Our Lady of Warraq

Our Lady of Warraq
Apparition of Virgin Mary above the middle dome of the church of the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael in Warraq al-Hadar, Giza, Egypt. Dec 11, 2009

Our Lady of Warraq is believed to be a mass Marian apparition that occurred in Warraq al-Hadar, Giza, Egypt, in the early hours (1:00 AM – 4:00 AM) of Friday 11 December 2009.[1]

Contents

Apparition

The first person who saw the apparition of the Virgin Mary was a Muslim neighour. He was sitting at his local coffee shop when he saw a strong light coming from the church. He and others observe the light condensed into a female form.[2]

The Holy Virgin appeared in luminous robes, in a pure white dress and a royal blue belt. She had a crown on her head.[1]

The Holy Virgin appeared above the middle dome of the church. She moved between the domes and on to the top of the church gate between its two twin towers. The local residents all saw her. Cell phones were used to call friends, take pictures and videos of the apparition and send them to friends.[3]

The Coptic Orthodox Church approved the apparitions.[1]

Press coverage

This event was widely covered by Egyptian newspapers, Arabic TV channels and by the international press.[4] The news about the apparitions appeared in the following newspapers: Egyptian Watani,[1][3] American Los Angeles Times,[5] Egyptian Al-Ahram,[6] Italian Asia News,[7] Egyptian Almasry Alyoum,[8] Egyptian Bikya Masr.[9]

One of the first articles about the apparitions published by Mona Salem of Agence France Presse (AFP) was duplicated by the following news agencies: Assyrian International News Agency,[10] Sudan Vision Daily,[11] Daily Star (Lebanon),[12] British Middle East Online.[13]

The following are excerpts from some of the publications:

CAIRO — Every night in the run-up to Christmas thousands of Egypt's Coptic Christians have been gathering in a Cairo suburb eager for a glimpse of a vision that has given hope to their marginalised community. It is three hours past midnight in Al-Warrak, a poor working class neighbourhood of the Egyptian capital, and a 10,000-strong crowd is silently staring at the sky. Then the appearance of a mysterious light over the church tower jolts the gathering into a frenzy of cries and ululations. It is the apparition of the Virgin Mary, they say. Thousands have been coming nightly since the first sighting of the Virgin Mary on December 10, in the hope of being blessed by her light.

Late in the evening of Thursday 11 December, sometime after midnight, the official security guards at the gate of the church of the Holy Virgin and the Archangel Michael in the heavily populated district of Warraq al-Hadar in Giza witnessed an unusual light hovering above the church tower. The luminous glow, which paled the surrounding electric lights, also caught the eyes of a group of fellow Muslims sitting at a nearby café. Intrigued, they looked on, only to see the light condense into a female form. A few Coptic passers-by immediately recognised it as a transfiguration of their beloved Holy Virgin. She appeared in her full height in luminous robes, above the middle dome of the church, dressed in pure white and blue and crowned in gold. The crosses on top of the church glowed brightly as she hovered between the domes and the twin towers of the church. The apparition lasted from 1:00am till 4:00am on Friday.

Victor Salama, Nader Shukry (Watani)
Holy Virgin appears at Warraq, Giza

According to Father Dawoud of the Church of the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael neighbours, worried by crowds gathering outside, called at midnight on 10 December to ask if something was wrong.
"The phone calls poured in and many people said they had just seen an apparition of Virgin Mary on the right dome of the church," said Father Dawoud, who added that Muslim neighbours were among the callers, including "Haj Rashad, a neighbour and a dear friend who told me, 'what are you doing here, father? I have just seen Our Lady Mariam with my own eyes, go and see for yourself'."
"At first we thought that a little kid was playing with a flash light, but then the light intensified and moved from the tree in front of the church entrance up to the right dome and an embodiment of Virgin Mary could be easily recognised. It stayed there for a while. I have captured the scene with my mobile phone," says Hassan, the neighbourhood distributor of gas cylinders...

Sherine Nasr (Al-Ahram, Issue No. 977, 17–23 December 2009 )
Crowds flock to Giza as news spreads of an apparition of the Virgin Mary

Official approval

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria approved the apparitions. Giza Coptic Orthodox Bishopric issued an official statement confirming the apparitions:

Statement from Giza Coptic Orthodox Bishopric

In the era of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III and Anba Dumadius, Archbishop of Giza

The Bishopric of Giza announces that the Holy Virgin has appeared in a transfiguration at the Church named after her in Warraq al-Hadar, Giza, in the early hours of Friday 11 December 2009 at 1:00am. The Holy Virgin appeared in her full height in luminous robes, above the middle dome of the church, in pure white dress and a royal blue belt. She had a crown on her head, above which appeared the cross on top of the dome. The crosses on top of the church’s domes and towers glowed brightly with light. The Holy Virgin moved between the domes and on to the top of the church gate between its two twin towers. The local residents all saw her. The apparition lasted from 1:00am till 4:00am on Friday, and was registered by cameras and cell phones. Some 3,000 people from the neighbourhood, surrounding areas, and passers-by gathered in the street in front of the church to see the apparition.

Since Friday, the huge crowds gathered in the vicinity of the church have been seeing luminous white pigeons soaring above the church during various times of the night, as well as a star which emerges suddenly in the heaven, travels some 200 metres across, then disappears. The huge crowds gathered around the church do not cease singing hymns and praises for the Holy Virgin.

This is a great blessing for the Church and for all the people of Egypt. May her blessing and intercession benefit us all.

Signed
Anba Theodosius
Bishop-General of Giza

References

  1. ^ a b c d Anba Theodosius, Bishop-General of Giza. "Statement from Giza Coptic Orthodox Bishopric". http://www.wataninet.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?A=25232. 
  2. ^ Mona Salem (AFP), Dec 24, 2009,. "Virgin Mary sighting a glimpse of hope for Egypt Christians". http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hRjePXOIKrhglqyteqbMnOeJg0DQ. 
  3. ^ a b Victor Salama, Nader Shukry, Dec 20, 2009,. "Holy Virgin appears at Warraq, Giza". http://www.wataninet.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?A=25345. 
  4. ^ "Apparitions of the Blessed Holy Virgin Mary at El-Warraq Coptic Orthodox Church, Greater Cairo, Egypt. December 2009". http://zeitun-eg.org/warraq.htm. 
  5. ^ Amro Hassan, Dec 15, 2009,. "EGYPT: Is it the Virgin Mary or just a curious flash of light?". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/12/egypt-people-turn-to-holy-phenomenon-in-times-of-crisis-.html. 
  6. ^ Sherine Nasr, Dec 17-23, 2009,. "Crowds flock to Giza as news spreads of an apparition of the Virgin Mary". http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/977/fr2.htm. 
  7. ^ Dec 29, 2009,. "Christians see Our Lady in the lights that appear in the sky above Cairo". http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=17228&size=A. 
  8. ^ Dec 25, 2009,. "State papers focus on swine flu, independent papers cover Gaza, and MB". http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/7662. 
  9. ^ Morris Sadek, Dec 21, 2009,. "The Holy Virgin Mary appears in Egypt". http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=7167. 
  10. ^ Dec 25, 2009,. "Glimpse of Hope for Egypt's Christians". http://www.aina.org/news/20091225000438.htm. 
  11. ^ Dec 27, 2009,. "Virgin Mary Sighting a Glimpse of Hope for Egypt Christians". http://www.sudanvisiondaily.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=52459. 
  12. ^ Dec 29, 2009,. "Late nights in Egypt with the 'Virgin Mary'". http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Arts/Dec/29/Late-nights-in-Egypt-with-the-Virgin-Mary.ashx#ixzz1OSxdSpuw. 
  13. ^ Dec 27, 2009,. "Virgin Mary sighting provides hope for Egypt Christians". http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=36382. 

External links

See also


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