Good day, dear Take in Mind readers! I must admit that my preparations for this article took me almost twice as much time as it usually takes me to collect and study the material. There are several reasons for that: First, the topic is really ambiguous, and Second, it was very difficult to find materials that objectively discuss the topic (without skepticism, but also without dogmatism). By the way, it is for these reasons that I kindly ask our readers to be as accurate as possible in their public assessments and especially comments.
I hope I’ve intrigued you! So, let’s move on to the topic of our today’s article. In accordance with the knows-all Wikipedia, a Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a series of related appearances over a period of time. Clearly, each case is a subject of a special study conducted by the church officials, who after careful analysis can confirm or disconfirm the phenomena, declaring it or not to be a miracle.
Numerous such events have been recorded in Christian history. The geography is amazing: Mexico, Malta, Portugal, Rwanda, Russia, Japan… a single appearance or a series of apparitions. Usually, the appearance of the Virgin Mary is witnessed by several people, most often children (as, for example, in Boren, Belgium or Arkhangelsk, Russia – probably due to their purity and cleanliness that is not yet spoiled by civilization).
No doubt, we can discuss each of these cases for hours. Skeptics will talk about staging or natural anomalies, and some will even suggest the use of some kind of non-conventional weapon – for example, in the cases near the city of Avgustov in 1914 or in South Ossetia in 2008 where the Virgin was seen by the soldiers. Believers, in turn, will argue that direct participants and eyewitnesses are undergone numerous examinations (however, to be fair it should be noted that these checks are mainly carried out by the church). So everyone will remain in their rightness. And if so, why provoke such a dispute again?
There is at least one case that stands out for its absolute unusualness. And not even due to a matter of faith, but due to the dominance of facts. First, by the duration and frequency of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in one particular place. Second, because of tens of thousands (and according to some sources, even about a million) witnesses. Third, because of the attempts to study what happened not only by religious but also by secular scholars. Fourth, there are photo and video evidence obtained from completely independent sources.
I am starting with a legend. Long ago, namely in 1923, a wealthy Copt Ibrahim Pasha Khalil had decided to build a villa on some land in Zeitoun, a suburb outside Cairo. The construction process was already in full swing, but suddenly at night, he had a dream. The Virgin Mary came to him and offered to build her a church in Zeitoun. If it would be done as she asked, the Virgin promised to appear at the church in 40 (in some sources, 50) years. So, St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church was built on Tumanbay Street.
From the official report by Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate (May 4, 1968):
…Since the evening of Tuesday April 2, 1968… the apparitions of the Holy Virgin Saint Mary, Mother of God, have continued in her church in Zaitoun, Cairo. The apparitions have been on several nights and are continuing.
The Holy Virgin Saint Mary sometimes appeared surrounded with a halo of shining light. She was seen in different locations such as on the windows of the domes of the church. And, she was observed walking on the roof of the church. When she knelt in reverence to the cross, the cross shone with bright light. Waving her blessed hands and nodding her head, she blessed the people who gathered to observe the miracle. She sometimes appeared in a cloud of light and sometimes as a figure of light. Her apparitions were sometimes preceded with heavenly bodies shaped like doves moving at high speeds. 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.
Thousands of people of different denominations and religions, Egyptians and foreign visitors observed the miracles. The description of each apparition as of the time, location and configuration was identically witnessed by all people, which makes this apparition unique and sublime.
Two important aspects accompanied this miracle: The first is an incredible revival in the faith of many, repentance of many and the return of many who strayed away from the faith. The second are the numerous miracles of healing which were verified by many physicians to be miraculous in nature.
The church confirmed the apparition after a thorough investigation by the Church Council assigned by his Holiness Pope Cyril (Kyrellos), who observed the miracle as well…
The apparitions were also approved by officials from other Christian confessions such as Cardinal Stephanos I (Stephen I) from the Coptic Catholic Patriarch, Father Dr. Henry Ayrout, the rector of the Catholic Collège de la Sainte Famille (Jesuit order) in Cairo, and Rev. Dr. Ibrahim Said, who was the head of all Protestant Evangelical Ministries in Egypt. On the evening of Sunday, April 28, 1968, an official envoy from the Vatican arrived, saw the apparitions, and sent a report to His Holiness Pope Paul VI of Rome. More details you can find in When Millions Saw Mary by Francis Johnston (Augustine Publishing Co., 1980).
From the first Apparition on April 2, 1968, till May 29, 1971 (the last officially registered case in Zeytun), the Virgin Mary was repeatedly seen above the church, sometimes several times a week. According to some estimates, about a million people witnessed these apparitions. Biblical researcher Rebecca Jackson, co-author of A Lady of Light Appears in Egypt, conducted several interviews with the eyewitnesses: “What sticks out is that everyone agrees on what they saw, regardless of their faith. They were convinced that what they saw in Zeitoun was for real.”
To our deepest joy, secular scientists have become interested in the events in Zeytun. Cynthia Nelson (1933–2006), professor of anthropology at the American University in Cairo and founding director of the Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies, wrote a very detailed article “The Virgin of Zeitoun”. This manuscript, further published in Worldview journal (Vol. 16 (9), pp. 5-11, September 1973), collected not only the observations of Prof. Nelson from the concrete place of the apparition but also numerous curious evidence from local scholars. I wish to present to your attention a few quotes from the article without any comments of my own.
…From that spring of 1968 to the present scores of apparitions have been reported and thousands of people have visited Zeitoun-Muslims as well as Christians, Egyptians as well as foreigners, scholars as well as theologians, urban bourgeoisie as well as peasants, men and women, young and old. Sometimes the Virgin is seen as a full figure, her face with downcast eyes and her body enveloped in blue light. At other times she is seen as a bustlike figure surrounded by a golden halo. Sometimes she moves and walks around the domes, bending her head in front of the Cross or facing the multitudes below and blessing them. She also has been seen carrying the child Jesus or an olive branch. Always preceding and accompanying her appearance are large white birds flying at great speed, and the air fills with incense. Sundays and Tuesdays, as well as her feast days, are particularly favored times for seeing her. But never has she been described as talking or giving an oral message to the people…
(From the interview with the eyewitness) …When I looked to where the crowds were pointing I, too, though I saw a light through the branches of the trees, and as I tried to picture a nunlike figure in those branches, I could trace the outline of a figure. But as I thought to myself that this is just an illusion of the light reflecting through the branches, the image of the nun would leave my field of vision. Still, there was no doubt in my mind that there was a light and that if I looked for the image it would come into focus. I immediately “explained” this perceptual experience as an illusion caused by reflected light. But the source of the light was a mystery, for the streetlights had been disconnected all around the church for several days…
…The concern among university graduates to accommodate a “rational, positivistic, scientific” outlook with one which could be described as religious. Many university professors and students I interviewed about the apparition dismissed the whole phenomenon as the result of the overactive imagination of “lower class peasants who are very superstitious and are easily convinced.” Interestingly, however, the great majority of people who have gathered at Zeitoun over the past five years have not been Upper Egyptian peasants but rather middle-class workers and semiprofessionals, many of whom are highly educated….
…However, there are those for whom the apparition does not make sense and for whom an admission of its validity would threaten their taken-for-granted world. One prominent Cairo surgeon expressed this existential dilemma in the following narrative:
“A patient of mine upon whom I had operated two years ago for cancer returned to my office three weeks ago for a check-up. Upon examination, I discovered that the man had another tumor. I actually felt the tumor during the internal examination and removed a piece of tissue for biopsy. When the test showed it was malignant I recommended an immediate operation, but the man refused, saying he did not have enough money and left the office. Two weeks later he returned and asked for another examination. To my astonishment I would not find the tumor, but only some white scar tissue. The man told me he had gone to Zeitoun and prayed to the Virgin for help. I do not believe in such miracles, but I cannot explain the disappearance of the tumor and it is driving me mad….”
…A Muslim-Marxist sociologist at one of the national universities and I were discussing the Zeitoun phenomenon, and he stated that he was extremely disturbed by the fact that the apparition was “being witnessed’ by highly literate, educated and cultured people, i.e., people whom he identified as an “intellectual elite,” and this was threatening his taken-for-granted world. It would be more understandable if such a thing had occurred in Upper Egypt, where it is known that the peasants are great believers in supernatural phenomena like this-but physicians, scientists, professors – these people are more rational! They must have to compartmentalize their thinking, or else they are schizophrenic…
…Curiously, this sociologist, like several other educated Egyptians who did not believe in the phenomenon, refused to go to Zeitoun to see for himself what was going on, perhaps not wishing to have his own rational, secular view of the world shaken even further…
Ladies and Gentlemen! Of course, the purpose of my article was not to try to change your mind or convince anyone of anything! No, no, and again no! My wish was solely to provide you with the facts from all possible sources. So that you would, in a calm atmosphere, decide for yourself – where the events in Zeytun a real appearance of the Virgin Mary or a three-year series of inexplicable light phenomena? The decision as well as what to do next with it is entirely up to you…
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