The Virgin in Zeitoun

Original Book Title: العذراء في الزيتون
Author Name: His Grace Bishop Gregorios (Gregory); (1919 – 2001 AD)
Bishop Gregorios is the General Bishop of the Ecclesial Higher Studies, Coptic Culture and Scientific Research.
He was nominated by Pope Cyril VI at that time during this great event as the Head of the Ecclesial Official Committee for the Investigations and Fact Finding for Zeitoun Apparitions and the Healing Miracles by our Lady back in 1968 AD.
Publisher Name: N/A
Publication Year:during 1969 AD
Book Language: Arabic
ISBN: N/A

 (The Official Report of the Coptic Church on the Apparitions)

The Purpose of this Report:

The Report was mainly issued to collect and organize all the available information of the recurring Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Zeitoun starting on the evening of Tuesday, April 2nd, 1968 AD, and continuing until the time of the report’s publication. Taking into considerations all the verbal testimonies and written reports from eyewitnesses in local newspapers and medical reports.

Moreover the report reflects all the investigations done to verify the Apparitions validity especially to examine the reports of the numerous healing miracles since the beginning of the Apparitions, counting on the judgments of the medical doctors and specialists who were part of the medical arm of the committee.

Official Report Contents:

  • The Official Papal Statement issued from the Papal Residence on May 4th, 1968 AD, regarding the Apparitions of the Holy Virgin on April 2nd, 1968 AD, at her Church in Zeitoun, a district of Cairo.
  • The Report of the first small investigation committee commissioned by His Holiness Pope Cyril VI, to verify the authenticity of the Apparitions. This committee included three esteemed priests who submitted their report to His Holiness on April 30th, 1968 AD:
    • Fr. Guirguis Matta, Director of the Papal Office.
    • Fr. Yohanna Abd El-Masih, Secretary of the Papal Committee for Church Affairs.
    • Fr. Benjamin Kamel, Personal Secretary of His Holiness the Pope.
  • Details of the Press Conference held at the Papal Residence in St. Mark Cathedral Down Town (Markosya – Azbakeya), including the announcement of the papal statement regarding the apparition. The conference was attended by 150 delegates from newspapers and news agencies, both from Egypt and abroad.
  • Pope representatives in the Press Conference:
    • Bishop Abram of Fayoum,
    • Bishop Athanasius of Benisuef,
    • Bishop Samuel of Coptic Public & Social Services,
    • Bishop Gregorios, Bishop of Higher Studies, Coptic Culture, and Scientific Research,
    • Group of esteemed Priests and Deacons.
  • Q&A Session detail during the press conference.
  • Reactions of Arab and Foreign newspapers to the Apparitions, supported with copies of various local and international newspapers and photographic images of the Holy Apparition taken by Mr. Wagih Rizk.

Supernatural Scenes and Phenomenon Summary:

The report details the various Scenes of the Apparitions in which the Virgin Mary appeared, including:

  • Her appearance as a luminous crystal statue, standing as a queen, as witnessed by His Grace Bishop Athanasius.
  • Figure of our Lady of Sorrows (The Sorrowful Mother).
  • Her full natural size, crowned as a queen with light radiating from her body, as described by Zaki Shenouda, the lawyer and director of the Afro-Asian Conference, as well as Bishop Athanasius of Beni Suef.
  • Kneeling before the Cross of the middle Dome.

The committee supported the report with documented testimonies from those who witnessed each of these scenes. The report also identified six spiritual phenomena accompanying the apparition, such as:

  • Luminous Dove-like Shape.
  • Stars of supernatural look.
  • Dense fragrant clouds of incense that could not be replicated even by thousands of censors.

Report Indexes:

The author developed three indexes to reflect all the sources used for the events and the details of the apparitions:

  1. An index dedicated to some paintings of the Holy Virgin, real photographic images of the apparition taken by photographers, illustrative drawings used by eyewitnesses in their testimonies, as well as images and publications about the apparition featured in newspapers, (30 photos)
  2. The documents referenced in the report, along with the names of their contributors, (16 documents)
  3. List of all the Names of the individuals mentioned in the report, including those from the church, scientists, and others, along with a brief about each person.

 

These well-developed Indexes made this Book or Report to be the first and most important Official Archiving Document of the Apparitions:

 

Table of Contents

The Papal Statement 7
The Report of the Committee 11
The Press Conference 15
The Impact of the Papal Statement in the Media 41
Introduction 57
·         Previous Apparitions 57
·         Apparitions in the West 60
·         The Special Features of Zeitoun Apparitions 61
·         The Apparition is a Fact 65
·         Papal Committee for Investigations and Fact Finding 69
 
The Most Important Heavenly Event in the 20th Century  
The Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary above and in the Domes of Her Church in Zeitoun  
First Chapter: Apparitions Scenes 77
·         First Scene: The Sorrowful Virgin Scene 78
·         Second Scene: The Crowned Queen on the Trees 80
·         Third Scene: The Crowned Queen on the S-W Dome 85
·         Fourth Scene:  The Virgin looking from the N-E Dome 91
·         Fifth Scene: The Virgin Bust at the N-E Dome 95
·         Sixth Scene: The Virgin Bust on the Central Dome 96
·         Seventh Scene: The Virgin Kneeling and Praying in front of the Cross 101
·         Eighth Scene: The Virgin in Full Size Crystal-like Statue 105
·         Ninth Scene: The Virgin on top of the Palm tree and leaning on its branches 106
·         Tenth Scene: The Virgin carrying Christ appears in the Eastern Dome 109
 
Second Chapter: The Spiritual Phenomenon accompanied the Apparitions of the Virgin Mother of Light 113
·         First: Appearance of Spiritual Illuminated Beings of Dove-like shapes 113
·         Second: Stars 123
·         Third: Light 124
·         Fourth: Cross of Light 128
·         Fifth: Aromatic Incense 130
·         Sixth: Clouds of Light 132
Why the Blessed Virgin Appeared in Zeitoun? 135
Indexes  
First Index: Photographic Images & Paintings 145
Second Index: Documents referenced in this Report 148
Third Index: People mentioned in this Report 150
Table of Contents 156

 

 

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