May2020 Apparitions of Mary Page 1

Z E I T O U N ,EGYPT -- Thefirst apparition

at Zeitoun was recordedon the evening of April 2,1968, when a Muslim busmechanic named FaroukMohammed Atwa, whoworked across the street fromSt. Mary's Coptic Church inZeitoun, supposedly thoughthe saw a woman attemptingsuicide by jumping from thestructure. Two other menalso noticed a white figure onthe top of the church and thesighting was reported to thepolice. A crowd gathered onthe site and the police at-tempted to disperse it. Ac-cording to the police, thesighting was just a reflectionof the light from the streetlamps. However, the crowdsreportedly viewed the sight-ing as a clear apparition ofthe Virgin Mary, and so, theattempts by the police to dis-perse the crowd were unsuc-cessful. The event itselfended after a few minutes. One week later on April9 the phenomenon reoc-curred, again lasting for onlya few minutes. After that timeapparitions became more fre-quent, sometimes two-threetimes a week, for severalyears, ending in 1971. In 1924 CaleelAbraham had a dream onenight where the Virgin Maryappeared to him and said,“Build a church in my nameand a miracle will takeplace.” The church was builton the spot where the Holyfamily stayed during theirflight from Egypt’ According to Coptic tra-dition, the site is one of thelocations where the Holyfamily stayed during theirflight into Egypt. The head of the CopticOrthodox Church of Alexan-dria, Pope of Alexandria,Kyrillos VI appointed a com-mittee of high-ranking priestsand bishops to investigate thematter, headed by Bishop

formed by the police couldfind no explanation for thephenomenon. No device wasfound within a radius of fif-teen miles capable of project-ing the image, while the sheernumber of photographs fromindependent sources suggeststhat no photographic manipu-lation was involved. Havingbeen unable to produce analternative explanation forthe luminous sightings, theEgyptian government ac-cepted the apparitions astrue. Skeptical interpretation ofthe events. Estimates of thenumber of observers of theevent vary greatly. Thou-sands were said to haveflocked to the Church afterthe first announced occur-rences of the phenomenon.

Some claim the apparitionswere seen by millions. Othersources estimate the figure ataround 250,000 in total.Cynthia Nelson was a profes-sor of anthropology at AUC

doned faith in favor of hu-man-made ideas and beliefsystems." Sociologists RobertBartholomew and ErichGoode offer the Zeitoun ap-paritions as a prominent caseof mass hysteria: "It appearsthat the Marian observerswere predisposed by reli-gious background and socialexpectation. During this two year pe-riod of time many miracles ofhealing took place. A womentraveled to Zeitoun, Egypt.Laying in a bed of pain shesaw our lady standing next toher bed, then she was at thewindow, then she was gone.The lady returned with ayoung boy. She had a knifein her hand ready to cut outthe cancer. The next morn-ing the women awoke with nowounds free from cancer. Ablind man who was walkingaround the church during thevision began to cry out, “ Ican see, I can see.” Severalother miracle healings hap-pened at this time. Seven to12 doves could be seen fly-ing around Mary, dovesnever fly at night. This is the most unusualapparition because every onecould see it that looked up onit. These are the many appa-ritions that are changing livesand hearlding the secondcoming of Jesus.

Gregorios, bishop of post-graduate studies, Coptic cul-ture and scientific research.On May 4 Kyrillos VI issuedan official statement confirm-ing the apparitions. Nuns of the Society of theSacred Heart also witnessedthe apparitions and sent adetailed report to the Vatican,resulting in the arrival of anenvoy on April 28 who alsosaw the apparitions and senta report to Pope Paul VI. Asthe apparition appeared overa Coptic church, the Vaticanleft the investigation to theCoptic authorities. On May5, 1968, Coptic OrthodoxPope Kyrillos VI approvedthe apparition. The apparitions were alsowitnessed by PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser, andcaptured by newspaper pho-tographers and Egyptian tele-vision. Investigations per-

(American University inCairo) and the founding di-rector of the Institute of Gen-der and Women's Studies.She visited the church site onseveral occasions includingApril 15, 1968, another weeklater near the end of April andon June 1, 1968. Despite theaccounts of ongoing, if ir-regular, visitations by theMarian apparition, CynthiaNelson documents seeingnothing other than a few 'in-termittent flashes of light'. Some authors suggest thatthe sightings must be consid-ered in context. The appear-ances came at a period of cri-sis in Egyptian history and,echoed "a widespread feelingthat the defeat of Egypt in the1967 Arab-Israeli war wasthe result of having aban-

In 1924 Caleel Abraham had adream one night where the VirginMary appeared to him and said,“Build a church in my name anda miracle will take place.”

Millions Saw HerJune 1968 to 1970

All Could See Virgin Mary

Above is the apparition on the Coptic Church in Zeitoun, Egypt.