of the image in 2018. I arrived only minutes before Mass and the priest was not happy about my insistence on seeing him. While he could not see the image, two devoted acolytes saw it immediately. God bless them.Read about St Kateri and the National Shrine here: [https://nationalsaintkaterishrine.ca/saint-kateri-tekakwitha-shrine/]

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St Gregory in Yerevan, Armenia (2018)

I took this photograph at the Cathedral of St Gregory the Illuminator in Yerevan, Armenia on 24 May 2018. This was my final day of touring Armenia and my first visit to the cathedral.Armenia was the first country to convert to Christianity, principally due to the evangelical efforts of St Gregory. In 2018, I spent 10 days visiting the holy sites of this country.I had several reasons for visiting the cathedral. Principally, I wanted to pray for a seriously ill relative of my guide in Armenia and for the people of the country who had been so kind to me. But I was also interested to see the largest Armenian church in the world and the famous reliquary with the remains of St Gregory.Having made my prayers and placed my crystal rosaries on the reliquary of St Gregory, my trip to Armenia felt complete.However, as I was leaving the cathedral I heard a voice in my head say “take the photo now”. So I turned around, snapped an image of the church and thought no more about it.Reviewing my photographs a few hours later, I noticed the materialisation of a bearded man in the top right of the frame. I presumed it was St Gregory and that the image would be consoling for my guide and her family.Having found similarities in the faces of the icons of St Gregory and the famous statue of him in the Vatican, I shared the image with my guide and she was very deeply moved by it.Severla months later, I was astounded to find an image of St Gregory the Illuminator in the healing centre I attend in Brasil. In ten years of visiting the centre I had never noticed it before.I now invoke St Gregory to assist me and those I work with.For information about St Gregory: [https://catholicsaints.day/gregory-the-illuminator/]

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Jesus and Padre Pio, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy (2013)

This photograph was taken on my first visit to the shrine of Padre Pio (St Pio of Pietrelcina) in San Giovanni Rotondo on 15 July 2013.The visit to San Giovanni Rotondo was effectively an extension of pilgrimages I undertook in 2011 and 2012 to honour various saints connected to a meditation and healing centre in Brasil.My principal goals for this visit were to thank Pio, place crystal rosaries on his relic and experience the shrine and related museum.In a mundane sense, I was not well prepared for this experience. It had been an impulsive, last minute decision and I had done little research, although, in retrospect, it was an obvious complement to our visit to Our Lady of Pompeii a week earlier.Standing in line to venerate Pio’s incorrupt body, which is in a glass coffin behind an armour plated wall, I realised that there was little chance I would be permitted to place my rosaries on the relic. And then I heard a voice in my head “do not worry, there will be another opportunity”. So I made my prayers and moved on.I ultimately ended up in a room containing the documents for the cause for Pio’s beatification. And in this room was a reliquary containing two relics belonging to Pio - a strand of his hair and some bandage with blood on it. There was no armour plating on the relic and no one else in the room (a miracle in a shrine that attracts over 6 million people per year).I was able to venerate the relic, reiterate my prayers and, most importantly, place all my crystal rosaries on the relic. When I had completed this work, I took a photograph of the reliquary to remember it.When I reviewed the photograph at home some months later, I noticed that if I zoomed in on the relics I could see the face of Jesus and the face of Pio. Mindful of the possibility of deception, I prayed for a sign and within minutes a photograph of Jesus and Pio appeared in my Facebook feed with a composition closely resembling the spirit image.When I returned to San Giovanni Rotondo the following year and attempted to capture the same image I could not. This was perfect, of course, because it confirmed that what I had captured on my camera was not material in nature.

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St Francesco in Paola, Italy (2023)

In December 2023, I visited my dearest Italian friends for Christmas in Italy and bookended this with trips to some holy sites in Rome and Assisi. My friends grew up in Calabria and have been devoted to San Francesco di Paola all their lives. They took me straight from the train station to Francesco's shrine.San Francesco di Paola (1416-1407) was a friar who became a hermit at the age of 15 and later founded the aesthetic Order of Minims. Francesco was credited with many extraordinary miracles and had the gifts of prophesy and insight into men's hearts. His fame was such that, at the request of dying King Louis XI, the Pope ordered him to France. The king did not recover but was so comforted by Francesco that Louis' son Charles VIII became his friend and endowed several monasteries for the Minims. Francesco spent the rest of his life at the monastery of Plessis, France, which Charles built for him.This image, taken on 23 December 2023, was my first sight and photograph of the shrine. It has a lot of spirit activity. It captures St Francesco di Paola, as well as a crucifix and three other faces. At the time I assumed the larger face was St Francis of Assisi (San Francesco di Paola’s spiritual mentor) but it does not look like him. On reflection, I think that is more likely King Louis XI and the smaller one is King Charles VIII of France.

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Carmelite nuns in Avila, Spain (2014)

This photograph of a letter written by St Teresa of Jesus (St Teresa of Avila) was taken on 9 July 2014 on a pilgrimage to various European shrines.The letter, dated 1576, is to the King of Spain and in it Teresa primarily discusses the challenges faced by the Discalced Carmelites (the order she established) and her efforts to reform the Carmelite order, emphasizing the need for spiritual renewal and deeper prayer.The letter is in the collection of the museum attached to the Convent of Santa Teresa in Avila. The Convent is built over the site of the saint’s birth.The photograph was taken the day before our visit to Lourdes. This is significant because St Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879), the visionary of Lourdes who later became a Carmelite Nun, has clearly materialised over the letter in the form for which she is most famous (a young girl wearing a head scarf).Some years after this event, I noticed a second face in the photograph and heard a voice in my head say it is Saint Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) (1891-1942). I had heard of this saint but knew nothing about her and was surprised to learn she was Carmelite and that there is a contemporary photograph of her which bears a striking similarity to the image in my photo.

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St Francis Xavier in Yamaguchi, Japan (2024)

The above photographs of the spirit of St Francisco Xavier (1506-1552) were taken an extraordinary 29 seconds apart in the Francis Xavier Memorial Park in Yamaguchi City, Japan on 12 April 2024.The visit to this park was a highlight of my pilgrimage to the holy sites connected to Xavier in Japan.After my visit I found out that this park was the site of the Daido-ji Temple where, with the permission of the feudal lord Yoshitaka Ouchi, Xavier undertook his missionary work. It is celebrated as "the birthplace of Christmas in Japan," as it hosted the country's first Christmas celebration.The volunteers at the Xavier Memorial Church Museum in Yamaguchi arranged this visit for me and the photographs were taken at the direction of spirit.Given the context and having seen Xavier’s incorrupt body in Goa, India and visited many holy sites dedicated to him, I have no doubt as to the identity of this spirit.

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Blessed Virgin Mary in Chartres, France (2015)

This photograph was taken on 15 June 2015 on my first visit to Chartres Cathedral.Chartres has been a place of pilgrimage for a very long time and the Cathedral is famous for its labyrinth, extraordinary stained glass windows and several relics, including a piece of silk cloth which, according to tradition, is the veil worn by the Virgin Mary during the birth of Jesus. This cloth has been kept in Chartres since the 9th century. There are debates about the origin of the veil but the cathedral proudly displays a certificate of its authenticity.While I’m sceptical about the Vatican’s ability to determine such matters, what I can say is that I was drawn to the part of the cathedral where this relic is kept and there was a strong and obviously Marian energy around it. It felt authentic to me. I spent quite a long time praying there and although the relic is dimly lit for conservation reasons, I managed to get some good photographs of it. I was guided to zoom in to a particular part of the reqliquary and captured the materialisation of a female figure.The following day I took a tour of the crypt and found a fresco of the Virgin Mary that closely matches the image in my photograph. I took this as confirmation that Mary had materialised in my photograph.

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Muslim saint in Tehran, Iran (2019)

This image was taken on 6 June 2019 at the Imamzadeh Saleh Mosque in Tajrish, Tehran. I had arrived in Iran only a few hours earlier and this was the first site I visited.I was a little nervous about visiting Iran but I found this site, and Shia shrines in general, to be energetically similar to Roman Catholic shrines and therefore consoling and uplifting.Saleh ibn Musa al-Kazim (749-799) was a son of the seventh Shia Imam, Musa al-Kazim, and a brother of Ali al-Rida. He’s venerated because of that lineage, and the shrine in Tajrish is traditionally associated with his burial. Some accounts say he was martyred while traveling to visit his brother.Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any verified portraits of Saleh with which to confirm the identity of the spirit in my photograph.

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Saint Mark and the Lion in Venice, Italy (2016)

The image of St Mark and the Lion was taken in Piazza San Marco in Venice on 2 September 2016 - the first day of a pilgrimage with my sister to some of Italy’s holy sites.I was guided by spirit to take this picture, so not surprised by it. But I was delighted to have it confirmed by the image on St Mark and the Lion mirroring the composition which I found online.

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Kuthumi in Assisi, Italy (2024)

This image was taken at the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels in Assisi on 4 January 2024. This was the last day of a pilgrimage which included several days in Assisi.This photograph is very special to me for two reasons.Firstly, it was the realisation of a longstanding but unexpressed desire for a clear image of St Francis of Assisi.Secondly, I believe the image is of Kuthumi Lal Singh (early to late 19th century), the last incarnation of St Francis of Assisi. I wrote a chapter about Francis’ other incarnations in my book, so to have such a striking image seemed to affirm my thesis. Of course, some people will presume it is the face of Jesus and I’m fine with that.As with previous occasions, I heard the voice of spirit telling me to take this photograph but this time it was different. I was told to take the photograph as soon as I got in front of the basilica. I followed this instruction even though I was distracted by the nativity scene and the large crowd.This experience inspired me to stay close to the basilica on my next visit to Assisi.

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Materialisation in Padova, Italy (2026)

I took this photograph in the chapel dedicated to St Francis of Assisi in the Basilica of St Antonio di Padova on 9 March 2026.This is the most perplexing image of spirit that I have captured and it has tested me.The context within which this photograph was taken is important because my visit to the Basilica followed two important experiences.Firstly, the main reason for my visit to Italy was to experience the exposition of the relics of St Francis of Assisi. To mark 800 years since this beloved saint’s passing, his remains were exposed in a glass case in Assisi. I visited for a week and venerated the relic most days.Secondly, I was in Treviso to venerate the incorrupt heart of St Francis de Sales on the day I took this photo. On the train from Treviso to Padova I had thought that it would be nice to have a photograph of the materialisation of St Francis de Sales.On arrival in Padova I went directly to the Basilica of San Antonio. The Basilica was temporarily exhibiting a significant relic of St Francis of Assisi. As this reliquary was unguarded and covered by a simple perspex box, it was readily able to venerate the relic and place my rosaries on its container.I immediately saw spirit over the relic and found it most interesting how the relic's ribbon and certificate blended with the bone to resemble a human figure. Extraordinarily, I saw a face on the relic - in full colour - which was captured in my photographs.Curiously, the face looked nothing like St Francis of Assisi. At first I thought it might be the face of St Ignatius of Loyala and then I recognised it as St Francis de Sales.My lower mind was very activated by this experience. I wondered: How could another spirit materialise over the bones of St Francis of Assisi? Had the bone been incorrectly attributed to Francis of Assisi by such an important Franciscan holy site? It didn't make sense. All I can do is trust and remain open to an explanation.

Photographs of orbs and other phenomena

My pilgrimages with crystal rosaries

Although I had been travelling the world for decades, I never considered myself a pilgrim or thought about undertaking a pilgrimage until I met Saint Ignatius of Loyola.I was visiting a centre in Brasil dedicated to St Ignatius in 2008. When I was asked why I was there, I spontaneously said that I wanted to clean up my relationship with God and the Roman Catholic Church. To say I was stunned by the words coming out of my mouth is an understatement, but the divine response to this prayer was even more surprising.I developed an irresistible urge to learn about Spiritism, the Good Spirits and, in particular, the life of St Ignatius.In Ignatius’ autobiography, which is written in the third person, he refers to himself as “the pilgrim”. Ignatius' book, combined with the diligent study of Spiritism and the lives of the saints, set me on a new path of learning about pilgrimage, relics and miracles. And this motivated me to be a better human.Then I had a recurring dream about going on pilgrimage to Montserrat and other places connected to St Ignatius. Out of the blue, I received an invitation to do that, so I acted on this call and joined 5 friends journeying to Spain, Italy, Palestine and India in 2011.I seemed to “know” how to make a successful pilgrimage - with good preparation, consciousness and intentionality, prayerfulness, discipline and light-heartedness.I carried quartz crystal rosaries for myself and others with me on the pilgrimage and energised them on relics or with blessings. I also integrated photography and journalling into my pilgrimage.After that first pilgrimage I got the bug. For several years I dedicated my holidays to visiting sacred sites around the world, including the shrines of many saints. 2015 was the biggest year for me - I pilgrimaged to 63 holy sites in 11 countries.I did not restrict myself to Catholic sites, I also visited sacred sites in places such as Indonesia, Egypt, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, USA, Canada, Eastern Europe and Japan.I invited St Ignatius to be my companion on pilgrimage and I found many places dedicated to him. I travelled from Loyola, Spain - where Ignatius was born and had his conversion experience - to the rooms in Rome from which he directed the Society of Jesus and in which he died. And to many other places from his life, including Barcelona, Salamanca, Montserrat, Manresa, Paris, Venice and even Jerusalem.As I pilgrimaged, my connection with Ignatius and with several other saints became stronger. On these sacred journeys I was gifted with awesome, faith-building experiences at exactly the right times and places.I have visited some shrines many times. Each shrine, like each saint, is different. And each visit to a shrine develops and deepens one’s connection to the saint who is honoured there. Of course, some experiences are life changing.I will never forget the instant recognition of the face of St Vincent de Paul (his life-like relic is in a glass coffin above the high altar in a church in Paris) or the opportunity to do the reading during a mass in the chapel where St Ignatius had his conversion experience.I wish everyone could see the incorrupt body of St Francis Xavier in Goa, India, St Juan Diego’s tilma (the cloak made of agave fibre on which the miraculous image of Mary is imprinted) in the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe outside Mexico City and the original image of Divine Mercy in Vilnius, Lithuania.The shrines dedicated to Mary are very special and miracles are common there. I have been to shrines in Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje, Knock, Walsingham, Montserrat, Loretto, Ephesus, Banneux, Turin and numerous other places. Apart from the Basilica of NS Guadalupe, my favourite Marian site is in Poland. The Pauline Monastery of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa is home to the famous icon of the Black Madonna. Unlike other Marian sites, there is little commerce in Jasna Gora and the focus is entirely upon prayer. Without commerce, the energy of this site is intense.Assisi is a place I am often called to and it has become my second “spiritual” home. For me, it is the perfect combination of holy and historical places, extraordinary natural beauty, art and food. I have pilgrimaged to Assisi in every season and had several life-changing mystical experiences in this little town. I’ve also connected with the Franciscan sites in nearby towns and, of course, with Cascia.Many people enjoyed hearing of my experiences and told me they were keen to pilgrimage themselves. The next step was to write about travelling with my favourite saints, starting with St Ignatius, St Francis of Assisi and St Francisco Xavier.I never imagined my life would go in this direction. Learning about medieval saints, pilgrimaging to their shrines and praying for their help has transformed my life. This work, combined with my meditation practice, has strengthened my faith, mediumship and intuition. I have seen a lot of the world in a relatively short period of time and transmuted karma with several places. I have also transformed past life issues related to pilgrimage, relics and the church. For me, it has been a mission.Pilgrimage is a calling - it is not required for spiritual advancement and there is no guarantee that a person will benefit from it. Indeed, one would most likely progress more by devout prayer at home, than half-hearted pilgrimage to the centre of Christendom or Mecca. For those who cannot pilgrimage, there are other options.As in medieval times, towns and businesses may develop an economic dependency on pilgrims and, at worst, this can give rise to very high prices and even fraud.As modern mystics, it is incumbent upon us to exercise deep discernment as we travel to the world’s holy places. By remaining open and praying for assistance, we can release the past and deeply transform ourselves.I hope the photographs and stories on this website inspire you to pilgrimage.And I earnestly pray that the saints and superior spirits of all traditions will intercede for you and the entire human family.If you would like assistance with preparing for and carrying out sacred pilgrimage, you may wish to consider booking a consult with me. Note that I am not a travel agent and do not organise tours.