According to Coptic tradition, Zeitoun is near one of the locations where the Holy Family stayed during their flight into Egypt. The church is revered as one of the locations Christians believe the Holy Family stayed during their flight to Egypt. [1], John S. Derr and Michael A. Persinger propose a possible cause of the lights themselves in Tectonic Strain Theory, the idea that the occurrence of earthquakes causes the appearance of strange lights. Crucially, this entire event took place shortly after Egypt's defeat in the Six Day War, which resulted in great public despair and anxiety, and just a few days after President Nasser's March 30 Manifesto which outlined his plan for Egypt to recover. Our Lady of the Apparition Church, Zeitoun, Cairo - Alamy They made some phone calls, and soon police were there breaking up a crowd of onlookers. On both sides, passions were high and people were scared. Hugh Everetts Many Worlds Theory: Expanding the Boundaries of Reality, New explanation for huge gravity hole in the Indian Ocean. The church has 16 Jul 2023. 2023 Skeptoid Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. She acknowledged the peoples presence by smiling at the crowd and blessing them with her hands. Her garments swayed in the wind. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. [7] Primary sources used by Johnston put 250,000 as the upper limit for a single night, though the difficulty in estimating crowd size in the dark means the number of people in the crowd may have been significantly larger or smaller. Then, the Blessed Virgin Mary visited him in a dream requesting instead that he build a Coptic Church in her honor. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. The vision would glide with effortless ease across the domes, bowing and greeting the amazed crowds below. In these unprecedented revelations, the Blessed Virgin Mary came to Zeitoun as Our Lady of Light, that is, the Woman clothed with the Sun with a crown on her head, much like the great portent that appears in Heaven (Rev. By early 1970 the frequency of the apparitions had diminished to an average of one per month. Custom DIGITAL DOWNLOAD Colorized Photo Painting of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Zeitoun, Egypt (1.6k) Sale Price $ . There are many exquisite Vietnam War photos, both daytime and nighttime. The police said it was just some light reflecting in a weird way from a street light but the crowd knew that wasnt the case. This Marian apparition from Egypt has some science fiction explanations and a sound one. She maintained an attitude of prayer bowing towards the cross and blessing the people. The apparitions continued for long periods, up to 2 hours and 15 minutes as in the dawn of Tuesday April 30, 1968, where she appeared continuously from 2:45am till 5:00am. News of the apparitions spread like fire across Egypt, attracting multitudes of Christians, Jews, Moslems, other religions, and even disbelievers and atheists. [3] Soon afterward, the Ministry of Tourism also issued a validation of the sightings, and began printing pamphlets.[4]. Police searched an area up to 15 miles out from the church, extensively, for any kind of device that might create such an effect. CREATIVE Collections Project #ShowUs Creative Insights Custom Content EDITORIAL VIDEO BBC Motion Gallery NBC News Archives MUSIC The Papal Residence, by issuing this statement, declares with complete faith, great rejoicing, and with gratitude submitted through self-humiliation to Almighty God that the Blessed Virgin Mary has appeared numerous times in clear and steady forms during many different nights for varying periods, that reached in some of them to more than two hours continually, since the second of April 1968 up to now in the Coptic Orthodox Church in Zeitoun, Cairo, that is in Matariya Road through which the Holy Family had passed during their settlement in Egypt as well-known, historically.. On April 2, 1968, miracles began to happen at the church as was promised. And within another week all the trees around the church would be cut. Derr and Persinger, the original authors, correlated her appearance to seismic activity 400 km to the southeast. However, the crowds reportedly viewed the sighting as a clear apparition of the Virgin Mary, and so, the attempts by the police to disperse the crowd were unsuccessful. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. The following is excerpted from Pope Cyril's Patriarchate Report On the Apparition of Saint Mary in the Zaitoun Church in Cairo, Egypt: The Holy Virgin Saint Mary sometimes appeared surrounded with a halo of shining light. The woman beside me was convinced it was the Virgin, which reveals once again that what the eye sees is the consequence not so much of psychological processes but of intellectual, emotional and ideational concerns. Within a few weeks, the crowds reached an estimated 250,000 people every night! Staten Island, NY 10304. Upon questioning her, they learned that she was traveling to Zeitoun. Burning Bush, Burning HeartsExodus as a Paradigm of the Gospel. [1], The patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Pope Kyrillos VI appointed a committee of high-ranking priests and bishops to investigate the matter, directed by Bishop Gregorios, bishop of postgraduate studies, Coptic culture and scientific research. Perhaps, Mary had come to mollify these tensions against Copts and other Christians in this very vulnerable time. Suddenly, she cried out in a loud voice, I see the apparition of the Blessed Virgin! In that instant she regained both her eyesight and her power of speech. This page was last edited on 12 July 2023, at 06:23. Written testimonies from three of the passengers, Mrs. Flora Abdel Malek (a doctors wife), Father Boctor Zaki (a pastor), and Mr. Aziz Soadalla (member of church committee) were sent to the national newspaper. There are, however, some photographs. [See also:13 Beautiful Non-White Depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary], [See also:7 Approved Recent Marian Apparitions, In 1 Cool Infographic], Youve successfully subscribed to ChurchPOP. Siham Shenouda saw the Virgin Mary from 2:30 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. on April 29, 1968: She was fluorescent and colored and at times with beings as two to four angels hovering around her. The photos are really haunting and have been analyzed and from what technicians can tell, they weren't faked. Witnessed by President and Photographed: Marian Apparition of Zeitoun Jake Carter 03/23/2020 Unexplained Phenomena 776 Our Lady of Zeitoun 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. 14 Feb. 2017, Volume 9, Issue 3: 183-196. Brief Presentation on "Our Lady of Zeitoun" w/ Real Pictures - Reddit No device was found within a radius of fifteen miles capable of projecting the image, and many photos were taken of the alleged apparition by independent photographers. This same pattern was repeated at irregular intervals for three years sometimes a few times a week, sometimes only every few weeks; and as many as 250,000 people are said to have seen her both Christians and Muslims alike. Download Bible Millennium Edition (Catholic Douay-Rheims 1899) August - December 2000: Our Lady Appears in Assiut, Egypt. 500 Todt Hill Rd. [4][14], On 12 May 2018, the Coptic Church celebrated the golden Jubilee of the event. However, these interpretations dont align with the fact that Muslims saw the apparitions including the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser who directly contributed to the persecution against Coptic and Jewish minorities since 1952. We need no earthquake lights, no miracles, and no papal declarations to explain Our Lady of Zeitoun. At that moment, the lady rose to her feet, revealing herself as a luminous being, dressed in shimmering robes of light. On Tuesday, April 2, 1968, at 8:30 p.m. two Moslem workmen, standing at the gate to their work garage across from the church, were startled by the appearance of a "lady in white," kneeling beside the cross at the top of the church's dome. Arms and fingers could not move to adjust cameras or take pictures. If you like this programming, please become a member. Church of the Virgin Mary (Zeitoun) - Wikipedia By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. 1 Sep. 1973, Volume 16, Number 9: 5-11. It is theorized that she never spoke or relayed any verbal messages due to the diversity of the crowds and varying beliefs. Every time the slightest reflection would appear, the crowd would swell in cheers and gasps of awe, for there was no doubt in their minds that they were seeing the Virgin Mary. Our Lady of Zeitoun - Wikipedia A 34-year old mute, Adel Abdel Malek, unable to speak since birth, was cured and able to speak. Nelson spent may evenings there herself, and on several occasions she saw what appeared to be flashes of light on the church's domes, which to her looked similar to headlights. Was the Blessed Virgin Mary retracing the steps of the Holy Familys flight into Egypt some two millennia later? It is over the domes of this small church that our Lady appeared to millions for more than a year, starting on the eve of Tuesday, April 2, 1968. In addition, this occurred in a predominantly Muslim country and at a Coptic Church, which might be why Catholics are less familiar with it. Thousands if not million of egyptians saw her, including envoys from the Vatican, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Protestant Evangelical Ministries, and the Egyptian government and . There was movement of the body and of the clothing .