Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Apparition of Saint Mary in a Church , Egypt




Apparition of Holy Virgin Theotokos Saint Mary in Church of Zeitoun, Egypt 
On the eve of this day of the year 1684 A.M. which coincide with Tuesday the 2nd of April 1968 A.D., during the papacy of Pope Kyrellos VI, the hundred sixteenth Pope of Alexandria, our Lady and the pride of our faith started to transfigure in luminous spiritual forms in and around the domes of the church dedicated to her immaculate name in Zeiton, a suburb of Cairo. This transfiguration continued in following nights in a manner that was never known in the East or the West. This transfiguration in some nights was as long as many hours, without stop, in front of tens of thousands of people from every race and religion, with everyone seeing her, pointing at her and interceding to her with songs, hymns, tears, prayers and hails and She was looking to them in a compassionate way raising her hand at times to bless them in all directions. The first one to notice this transfiguration was the workmen at the garage of the Public Transit System, which was across the street from the church. The watchman Abdel-Aziz Aly, who was in charge of guarding the garage at that night, saw a luminous body over the dome of the church. He started shouting: 'light over the dome' and he called the other workers in the garage. They all came and saw the bright light over the large dome of the church. When they looked closely, they saw a young lady in white, kneeling by the cross at the top of the dome. Because the dome had a round, smooth, and very sloping surface, it held the men as though they were nailed in their places watching the fate of the lady. Few seconds passed then they saw the kneeling lady as she stood over the dome. They gave out a cry of fear that she might fall down. They thought she was a girl in despair trying to commit suicide and they cried warning that person not to jump down and some of them called the police. The pedestrians, men, and women started to gather around. The view of the lady was getting clearer and she appeared as a beautiful girl in a bright gown of light and had branches of an olive tree in her hand, and around her flew white doves. Then they realized that they were seeing a heavenly spiritual view. They directed flood light to the luminous picture to remove all doubt from their minds, but instead, it became more clear and bright. They cut the electricity off all the area but the lady remained in her heavenly illumination and her bright gown of light became clearer. She started moving around in a circle of light radiating from her body to all the directions around her. All the people then realized that this lady in front of them, without no doubt, is the Virgin Mary. They started to shout and cry saying: 'She is the Virgin ... She is the Mother of Light...' They prayed with songs, hymns and hails all the night until the next morning.
Since that night the pure Virgin had transfigured in different spiritual views in front of thousands and tens of thousands of masses, Egyptian and foreigners, Christians and non-Christians, men, women, and children. Spiritual beings formed like doves would appear before, during and after the transfiguration zooming through the sky in a way raising the human from a materialistic to a heavenly atmosphere. This transfiguration was in different forms. One of the most significant ways this apparition took place was that; the head of St. Mary under the veil looking down as in the picture of the sad Virgin and she was looking toward the Cross and that view would stay like this at times or slowly bow before the Cross at other times. The Cross itself will shine and illuminate although it was made of concrete. And sometimes an angel would appear standing behind her spreading his wings. That view might stay as long as many hours. Another view was the view of the Mother of Light standing as a great Queen in a beautiful spiritual portrait radiating dignity, elegance, and beauty. On her head was a crown of a queen as if it were made of diamonds and sometimes there appeared on the top of the crown a small luminous cross. And sometimes she appeared in the same way but carrying Christ, to Him is the Glory, in the form of a child on her hand and on His head a crown. And at other times she raised her both hands as She was blessing the world moving to the right, to the front, and to the left in a dignified way.
Many spiritual signs appeared before, during, and after the apparition of the Virgin the mother of the Lord's transfiguration. The appearance of tongues of yellowish flame would flash over the church and then subside and that repeated several times. Another form of the signs was the spiritual beings formed like doves, larger than the doves that we know, appear about midnight or after, flying in the middle of darkness illuminating in a fast speed, appeared suddenly from nowhere, and also disappeared suddenly. These spiritual beings appeared in different formations and in varying numbers. A fact we should be aware of that pigeons do not fly during the night. Another sign was the shooting stars, which were constantly falling and were seen very close to the apparition on many occasions as if coming down to glorify her from heaven. Another sign was the fragrance of incense. The smoke of the incense poured out of the domes in large quantities. A substance resembling clouds, thick fog or smoke would roll in toward the church and completely cover the church. Also, the illuminated cloud that appeared over the domes of the church in large volume and often preceded the transfiguration of the Virgin or at times the cloud slowly formed in the shape of the virgin. Sometimes the apparition of the Virgin would appear from the clouds. This transfiguration and all the spiritual signs were a forerunner and announcement for serious or important events to come in the near and far future. Or it might be a spiritual gesture from heaven to indicate the Lord's caring for His church and His people and our country.
May the mercy of God be upon us all. May the Lord keep His people and church in peace, with the intercession of Our Lady and the pride of our race the pure Virgin St. Mary. Amen.

Psalms 2:4

Thursday, May 10, 2018

The Departure of Jeremiah the Prophet

Coptic Synaxarium, May 13,  | Pashons 5
The Departure of Jeremiah the Prophet


On this day, the prophet Jeremiah, one of the major prophets, the son of Hilkiah the priest, was martyred. He prophesied in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of
Judah and Jehoiakim son of Josiah. God had chosen him for He said: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations' (Jr 1:5). He rebuked the children of Israel for they left the worship of God and rejected His Commandments. He warned them of the anger of God if they did not return on their transgressions. When he saw their hard hearts and the fast approaching judgment of the Lord, he prayed fervently weeping so that God might forgive the sins of his people. God rejected his prayers with regard to those who did not obey him, and He moved Nebuchadnezzar to besiege Jerusalem. His soldiers conquered it under the leadership of Nebuzardan who killed many of them inside the city. After they had taken all the precious possessions of the temple, the king's palace, and the nobles of the people, they took with them all those who were left alive to Babylon. Among those who were driven to exile was the prophet, Jeremiah. Nevertheless, when Nebuzardan saw him bound with the rest, he set him free. He then wrote his 'Lamentations' for the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, the temple and the exile of his people for 70 years in Babylon. This Prophet prophesied about the coming of Our Lord and Savior, and His sufferings and passion. His life ended when the Jews themselves stoned him in Egypt, and he died a martyr in prison.
May his prayers be with us and glory be to God forever. Amen.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

The departure of Job the Righteous

The departure of Job the Righteous


On this day the righteous Job departed. He was a righteous man in his generation and upright in his time, as the bible testified about him: '... there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?' (Job 1:8) The devil envied him and asked God to allow him to harm Job and to destroy his wealth. God allowed that, because of His foreknowledge of the patience and perseverance of Job and that he would be an example and a model for those who come after him as the bible said: 'You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord' (James 5:11). In one day, Job lost his sons and daughters, his cattle, and all his wealth. In addition, the evil one also struck his body with Leprosy from his head to his feet. In all this Job offered thanksgiving and praise to God, and never murmured or grumbled against his Creator. All that he said was: 'May the day perish on which I was born' (Job 3:3). He said also about the loss of his children: 'The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.' (Job1:21) 'In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with a wrong' (Job 1:22). The thing that hurt Job the most, was the harsh words of his wife and his friends. His wife advised him to blaspheme, but Job refused and rebuked her saying: 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips' (Job 2:10). Job remained sick for 30 years until he was purified as gold is purified with fire. At last, the Lord spoke to him from the clouds and healed him from his sickness and doubled the wealth he had and gave him other sons and daughters. He lived to a good old age and departed in peace.
May his prayers be with us. Amen.