Cairo (Zeitoun)

1924: A man builds a church after having a dream

In 1920, a wealthy Coptic landowner named Tawfiq Khalil Bey was planning on building apartments building on a plot he owned in Zeitoun, a suburb of Cairo. The Virgin Mary appeared to him in a dream to promise him that if he built a church instead she would honor the place in a singular way. The church was built in 1924 by the Italian architect Leomingelli at the intersection of Touman-Bey street and today’s Khalil Avenue.

1968: the apparitions

On the night of Tuesday, April 2, 1968, at 10:30 pm, some public transport mechanics and Moslem bus drivers arriving back at their garage, located just in front of the church, suddenly saw a "lady in white" kneeling near the cross at the top of the dome.

The apparitions continued for months

The apparitions were preceded by luminous phenomena described by the witnesses as "rains of diamonds." Then came "doves of light" that sometimes lined up in the shape of a cross. Sometimes, abundant ocher clouds spread around her "an odor of incense." After these precursor signs, the Virgin would appear.

Her brightness, like that of the sun, was such that it was difficult to discern the details of her appearance. Sometimes she leaned towards the crowd smiling and blessed it with an olive branch. Sometimes she knelt before the cross on the dome.

Her image resembled in many ways that of the Immaculate Conception seen by Catherine Labouré in 1830, an image that had been widely popularized in Egypt by Catholic missions and schools.

Occasionally, the Virgin was seen holding the baby Jesus in her arms, or in the company of St Joseph and Jesus about 12 years old.

A large influx of Coptic Christians and Muslims

For several weeks, the crowd reached up to 250,000 people, creating impressive traffic jams. Muslims in large numbers, reciting verses from the Koran, rubbed shoulders with Christians singing Coptic hymns. Crowds of people climbed on the roofs and terraces and filled the street. Some women and children would stay up all night, showing incredible physical resistance.

Healings

On April 3, 1968, Farouk Mohammed Atwa went to the hospital to receive care for one of his fingers, amputated due to gangrene; to the great surprise of the surgeon, he was completely healed.

On April 13, the photographer Wagih Rizk testified:

"The first time I saw the apparition, the light of the Virgin was so bright that I was blinded. I was electrified, unable to do anything. The next two nights, the same thing happened. But on April 13, after the apparition had been moving for about ten minutes above the church, I finally found the strength to take pictures, twice. It was a terribly impressive experience. I felt that the earth was going to collapse under my feet. After taking these pictures, I realized that a bad wound I still had on my arm from a car accident I was in several years before, had completely disappeared."

Official Approval

The Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, Pope Cyril VI, instituted a commission of inquiry composed of bishops and priests, who authenticated the collected testimonies and had themselves the opportunity to see the apparition.

The [Coptic] Pope then issued an official declaration on May 5, 1968, in the major Egyptian media outlets and also in the foreign press (The Times, Le Figaro, The New York Times, etc.), describing the main phenomena and stating in conclusion:

At about the same time, Cardinal Stephanos I Sidarous, Patriarch of the Catholic Coptic Church united with Rome, made a similar declaration:

"There is no doubt about the reality of these apparitions, which have been confirmed by many faithful and trustworthy Coptic Catholics, known for their extreme integrity. These people have witnessed the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and gave me very complete descriptions. Sr. Paula de Mofalo, a Roman Catholic nun known for her uprightness and common sense, assured me of the authenticity of the Zeitoun apparitions. She told me, trembling, that she had not been the only one to see it, but that thousands of people had seen Our Lady at the same time as she." (Watanî, May 5, 1968).

Pope Paul VI reportedly also sent two observers (according to Al-Ahram, May 6, 1968), and the Catholic Pro-Nuncio Archbishop Lino Zanini, declared that the Holy See respected the authority of the local Church and relied on its judgment.

The head of the Evangelical Church and President of the Synod of All Protestant Churches in Egypt, the Reverend Dr. Ibrahim Said, also spoke out on behalf of the authenticity of the Zeitoun apparitions, as did several church officials of the Greek Catholic and Greek-Orthodox Churches, and several prominent government officials, such as the Minister of Information, Dr. Hafez Ghanem, who added that any possibility of fraud had been ruled out as a result of the scrupulous investigations.

Feast day: April 2

By decision of Pope Cyril VI in 1969, the Coptic Orthodox Church added to its liturgical calendar the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Virgin Mary in Zeitoun, celebrated every year on the 24th day of Barmahat (April 2).

A new church in honor of the "Virgin of Light"

Patriarch Shenouda III built a new church on the site of the apparition. Every Friday and Saturday, about 4,000 faithful attend Mass there. Fr. Boutros Gayed, brother of the patriarch and former pastor of the parish (now deceased), recounted many healings and miracles obtained through the intercession of the "Virgin of Light" of Zeitoun since 1972.

Healings continue to occur to this day

Countless people claimed to have been healed during the apparitions or soon after witnessing them. A medical committee set up by the Coptic Orthodox Church and chaired by Professor Shafi Abd-el-Malek of the Faculty of Medicine of Cairo University, was responsible for recording and verifying them.

Among the most spectacular cases are Sami Abd-el-Malek, 40, who was cured of terminal bladder cancer; Fathma Zahi Reda, a devout Muslim, suffering from an incurable condition of the thyroid gland; another Muslim, Madiha Mohammed Saïd, aged 20, cured of nervous disorders that led to blindness and aphasia; William Nashed Zaki, a reputed doctor of Shoubra, cured of a hernia that had lasted for three years; and Mrs. Mahmoud Shoukry Ibrahim, 45, cured of total paralysis of the lower limbs.

In conclusion

By appearing in a silent way and not saying anything, the Virgin gave a clear message to all Egyptians, Muslims, Christians, Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, believers and non-believers alike: her apparition is certainly an encouragement towards ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue.

Many also have interpreted it as an encouragement to reach peace (Zeitoun means “olives” in Arabic and the Virgin often held a branch of olive, a tree universally considered as a symbol of peace), after the terrible Six-Day War (1967) that bereaved the Middle East and left the Arab world terribly humiliated. After the Israelis took control of Jerusalem, it became especially impossible for the Copts to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Places.

This last interpretation was the one adopted by Jehan Sadat, the widow of the murdered president, in her autobiography titled A Woman of Egypt:

"People of Egypt, I know that you will not be able to come to see me in Jerusalem; so I came to see you in Cairo."

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An extensive file (press clippings, official statements, testimonials, photographs) is available on the Zeitoun apparitions website: www.zeitun-eg.org.

Christian CANNUYER, "Cairo II", in: René LAURENTIN and Patrick SBALCHIERO, Dictionnaire encyclopédique des apparitions de la Vierge. Inventaire des origines à nos jours. Méthodologie, prosopopée, approche interdisciplinaire, Fayard, Paris 2007.

Attilio GALLI, Madre della Chiesa dei Cinque Continenti, Ed Segno, Udine, 1997, p. 669-670