Our Lady of Zeitoun
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Our Lady of Zeitoun, Also known simply as El-Zeitoun, Zeitun or rarely Our Lady of Light, was a mass Marian apparition that occurred in the Zeitoun district of Cairo, Egypt, over a period of 2-3 years beginning on April 2, 1968. Reported to have been seen by millions, it remains one of the the largest Marian apparition approved by the Catholic Church.
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[edit] Apparition
According to purported witnesses, the Virgin Mary appeared in different forms over the Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Mary at Zeitoun for a period of 2-3 years beginning on April 2, 1968. The apparitions lasted from a few minutes up to several hours and were sometimes accompanied by dove-shaped luminous bodies. They were seen by millions of Egyptians and foreigners, including Copts, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews and people of no particular faith. The sick and blind are said to have been cured, and many people converted to Christianity as a result.
The Pope of Alexandria Kyrillos VI appointed a committee of high-ranking priests and bishops to investigate the matter, headed by Bishop Gregorios, bishop of postgraduate studies, Coptic culture and scientific research. On May 4 the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria in Cairo issued an official statement confirming the apparitions. They were also confirmed by the Jesuit Father Dr. Henry Ayrout, and by Rev. Dr. Ibrahim Said of the Protestant Evangelical Ministries. Nuns of the Society of the Sacred Heart also witnessed the apparitions and sent a detailed report to the Vatican, resulting in the arrival of an envoy on April 28 who also saw the apparitions and sent a report to Pope Paul VI.
The apparitions were also witnessed by President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and captured by newspaper photographers and Egyptian television. Investigations performed by the police could find no explanation for the phenomenon. No device was found within a radius of fifteen miles capable of projecting the image, while the number of photographs from independent sources suggests that no photographic manipulation was involved.[1] A New York Times article dated from May 1968 by Thomas Brady notes that some Arabs believed that the apparition of St. Mary was a sign that God had witnessed the Israeli occupation of the Holy Land.
Marian apparitions are events in which the Virgin Mary is purported to have supernaturally appeared to one or more persons, typically but not always Christians. They are often given names based on the town in which they were reported, or on the soubriquet which was given to Mary on the occasion of the apparition, or on her reported clothing and hairstyle. They have been interpreted as psychological (pareidolia), and as religious phenomena, occasionally as theophanies. Apparitions sometimes recur at the same site over an extended period of time. Marian apparitions sometimes involve statues or images of Mary; of particular note are weeping statues, witnessed as producing tears.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Francis Johnston (1980). When Millions Saw Mary. Augustine Publishing Co. ISBN 0-85172-631-3 also available online
- Pearl Zaki (1977). Our Lord's Mother visits Egypt. Dar El Alam El Arabi. Also available online (excerpt)
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Pearl Zaki (1977). Our Lord's Mother visits Egypt in 1968. Dar El Alam El Arabi. p. 24, 27.
