The Holy Virgin Mary has been appearing at St Mary's Orthodox church in Al-Warraq, Cairo since October 12, attracting thousands and thousands of Christians and Muslims. The Bishop of Giza, Anba Theodosius, announces that the Holy Virgin has appeared in a transfiguration at the Church named after her in Warraq al-Hadar, Giza, in the early hours of Friday, December 11, 2009, at 1:00 am. The Holy Virgin appeared in her full height in luminous robes, above the middle dome of the church, in a pure white dress and a royal blue belt. She had a crown on her head, above which appeared the cross on top of the dome. The crosses on top of the church’s domes and towers glowed brightly with light. The Holy Virgin moved between the domes and on to the top of the church gate between its two twin towers. The local residents all saw her. The apparition lasted from 1:00 am until 4:00 am on Friday, and was registered by cameras and cell phones. Some 3,000 people from the neighborhood, surrounding areas, and passers-by gathered in the street in front of the church to see the apparition. Since Friday, the huge crowds gathered in the vicinity of the church have been seeing luminous white pigeons soaring above the church during various times of the night, as well as a star, which emerges suddenly in the heavens, travels some 200 meters across the sky, then disappears. The huge crowds gathered around the church do not cease singing hymns and praises for the Holy Virgin. I personally find no reason to be skeptical about the idea of the Holy Virgin Mary appearing on the domes of her church during the blessed Nativity Fast, especially at this time. Her appearance as such has been confirmed by the Church in the past (e.g. her appearance at Zeitoun, Shoubra and Assiut). The video footage, coming as it does from a camera phone, isn't the best of quality, but it is clear enough in my opinion–and in the opinion of the commentators, who, by the way, are not Christian, and who do in fact briefly note and proceed to reply to some obvious typical objections to the footage. The display at 4:50-4:54 shows that the illumined figure is, contrary to the illumined crosses, not attached to the church's structure. As is clearer to the eye witnesses, the light of the illumined figure differs remarkably from the dull yellow light of the crosses–it is a mixture of a bright blue and white light (the blue light presumably corresponding to her blue attire); eye-witnesses have furthermore noted that it does not retain a fixed position. The Mother of Jesus was appearing for tens of thousands to see in the land of the pyramids at a Coptic church constructed to commemorate the area in Egypt where she had come with Joseph and Jesus when they all fled from Herod. Starting in April, 1968, her apparitions of light changed the lives of thousands. Her appearances in Zeitun were astounding. She was seen by more than a million people. The apparitions were broadcast by Egyptian TV, photographed by hundreds of professional photographers and personally witnessed by Egyptian President Abdul Nasser. Her first visit was on the night of April 2, 1968. Two Muslim watchmen at a garage saw a woman walking the roof of the church across the street. Afraid she was going to jump, they ran out shouting at her not to take her life, summoning a crowd below. The priest of the chapel was the first to believe it was an apparition. The longest single appearance was on April 30, 1968, when the vision remained from 2:45 am until 5 am. The nightly apparition attracted vast crowds of both Copts and Muslims, and was declared a genuine miracle by the Coptic Church. On the eve of Tuesday, March 25, 1986 (Baramhat 16, 1702 am), the Holy Virgin Mary started Her apparitions in the church of Saint Demiana, the martyr in Papadouplo, in the Shoubra quarter of Cairo. The church of Saint Demiana in Papadouplo is a very small and poor Coptic Orthodox church and the surrounding “streets” are very narrow (about 4 meters wide). On this day, our Lady appeared beside the two towers of the church of Saint Demiana and was first seen by people living in the houses overlooking the church's towers; Her light shone in their houses and they saw Her in Her full body surrounded by a halo of light over the left (western) dome of the church. This apparition was repeated several times, then the news spread and people from all sects and religions came to see the apparitions. The very narrow streets surrounding the church became overcrowded with thousands of night vigils praying and singing doxologies, liturgies and hymns to the Mother of True Light for whole nights. Also, in 2000, an apparition of the Virgin Mary had been spotted in the small Egyptian town of Assiut. Outside the church, hopeful pilgrims each night chanted “Come Mary, Come,” or “Your Light is on the Cross,” hoping to beseech the Virgin Mary to appear between the two towers of the church, as she had done the previous nights, they say. It is believed by Christians in Egypt, that the Virgin Mary appears in times of crisis and unrest in order to support them at the time of adversity. She appeared at the Zeitun Church in 1968, the year after a setback of 67 , and these days, when Copts face Islamic persecution from the Egyptian regime and their follow Muslims, she has appeared again. BM The beliefs and statements of all Bikya Masr blogumnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect our editorial views.
