Newspaper Watani
Publication date May 26, 1968
Language Arabic
A Week Full of Miracles
The Virgin appeared three times this week
A week full of miracles
Lists of those who were healed after visiting the church
A long-term program to turn the area into a sacred shrine
Written by Massad Sadiq:
Last week was filled with many miracles… the miracles of healing that occurred for visitors to the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun.
The Watani Newspaper followed these miracles with the fact-finding committee, joined by several scientific research doctors. The miracles included even those who visited the Church of the Virgin without having the chance to see Her. Spiritual phenomena also continue every evening in the area, witnessed by thousands, flashes of light inside the domes and outside them, the launch of luminous white doves into the sky and their sudden disappearance while eyes cling to them, unsure how they appeared or how they vanished… These phenomena and others indicate that something extraordinary is still happening, and that the spiritual forces that bring miracles remain present in the church and the surrounding area.
The Virgin
She appeared three times this week
The Virgin appeared at the Church of Zeitoun three times this week.
The first appearance was at dawn last Sunday, at intervals between 1:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. Among those who saw her was Mr. Yanni Maqar, chartered accountant in Khartoum. We published details of his account elsewhere in this issue.
The second appearance was at 11 p.m. last Wednesday. Mrs. Thuraya Matta Baqtur, 52 Saleem Street, Zeitoun, says she was among those who saw her that night when she appeared for a few minutes between the two rear domes facing the garage.
The third appearance was at 10:15 p.m. and again at midnight last Thursday. Mrs. Aziza, wife of Mr. Ilhami Georgy, also of 52 Saleem Street, says she saw her at that time above the small dome at the church entrance.
An investigation by Massad Sadiq:
A Week Full of Miracles
The name of the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun has been listed among the shrines of the Holy Journey
Lists of those healed after visiting the church
The Bishop of Scientific Research speaks to Watani about the facts of the apparition
Last week was filled with many healing miracles that occurred for the visitors of the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun.
Watani followed the miracles with the fact-finding committee, with participation from several scientific research doctors.
New procedures were taken to facilitate visits to the church.
Among the visitors were the Patriarch of Greece and delegations from all over the world.
The Ministry of Culture filmed color footage of the church to add to the film of the Holy Journey.
An agreement was made between the Cairo Governorate and the Transport Authority to evacuate the garage facing the church by the end of next week.
The message that descended
The message that descended from heaven with the apparition of the Virgin continues to perform miracles and bring healing.
It treats everyone equally, it does not distinguish between white and black, nor between one nationality and another, nor between one creed and another.
How desperately people in our troubled world need this message.
It is a message of peace for a world torn by wars, a message of faith in a world dominated by anxiety and widespread atheism, and a message of mercy in a miserable, weary world.
And the light that shone
The light that shone in the sky illuminated hearts, opened eyes, and lifted heads upward after they had been bowed to earth, drowning in thoughts of dust.
How much people needed such sacred flashes to illuminate the chambers of their hearts and strengthen hope for a holier, better life.
The light did not discriminate between people, it did not shine upon one group and not another, but encompassed all like the sun that sends its rays equally to everyone.
It is a divine light to dispel earthly darkness, spiritual sparks amid a flood of materialism.
New procedures
New procedures were taken this week to facilitate the visit of crowds and delegations coming from everywhere to the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun, to provide more order and comfort for the increasing numbers of visitors:
• Booths were set up near the entrances to receive visitors.
• Security and guard forces were increased.
• Strict instructions were issued to cleanse the area of elements who used to infiltrate the crowds for mischief.
Church committees
This week, the church committee formed by His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI convened.
The popular committee also met, which consists of representatives from the Coptic Patriarchate, the Cairo Governorate, and the Arab Socialist Union.
The two committees continue to meet to coordinate efforts and attend to the church and the area, collaborating on their assigned tasks.
The Governor of Cairo
Mr. Saad Zayed, Governor of Cairo, gives great attention to the church area so that it appears in its renewed and sacred form.
An agreement was made between the Cairo Governorate and the Transport Authority to evacuate the garage facing the church for use in receiving visitors. It accommodates large numbers and will ease pressure on the roads surrounding the church.
Evacuation of the garage has already begun and the governorate will take possession of it at the end of this month.
A meeting was held last Tuesday at the Cairo Governorate with the owners of the cafés to discuss using the garage to receive visitors.
There is a tendency to conduct a “bid process” among them to lease the garage to whoever wins the contract, converting it into a “touristic café.”
There had been a proposal to build tiered seating inside the garage, but this was dismissed because the church domes are high and visible without elevated seating.
Then came the idea to plant grass on the garage floor and place rows of seats without tables, avoiding giving the place the appearance of a “café” or “casino,” in harmony with the sacred and spiritual nature of the area, just as is customary in holy shrines.
Religious authorities propose adopting this approach to preserve the sanctity of the place.
As for food, visitors may obtain what they need from kiosks at the edges of the garage or the surrounding area.
The surrounding villas
The villa adjacent to the church was evacuated of its former tenant and handed to Engineer Samir Tawfik Khalil, member of the church committee and representative of the circle that owns the villas surrounding the church, to convert it into a first-class tourist “rest house.”
There is also a proposal not to use the terms “casino” or “cafeteria” in facilities built around the church area, but rather to establish “rest houses” consistent with the spiritual atmosphere and the goals of visiting the sacred area.
Public facilities
The Governor of Cairo ordered the construction of public facilities and restrooms for visitors.
The governorate is expected to allocate funding for these restrooms soon, as visitors have found it difficult to reach the church’s only existing restroom.
Since the streets around the church have no shops, two garages attached to the villas began this week to be used temporarily to sell light snacks and soft drinks to visitors until dedicated kiosks are built.
Local broadcasting
A local broadcasting system began operating in the church area.
Loudspeakers convey the prayers performed inside the church to visitors seated or standing outside.
This broadcast is also used for spiritual guidance.
A comprehensive program is expected to be prepared to run continuously without gaps during visitors’ waiting times.
The church committee will prepare brochures, statements, and religious leaflets to distribute to visitors.
The Holy Journey
His Grace Bishop Samuel, Bishop of Public Services and Social Affairs, told us that it was decided to include the name of the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun among the shrines of the Holy Journey during the celebrations of the 19th century since the martyrdom of St. Mark the Apostle.
It will begin on June 25 with a visit to the Virgin’s Tree in Matariya, followed by the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun.
A color film
The Ministry of Culture had filmed a color movie of the shrines, churches, and monasteries included in the Holy Journey to be shown in Egypt and abroad.
It added to this film several shots of the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun, sending a mission last week to film scenes of the church and the crowds around it, as well as the religious celebrations and the sick who experienced miracles of healing.
From Ethiopia
The Embassy of the United Arab Republic in Addis Ababa sent a request to Cairo for information about the apparition of the Virgin at the Church of Zeitoun, due to the great interest among the people of Ethiopia in following the news.
The Ministry of National Guidance sent them the required information.
The official newspaper in Addis Ababa publishes news of the apparition on its front pages.
From Greece
The Greek Orthodox Patriarch visited the church this week and then departed by plane back to Athens.
From Lebanon
Arriving in Cairo from Lebanon at noon last Monday was Father Ibrahim Ayad, head of the Latin Church Council in Beirut, a well-known figure in Lebanon.
He came specifically to organize programs for religious tourism to the Church of Zeitoun.
He was received by Mr. Wahib Meseeha Boutros, Director of Foreign Tourism at Misr Travel Company, and accompanied to meetings with His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI, His Grace Bishop Samuel, and tourism officials in Cairo.
Father Ibrahim Ayad said that the people of Lebanon are eager to visit the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun and discussed with the Ministry of Tourism ways to facilitate these visits.
From Iraq
Special planes arrived from Baghdad carrying numbers of Iraqis who came specifically to visit the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun.
From Sudan
A delegation arrived by plane from Khartoum, consisting of Engineer Habib Shenouda, Dr. Fikri Azar Abu Gini, Mr. Ramsis Yanni Maqar, and Messrs. Shokrallah Mikhaiel and Zahir Philips.
They went to the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun for visitation and blessing.
Planes continue arriving with visitors from all parts of the world.
A flashing light
We mentioned last week the times the Virgin appeared above the domes of the Church of Zeitoun and was seen by thousands.
At the beginning of this week, at dawn last Sunday, a flashing light appeared in the domes of the church and around them several times.
• At 1 a.m., a flash of light shone inside the eastern dome, followed by something resembling a white dove flying above the crowds and then disappearing into the air.
• At 4:30 a.m., a reddish flash appeared again inside the same dome, flickering repeatedly.
• Then the light spread over the domes.
As for what resembles the white luminous doves flying in the air, this happens night after night, often multiple times in a single evening.
They are astonishing spiritual phenomena that appear every night in the sky of the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun and through its domes, drawing eyes upward and giving the area a pure spiritual atmosphere.
Continuous prayers
Prayers are performed daily at the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun in the morning and evening.
Among the visiting bishops who prayed there were:
His Grace Bishop Athanasius of Beni Suef,
His Grace Bishop Samuel of Public Services,
His Grace Bishop Maximos of Qalyubia,
His Grace Bishop Gregorios of Higher Studies and Scientific Research,
and His Grace Bishop Agabius of Deirout.
The Bishop of Sohag
His Grace Bishop Antonios, Bishop of Sohag and Secretary of the Holy Synod, arrived in Cairo on Wednesday morning from his diocese and immediately went to the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun, accompanied by Bishop Gregorios.
He performed a prayer of glorification for the Virgin in the church.
He stated after the prayer that he felt inside the church a spiritual atmosphere mixed with awe, and that he had long wished to visit the church after his congregation told him about seeing the Virgin there and the miracles occurring.
Bishop Antonios told us he saw several of the sick who had received miraculous healing.
He added that everyone who visits this church feels a new sensation filling him with serenity and contentment blessings from heaven.
Watani’s Accuracy
In a private conversation with us, His Grace Bishop Gregorios, Bishop of Scientific Research and Higher Studies, said:
“I am pleased that Watani newspaper has adhered to caution and accuracy in everything it publishes about the news of the apparition of the Virgin in the Church of the Virgin and the miracles taking place there.
It did not get carried away by any rumor, nor did it spread any publicity, but rather confronted rumors and publicity, refuted them and warned against them.
Thus it preserved the miracle from anything that might blemish it.
Besides being the first to publish about it, so that the news echoed throughout the world, and it had precedence in this field.
The Fact-Finding Committee regarding the miracle relies on what Watani publishes, and on the miracles it investigates.”
Test the Spirits
His Grace Bishop Gregorios shared with Watani a special comment regarding the incident that occurred in the Church of the Archangel in Shoubra, when people crowded to enter it after news was broadcast that the image of the Virgin appeared on one of its glass windows:
He said:
**“What appears of spiritual phenomena here or there should not be accepted hastily or judged quickly. Rather, people should approach it with deliberation and investigation to determine its truth.
Patience, examination, and deliberation are what clarify the truth of the phenomenon.
The Holy Bible urges us to scrutinize, saying: ‘Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.’
Therefore, when we hear of a spiritual phenomenon, we must first doubt it until doubt is replaced by certainty.
When I heard that the Virgin appeared in the Church of Zeitoun, I doubted it at first. Even when I stood among the crowds watching for her apparition and lights appeared between the domes and people shouted that it was the Virgin, I said to those around me:
‘I will not believe this apparition unless I see it clearly.’
And at that moment, the Virgin appeared, completely clear, a luminous body radiating light and moving for more than three hours.
Then I knew it was a true apparition.”
He continues:
“After the Virgin appeared clearly and truly in the Church of Zeitoun, and thousands saw her more than once, I heard of other apparitions in different places.
I would say to those who told me about these apparitions:
‘Do not believe, test.’
One must examine the matter with patience and with prayers.
We waited a full month while the Virgin appeared clearly between one night and the next in the domes of Zeitoun before issuing a statement confirming the truth of the apparition.
Even after this confirmation, some still doubted until they saw with their own eyes.
So how can people simply accept what is broadcast about other apparitions?
Scripture calls us to examine, confirm, pray, and be patient.
On this basis, I cannot ‘biblically’ say that the Virgin appeared on the glass of the Church of the Archangel, nor in the Church of Maadi as I recently heard.
This does not mean that the Virgin does not appear here or there, she may appear to individuals who seek her…**
The Blind Boy Saw
Visitors to the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun saw at 10 PM last Tuesday a blind boy, ten years old, from the “Light and Hope Association,” being led by his aunt through the crowds while he groped his way.
As soon as a flash of light appeared from a window of the church dome, he shouted, pointing with his hand toward the dome:
“There!”
And it became clear afterward that the blind boy had seen.
Tharwat Matté of 52 Selim Street in Zeitoun said that people around the boy began testing his ability to see by raising their fingers for him to count, and he counted them correctly, although before that, he saw nothing but darkness.
His aunt told the people that he had fallen to the ground when he was one year old in his hometown of Deirout, losing his sight ever since.
When he grew, his uncle brought him to Cairo to the “Light and Hope Association,” where he remained until he saw again.
Before He Saw the Virgin
Hussein Metwally, an employee in the Department of Research and Fingerprints at the Personal Identification Authority in the Ministry of Interior at Bab El-Louk, Selim First Street behind No. 103 in Heliopolis, had suffered for a month from severe pain in one of his teeth, fearing to extract it.
He visited the Church of the Virgin in Zeitoun but did not see the Virgin.
He returned home saying inwardly, as if addressing her:
“I came to see you so you would heal me. You healed many people, but you didn’t appear…”
He said that he went to bed praying for the Virgin to heal him.
In the morning, he awoke to find the tooth he complained about lying on the pillow, without any trace of blood, and he was completely cured of pain.
Peace, O Pure One
O Virgin…
O greatest Mother, and most eternal Lady in existence.
O noblest woman in the history of humanity.
O you who granted humanity the Son of the Living Man…
O Mother of the Savior…
Peace to you, and through you…
For you came to the people of Egypt…
Blessing them, and carrying to them the good news of peace,
And the herald of victory.
For it is written: “Blessed be My people Egypt.”
Peace to you, and through you.
Every day… every night… you appear to the millions of the sons of Egypt,
A light that carries healing to the weary and the sick…
And hope to the confused.
But why now… O Virgin?
Is it because of what happened in beloved Jerusalem…
In the house of your Son, Jesus the Nazarene…
And you wanted the whole world to know that you are in pain over what happened
To your great Son who lived preaching love and peace…
The road to Jerusalem, O Virgin… the road of the pure…
Has become a road of suffering…
Defiled by a band of the vilest dwellers.
The road to Jerusalem… O Pure One… the road of light…
Has become closed before millions of your lovers… your seekers…
Those who hail every night in your immortal name.
Now you have come… O Pure One…
Now you have appeared… O Miracle…
Declaring to the world… all the world…
That you bless the people of Egypt, the faithful and peaceful…
O Mother of the Defender of Truth and Peace…
Millions stand every night, from evening until dawn,
Waiting in reverence and patience for the unveiling of your appearance,
And voices rise in prayer… in tears…
O Virgin… until you appear…
A heavenly, holy light that fills hearts with healing and radiance.
O Virgin… O greatest Mother…
For the sake of thousands of mothers who lost their children in a treacherous war.
O noblest Mother…
For the sake of thousands of mothers who were expelled and displaced
At the hands of those who yesterday crucified your beloved Son…
For the sake of these… who pray to you every night…
Answer our supplication… our prayer.
O Lord, bless our struggle… strengthen our unity.
Increase our faith… illuminate our path…
My intercessor to You is the Pure One… the Beloved… the Virgin…
Whom You chose from among millions of women to grant existence
A Savior for existence…
My intercessor to You is the Mother of our Savior
Who illuminated the land of Egypt and blessed it
By her nightly apparition…
Indeed, You are All-Hearing, All-Responsive.
Layla El-Hanawi
A Long-Term Program to Transform the Area into a Sacred Shrine
A special broadcast for spiritual guidance among visitors
Delegations from all parts of the world carried by airplanes to perform the visit
…to be healed of their diseases, or for their distresses to be relieved.
But there is a difference between a personal apparition to one specific person
or to certain individuals,
and between this apparition to thousands in the Church of Zeitoun,
which has never had a parallel throughout nearly two thousand years of history.
And as I warn people against being swayed by broadcasts about individual apparitions
to one or a few persons in some place,
I say this to spare them what might happen to them
until the truth becomes clear.
This is one of the reasons that call us to patience and “testing the spirit.”
And there is another reason we must add:
Souls, after the apparition of the Virgin in Zeitoun,
have become so sensitive as to readily accept any broadcast of an apparition.
A person might glance around and imagine the image of the Virgin,
thinking it is a true apparition,
because minds are now prepared to accept this perception.
Whereas the true apparition in the Church of Zeitoun
was as clear as the sun.
A third reason I wish to clarify here is that people are prone
to confuse personal matters with public apparitions.
One must not mix the two.
An apparition to an individual or individuals in any place
differs from this dazzling apparition in the Church of Zeitoun.
His Grace Bishop Gregorios concluded his talk, saying:
“The apparition of the Virgin in the Church of Zeitoun
differs entirely from her usual apparitions throughout the past twenty centuries.
It is similar to the Transfiguration
with which the Lord Christ began on the mountain.”
New Miracles
Those who saw the Virgin in the Church of Zeitoun
were not the only ones to whom miracles of healing occurred.
Rather, they also included those who visited the church
but were not granted the chance to see her.
These, once enveloped by the spiritual atmosphere in the church
chosen by the Virgin for her apparition, experienced miracles they believed would only occur after seeing her.
The spiritual phenomena witnessed by thousands in the area,
flashes of light inside and outside the domes,
the launching of what resembles a radiant white dove in the sky,
then its disappearance while eyes remained fixed on it not knowing how it appeared or how it vanished,
all these phenomena and others
indicate that something extraordinary is still happening,
and that the spiritual energies that perform miracles
still reside in the church and its surrounding area.
New Miracles
And those who saw the Virgin at the Church of Zeitoun were not the only ones for whom miracles of healing occurred; rather, they also included those who visited the church but were not granted the chance to see her. These, once the spiritual atmosphere in the church chosen by the Virgin for her apparition enveloped them, had miracles occur to them, miracles they believed would not happen except after seeing the Virgin.
The spiritual phenomena that thousands see in the area, flashes of light inside and outside the domes, the launching of what resembles a radiant white dove into the sky and then its disappearance while eyes remain fixed on it, not knowing how it appeared or how it vanished… these phenomena and others indicate that something extraordinary is still happening, and that the spiritual energies that work miracles still reside in the church and in the surrounding area.
Among the miracles of healing, Watani publishes the following details. Some of the miracles were followed by Watani and verified with the physicians delegated by the Committee for Investigating the Facts, and others were received from the very people to whom the miracles happened.
Healed from Paralysis on One Side
Professor Dr. Shafiq Abdel Malik, former professor at Ain Shams Medical School and member of the medical committee formed to examine those who experienced miracles of healing, reported that a woman who had been suffering from paralysis of one side of her body was brought in a vehicle to the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun. She was unable to move, but she was healed, rose to her feet among the crowds, cheering and receiving congratulations for her recovery.
Watani contacted those who witnessed the miracle, among them Mrs. Muneera, wife of Engineer Abdel Malik Saad, who narrated how the miracle took place before her eyes and the eyes of the crowds at dawn on the Sunday before last. She said that the sick woman, whose name is “Thanaa,” had her husband obtain permission from the police to move the vehicle carrying her next to the church because she was unable to leave it except carried by hands. The vehicle was indeed permitted to stop in front of the church, and it was the only vehicle allowed there after the decision to prevent cars from stopping near the church.
Eyes were fixed pityingly on the woman seated in the vehicle, while she began speaking to a young man standing beside her, named “Safwat,” who had failed the high school certificate three times. She told him that he ought to rely on himself in studying his lessons and not depend on a miracle to make him succeed without study and learning. She had barely finished this sentence when she attempted to leave the vehicle. The young man and some of the onlookers tried to hold her hand to help her rise, but she pushed them aside and told them with her face brightened that she felt something running through her limbs resembling “tingling,” and that she no longer needed anyone’s help to stand. She did indeed stand, and walked a few steps, repeating words of praise and thanks. Then she returned, boarded her vehicle, and drove it herself amid the cheering of the crowds and their emotional reaction to the miracle they witnessed.
She Clapped and Her Hand Straightened
Professor Dr. Shafiq Abdel Malik told us that it is impossible to keep up with all the miracles of healing due to their great number. Among those healed was a girl who had suffered an injury to her palm that caused her fingers to bend, and surgery had failed to straighten them or restore them to their natural state. She had never dreamed of the miracle that would take place for her when she saw the Virgin in the dome of the Church of Zeitoun on the Sunday before last. As soon as she saw the crowds clapping for the miraculous apparition, she found herself joining in the clapping—and only after she finished clapping and looked at her hand did she discover that her fingers had straightened, and she could hardly believe her eyes.
There is also a relative of a doctor who was a student of Dr. Shafiq Abdel Malik, Dr. Karima Abdel Shafi, who was healed from polio.
The Virgin’s Light Illuminated My Sight
Sami Wadi‘ Abdel Masih, a fourth-year medical student at Cairo University—22 Sheikh Abdel Karim Suleiman Street, Shubra, had suffered in his eyesight after the death of his father five years ago. His condition had been diagnosed by ophthalmologists as “astigmatism and myopia,” and he suffered from nearsightedness and weakness of vision to the point that he was unable to walk in the street without thick glasses with two lenses for sight. But no sooner had he seen the light emerging from one of the domes of the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun last week, than he removed his glasses and no longer needed them to walk in the street. Rather, the glasses hindered the strength of his sight.
When he returned with them to the eye doctor, the doctor denied that the glasses were his, telling him that the prescription in them did not match his present visual power. Yet he carries the medical certificates on which the glasses had been prepared, along with the measure of eyesight he regained afterward.
Heartbeat Became Regular
Mrs. Fayza Sayed Ahmed, 15 Abdel Latif El-Makbani Street, Heliopolis, had been suffering from irregular heartbeat. She had undergone surgery, and two years ago doctors had told her she needed another surgery. She had to eat certain foods free of salt. When the Fast of the Virgin arrived, she vowed to fast it, seeking intercession for healing. When the following fast came, she said, as though addressing the Virgin, “I will not be able to fast this so long as I am approaching surgery.”
She then went to the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun and saw the Virgin at dawn on the Tuesday before last. Afterward she felt her heartbeat become regular.
She told us that she had not been able to stand for minutes, yet there she was in front of the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun standing for ten hours, from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m., without feeling fatigue or strain.
Let Me Walk Alone
Fathi Mahmoud Siam, of the shop of photographer Ya‘qoub Al-Masri on Abdel Aziz Street No. 32 at Ataba, went to the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun last Saturday evening. At 4:30, a white light flashed above the central dome, and from it emerged what resembled a white dove. Next to him was a bedridden patient who could not stand, brought by his family in front of the church. At that moment the bedridden man rose and attempted to walk. His family surrounded him fearing he might fall, but he told them, “Leave me,” and proceeded through the crowd, joyful at regaining his ability to walk, while his family hurried after him.
Miracles for Me and Others
“Wadie Mina Aqladios,” supply officer at Luxor Commercial Secondary School, says in his letter that he greatly longed to visit the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun but many obstacles stood in his way. One by one those obstacles disappeared. He accompanied his wife, young daughter, and his lame son, and came to Egypt to visit the church. He continued visiting for several nights and saw the Virgin several times. His lame son, who had been unable to walk, began to take steps and was healed of his illness after doctors had despaired of treating him.
My Ear Opened
Girgis Filisteen Said, of the Faculty of Law at Cairo University, had from childhood, at age eight, suffered from weakness in his hearing in the right ear, nearly to the point of deafness. He went to the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun last Saturday evening, and his hearing returned after medicine had despaired of treating him.
The Pain Disappeared
Saad Kamel Hanna of Factory 36 of the General Aviation Authority had been suffering from severe continuous pain in his right side along with difficulty urinating. He returned to work early after spending the night at the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun last Sunday evening. When he went to the bathroom he felt a relief he had never felt before and discovered that a stone that had been in the kidney had passed, and the pain it caused disappeared.
My Son’s Arm Was Healed
Faris Sand Khalil, technician at the Sugar Company in Edfu, told Watani how he came to Cairo from his workplace in Aswan Governorate after traveling 800 kilometers by train to visit the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun. He spent four nights going back and forth from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., praying to God to heal his son “Fathi — 11 years old,” who had suffered a broken arm. When he returned home to Edfu, his son was the first to greet him joyfully, moving his arm and saying, “Look, dad, my arm is healed!” even though he had been previously unable to move it.
I Saw After 3 Years
Atiya Girgis, 13 Isis Street, Alexandria, said that his wife, Anisa Attallah, had suffered for three years from a retinal detachment. She underwent four operations performed by ophthalmologists Dr. Ahmed El-Rifai and Dr. Abdel Basset at the University Hospital in Alexandria, and in the end she lost her sight completely. Her husband brought her to the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun last week. She would lift her face upward yet see nothing. When something resembling a radiant white dove came forth from the church’s dome, her eyes opened for the first time after three years, and she said she could see it. The miracle was completed, and her sight returned.
I Was Healed of My Illnesses
Rafaat Ibrahim Abdel Masih, a bachelor of medicine in Alexandria, Fatma El-Youssef Street next to No. 4, Sporting, says: “I had been suffering from several illnesses, among them an ulcer in the stomach, hemorrhoids, inflammation of the kidney, and varicose veins that prevented me from standing. But when I visited the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun last week, I was able to stand for two consecutive full nights. Afterwards I felt that I had been cured of all my illnesses. And if it were not for my commitment to studying for my bachelor’s degree in medicine in Alexandria, I would not have left the Church of Zeitoun.”
From the Readers’ Letters
The Watani mailbag contained many letters in which their authors described how they visited the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun and the spiritual feelings that overwhelmed them after the visit. Among these were letters from:
Naashed Khalil El-Shoubaki, factory owner in Heliopolis-Zeitoun;
Ilya Shenouda Bakhit, secretary of the committee of the Church of the Virgin in Ard Bilal, Shubra, 11 El-Sayed Ahmed Street, Ard El-Shareka, Bilal;
Labib Faragallah and his daughter Janet, 4A Shaker El-Roubi Street, Heliopolis;
Nabil Filisteen of El-Qobba Secondary School;
Mahfouz Abdel Rahim El-Ramahi, Jordanian student at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University;
Nizar Baghdadi El-Jawali of Industrial Education;
Nashat Fahim Dawoud of Assiut;
and Maurice Saleh Ibrahim of Saray El-Qobba.
There were also pieces of prose poetry, including one by Mrs. Isis Fawzi Abdel Masih, beginning:
“Appear to us, appear, O Mary, shine,
I saw thousands and thousands,
A flood of people circling,
Your heavenly light heals our hearts,
Standing before the church,
In the night of the lost we came to you sleepless,
Chanting with tambourines.”
And other pieces by:
Maher Wasfi Bastourous,
Labib Girgis Farag,
Basili Fakhri Yassa,
Ibrahim Suleiman Wasf,
Boutros Ibrahim,
and Touson Fawzi.
Why Hide the Testimony?
Professor Ramses Gabravi, the lawyer, related that a university student related to a senior female employee had a family that complained of his neglect of study and immersion in amusements. The family struggled to correct him. His relative asked him to go to the Church of Zeitoun to see the Virgin, hoping she might guide him. He did go and did see the Virgin, but he did not wish to reveal what he saw. When asked if he had seen her, he denied it.
He then went to bed, and in the morning his family noticed a change in his behavior. He wandered as though absent-minded, his eyes unfocused, muttering phrases repeatedly but in an unknown language. The family took him to a doctor, who said that the repeated phrases indicated a different language he did not understand. He advised that the young man be shown to a Coptic priest. The priest was called, and he discovered that the phrase the young man was repeating was in the Coptic language, which he had never spoken before, and that its meaning was:
“Why do you deny that you saw me, when I chose you to testify for me?”
The priest prayed for the young man, and he returned to his normal state. He felt ashamed and remorseful as he narrated how he saw the Virgin in the Church of Zeitoun and then denied seeing her when he was asked. He asked for forgiveness for his denial.
From that day he changed and was renewed. He became a different, serious person who no longer inclined toward fun or frivolity. His experience, after seeing the Virgin, became a living message to his family and acquaintances.
I Saw Her Several Times
Professor Ramses Yanni Maqar, chartered accountant in Khartoum, says that after arriving from Sudan by plane he went to the Church of the Virgin at Zeitoun and stayed there until dawn last Sunday. He saw astonishing things: mist gathering around the church dome, and from it a light emerging and forming the figure of the Virgin in a luminous body moving above the trees and around the domes. He saw her in more than one form several times, once carrying the Child Jesus on her arm and then transferring Him to the other arm; another time standing as she did at the Cross. Her appearance was preceded by something resembling a white dove. The apparition was accompanied by radiant forms like angels surrounding her.
At 3:15 a.m. her luminous body began forming a semicircle and looked like the moon. Some people said she had appeared in the moon. But the luminous semicircle kept growing and shrinking from time to time. At 5:30 a.m. he looked towards it and found it no more. He says:
“I lived spiritual moments that penetrated my depths, and I was happy that I saw the Virgin in several scenes while some who stood near me saw her only in some of them—among them my brother-in-law, Professor Adeeb Nazir, lawyer, and his wife, and Mrs. Hoda Basha Girgis, wife of my other brother-in-law, Colonel Shukri Basha Makarios.”
A Harsh Lesson
We Must Learn From It…
Rumors and Why Do We Believe Them and Get Swept Away by Them?
By: Anton Naguib Mattar
Everyone officials, clergy, and people grieved deeply and felt immense sorrow for the victims of the disaster that occurred in the Church of the Archangel in Shubra. Fifteen families lost either their breadwinner or their blooming daughters still in the spring of youth and at the beginning of life, those who were their hearts’ delight and the apple of their eyes—because of a rumor spread about the Virgin’s apparition on a church window. Without verifying the truth, thousands rushed unconsciously into the church through narrow entrances and pathways, as though it were the Day of Judgment. Some were suffocated by the crowd, others trampled underfoot. And the disaster happened…
True, minds were prepared and souls were thirsty to see the Virgin after her true apparition in her church in Zeitoun, and after the miracles God Almighty granted to many who sought her intercession—Muslims and Christians alike. But does this mean we should follow rumors, or run without discernment to see a cloth whose owner claimed the Virgin stamped her hand upon it, or a tray said to bear an image resembling her without verifying the matter, and before the Papal Residence issues a statement denying or confirming it?
And even if the Virgin did appear on the window of the Church of the Archangel in Shubra, would it have been permissible to rush in this insane manner, trampling and being trampled to death? Is there not something called order? And when shall we practice it in our private and public life?
Had we adhered to it, the disaster would not have occurred, we would have spared the bereaved families their grief, and preserved the lives of innocent souls crushed under our feet and exhausted unintentionally, but due to our poor conduct and lack of order and organization.
It is a harsh, bitter lesson we must learn, preserve, and understand that we must not believe everything said, nor rush recklessly and without discernment. That we must maintain order, thereby preserving ourselves and our brothers. That we should assist the officials who watch over our wellbeing and not add to their burdens. And that we should heed the warnings of the Papal Residence and not believe rumors before an official statement is issued regarding them.
Mercy upon the innocent victims, and consolation to their grieving, afflicted families.
Watani – Sunday 26 May 1968
18 Bashans 1684 – Issue 493
