BY SANDRA MARQUEZ GARCIA

 A cloud-like image believed by some to be an apparition of the Virgin Mary graced
 the window pane of a Miami bank located just blocks from the home of Elian
 Gonzalez Saturday -- stopping traffic and offering hope to hundreds of supporters
 who want to keep the Cuban boy here.

 Bank employees first spotted the luminous reflection -- capped by an iridescent
 mixture of gold, purple and green -- earlier this week. As word of the vision
 spread, and the colors failed to fade with repeated cleanings, the entrance of
 Totalbank, 468 NW 27th Ave., has come to resemble a shrine.

 On Saturday, women with curlers still in their hair hastily dropped their chores to
 pay homage to the Virgin. They were joined by families in sport-utility vehicles
 with camcorders and others on their way home from weddings and grocery
 stores.

 Some people rubbed their babies against the window pane for good luck. Others
 scrubbed the surface with paper towels to see if they could make the image go
 away.

 Tessy Lopez, 62, of Miami Beach beamed with joy as she regarded the
 apparition. Like many others gathered at the site, Lopez said she considered it to
 be a sign of an impending miracle for Elian, the 6-year-old Cuban rafter who
 survived a voyage that killed his mother and 10 others.

 ``I think that boy is blessed. Many people gave their lives for that boy, and he lives
 blocks from here,'' Lopez said. ``We must realize this is an important sign.''

 Louise Molina, 47, of Fontainebleau described the vision this way: ``I can see that
 she has a golden glow above her head, and she is looking down. To me that
 means sadness.''

 Molina said there is an obvious desire by many to regard the apparition as a
 symbol of hope for Elian. But she believed it has broader meaning.

 ``She wants us to change our ways,'' Molina said. ``When people have faith they
 do good things.''

 Not everyone was able to distinguish the Virgin from the cloudy reflection.

 ``I see the reflections, but I don't see it,'' said Carmen Rodriguez, 50, with a tinge
 of disappointment. ``I think some people can see it and others not. Perhaps it's
 based on necessity.''

 Eulalia Asencio, 29, expressed skepticism. She said she had carefully touched
 the window pane to see if air conditioning might have caused the image to appear.

 ``It looks like when you get Windex and then you have that rainbow action going
 on,'' Asencio said. ``I really think it is the reflection of the light.''

 A few blocks away, Armando Gutierrez, the spokesman for Elian's Miami
 relatives, said he had driven past the bank building but had not stopped to see for
 himself.

 ``All signs are good signs,'' said Gutierrez, who described Elian's great-uncle,
 Lazaro Gonzalez, and his family as ``very religious.''

 One day after the Immigration and Naturalization Service issued a new ultimatum
 to the family to agree to a speedy appeal of the custody dispute over the boy,
 Gutierrez said Elian's defense team still had not met to discuss their response.
 The family plans to appeal a federal judge's decision last week upholding the INS
 decision to send the boy back to his father in Cuba.

 Lead attorney Spencer Eig is Jewish and working on a Saturday would violate his
 religious beliefs, Gutierrez said.

 ``We cannot discuss the letter until sundown [Saturday],'' Gutierrez said.

 Some 50 Elian supporters camped outside the boy's home said they were on a
 state of ``high alert'' awaiting word from exile leaders on when to mobilize a civil
 disobedience campaign in Miami.

 Among the actions already under way: a petition drive and lots of praying, said
 Felisa Torre, who packed sandwiches and a beach chair to make her vigil outside
 the home more comfortable.

 ``We are praying so that the heart of Señorita [Janet] Reno will become sweeter
 and she will see that Elian is a poor boy who cannot go back to Cuba,'' Torre
 said, referring to the U.S. attorney general.
 

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald