OUR LADY OF ZEITOUN

Day 325: April 02

Our Lady of Zeitoun, Cairo, Egypt



One of the lesser-known Marian apparitions is that of Zeitoun, in which Mary showed herself, without leaving any message, to both Christians and Muslims. In Arabic, Zeitoun means "olives" and for this reason the apparition is associated with peace. The city of Zeitoun is located in the Matruh region, near Cairo, the capital of Egypt. According to tradition, Jesus, Mary and Joseph took refuge in this place to escape the persecution of King Herod. In Zeitoun is the Coptic Orthodox Church of St Mark.

On the night of April 2, 1968, on the roof of this church, a luminous image appeared with the profile of a woman, identified as the Virgin Mary. This event was observed by several witnesses, whose accounts agreed in the description of the details. However, the apparitions date back to 1920 when Tawfiq Khalil Bey, a Coptic owner, decided to build a building in Zeitoun. The Virgin appeared to him promising him that if he built a church instead of a building, she would honor that place in a special way. So it was and therefore the church of San Marco was built.

Zeitoun's apparitions took place between 1968 and 1970. When on April 2, 1968, some Muslim workers saw a woman kneeling at the foot of the cross, they immediately recognized her as the Virgin Mary. Other apparitions then occurred, and always linked to luminous phenomena, defined as "rain of diamonds" and accompanied by a scent of incense. The image resembles that of the Immaculate Conception seen by Catherine Labouré in Paris in 1830 and which had become very popular in Catholic schools in Egypt.

Testimonies of these apparitions remain in some video footage and photos. There were numerous investigations to try to find out whether or not it was real. Later, over the years, these apparitions began to attract multitudes of people, sometimes as many as 250,000 people at a time, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, but also non-believers, or of different nationalities. Usually Mary's apparitions took place at night. Together with the Virgin you could frequently see bright doves circling around her. Those who witnessed these phenomena saw the Virgin walking over the church and dome, kneeling and on some occasions lifting the baby Jesus in her arms.

The apparitions did not all have the same duration and varied from a few minutes to even nine hours. Kyrillos VI, the Orthodox Patriarch, created a commission whose purpose was to conduct investigations into the apparitions. Some of the members of the commission described a fragrant purple smoke that rose from the church during the apparitions of this woman wrapped in a ball of light, which could be observed by all present, Christians and Muslims. The church, once renovated, was then dedicated to "The Virgin of Light."

The silent apparitions of Zeitoun are considered a call for ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. Pope Paul VI, who sent observers to the site, declared that the Holy See respected the opinion of the local Church. Similarly, the Coptic Catholic Church deeply respects the Coptic Orthodox Church's version of the apparition account.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"O Most holy Mary, allow that your slave of love may pray to you! Come to my soul, to our home, to our work as to the sacred cenacle. Come and remain with us in a perpetual visitation. Come, O holy Mary!"

(Justin Russolillo, Devotional, Vocationist Editions, Pianura, 2009, p. 122)

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