Zeitoun
Apparition in Zeitoun, Egypt
At the time of the apparitions was Zeitoun
more of a Cairo suburb than a district in it; now
it has become one of the thickly populated
districts in Cairo. Tumanbay Street, where the
Coptic church lies, is a main street at Zeitoun.
The church was built by the late Tawfeek
Khalil Bey, under the supervision of the Italian
architect Leomingelli in 1924, and was
consecrated a year later by Anba Athanasyous,
Bishop of Beni Sweif.
It is said that the Virgin Mary appeared to
the late Khalil Pasha Ibrahim and requested him
to build a church after Her name in this place.
She gave Her word that She would make Her
apparition fifty years hence--a promise that has
been realized when She made Her first apparition
on April 2nd, 1968.
Opposite to the church there used to be a big
garage for the buses of the Public Transport
Authority.
On April 2nd 1968 an hour and a half after
sunset, the mechanics and drivers of the garage
were all alarmed by some disturbance in the
street. The workmen ran to the street. They saw a
young lady dressed in white on the church dome.
They saw her walking on the dome. They thought
that she was about to throw herself down. So they
cried: "Be careful. Take care, you may fall
down, wait." As the dome is curved, no human
being can walk on it. Then some of the
pedestrians who stood to watch the scene cried
"Virgin Mary, Virgin Mary."
As the garage workmen who were watching the
apparition were all Moslems, they looked on
keenly and they all became extremely astonished.
The lady who appeared in a luminous body, moved
on the dome and bowed and knelt before the
cross..!
The Traffic in Tumanbay Street was stopped and
a big crowd of people stood to watch the
apparition. The workmen of the garage who were on
duty at that particular time all gave reports
that ascertained and confirmed their witness as
they all gave the same particulars. As did Father
Costantin, the priest of the church.
It is also said that a Dutch lady, called
Jopie Vermeulen, after the proclamation of the
Virgin's apparition, sent a letter stating that
the Virgin appeared to her in her bedroom in
Amsterdam and told her that She appeared in Her
Church at Zeitoun in the place where Mary and the
child Jesus rested when fled to Egypt. A lady
from Oslo did the same.
Sometimes She appeared in a bust and at other
times in Her full body... moving between and on
the domes. She bowed to the congregation and the
crowds of people in front of the church. She
blessed them. On certain nights She stood in the
attitude of praying. She knelt in front of the
church cross and the dome. Sometimes She was
accompanied or preceded by celestial beings in
the form of doves: luminous and bright. At other
times She was seen with an olive branch in Her
hand.
Some priests of high rank were then delegated
by His Holiness Pope Anba Kyrillos VI to make
researches and investigations on the spot. They
stayed there for several nights enquiring and
investigating until they saw with their own eyes
the apparition in the full form moving on the
domes and blessing the multitudes in front of the
church.
During that period it was seen in different
forms, all in luminous vivid body; sometimes in a
bust, and sometimes in full form, always
surrounded by a white glittering halo and making
Her appearance either from the dome openings or
from the space between the domes on which it used
to move and march and bow before the cross on the
church roof, making it emanate a magnificent
light. It used also to face the multitudes of
people in front of the church and bless them with
the hands and with nods from the head.
Sometimes the apparition was in the form of a
celestial body like a glittering white cloud or
in the form of light preceded by some spiritual
forms such as doves of great speed.
The apparitions used to last for quite a long
time; on April 30th 1968 they lasted for two
hours.
The apparitions have been witnessd by many
thousands of citizens and foreigners belonging to
different religions and sects, with groups of
religious organizations and scientific and
professional personages and all other categories
of people who have proclaimed and announced their
witnesses.. all giving the same particulars as to
description and form and time and place, that
unanimity has placed the matter of apparition
beyond any doubt.
Upon visiting the Coptic Church of Zeitoun
many patients suffering from incurable diseases
have been miraculously cured. The Papal Committee
have examined the cures medically and
scientifically. Blindness, paralysed organs,
cancer and dumbness have been miraculously cured.
Doctors were amazed and officially reported that
there was no medical explanation for such cures.
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