'Light over the dome!' The apparition of the Mother of God in the Egyptian Zeitun

  From April 2, 1968 to May 29, 1971, in the Zeytun suburb of Cairo, thousands of people saw a luminous female figure above the dome of a Coptic temple, which either moved, barely touching the roof with her feet, or blessed those gathered with her hands or a slight bow of her head. Each such phenomenon could last from several minutes to several hours - and invariably gathered a crowd of people who noisily greeted the appearance of a shining figure above the temple. Sometimes luminous birds, similar to pigeons, but larger, flew out into the sky from its dome.

From the first appearance to the later one, almost all events were documented and filmed by eyewitnesses on film and photographs. Therefore, from the very beginning they demanded an official reaction from the Coptic Church, which was not slow to follow: “From the night of April 2, 1968, the appearance of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Light, was observed in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Her Name on Tumanbai Street in the Zeitun district of our city. This phenomenon was observed in the future many times at night and is still observed in various forms - now in full growth, now in half height, always surrounded by a shining halo, appears from the window of the dome or in the space between the domes. The Blessed Virgin moves, walks, bends in front of the cross on the roof of the temple - and then it begins to glow with a majestic radiance. She turns to the observers and blesses them with her hands and the tilt of her most pure head. In other cases, her pure body appeared in the form of a cloud or in the form of a radiance, which was preceded by the appearance of certain spiritual beings, similar to pigeons, flying at great speed. This phenomenon was observed by thousands of citizens of our country and foreigners belonging to various religions and confessions ... Numerous observers convey the same details in describing the form of the Vision, the time and place of its occurrence. When presenting the facts, there is complete agreement in their testimonies. ”The recognition of the Virgin Mary's apparitions as true by the head of the Coptic Church, Patriarch Cyril VI, was quickly replicated, first by the Egyptian, and then by many world media. It is not surprising that thousands of pilgrims, tourists and just the curious went to Egypt at that time to witness the miracle. Night after night, the space in front of the cathedral, consecrated in honor of the Virgin Mary, turned into a human sea. By shouting 'Light over the dome!' both local residents and visitors abandoned all their affairs and hurried to the temple. Often expecting this, which has already become familiar in Cairo, there have been rewarded. Their eyes saw a shining female silhouette moving smoothly over the roof, cutting through the darkness of the night; sometimes the halo above her head turned into a ball, enclosing the whole figure inside itself ... A watchman, a worker, an instructor for a school of public transport drivers, Christians and Muslims described what they saw in about the same way. Yes, and the data of the official report compiled by members of the church commission formed by His Holiness Cyril VI in connection with the miraculous events, said the same:

“We wanted to see for ourselves and we were convinced. In the middle of the night we watched the Blessed Virgin. First, the heavenly light appeared in the form of a sphere, inside which we saw the Blessed Virgin. Then she appeared in full growth and began to move over the dome, bending towards the cross and blessing the joyful crowd that gathered near the church and exclaimed enthusiastically, worshiping the Blessed Virgin. On another night we saw a glowing dove that flew out of the dome straight into the sky. ' The appearance of a shining woman above the dome, in addition to ordinary clergy members of the patriarchal commission, was also witnessed by prominent church hierarchs. Here is how the Bishop of the Coptic Church Athanasius told about it: - I myself saw the Blessed Virgin. Many, many thousands of people saw her together with me. The appearance was preceded by the departure of two pigeons from the church. Then a faint light appeared. Then we saw something that looked like a cloud, which immediately lit up like a fluorescent light source. In the cloud, the airy outlines of the Most Pure Body of the Virgin Mary appeared - they appeared instantly, as if in one flash. This phenomenon remained visible until five in the morning. The Blessed Virgin moved to the right and left, tilting her head, stretched out her hands to people, as if greeting and blessing them. Everyone saw her. This miracle has been going on for over a month and is shaking the skies of the whole world! Suppose the clergy and lay believers, due to the similarity of worldviews, could see approximately the same thing. But there is also evidence of the events in Zeitun from the side of completely secular public and political figures; one of these is a prominent figure not only in the countries of the East, but also throughout the world of that era: this is Zaki Shenouda, a scientist and one of the leaders of the Organization of Afro-Asian Solidarity. Here are his words:

- On the evening of Saturday, April 27, 1968, I went to the temple again and noticed that the crowd had grown significantly in comparison with the previous one, so that the number of people was now measured in tens of thousands. People filled to the limit streets surrounding the church. They climbed fences, trees, lampposts. Suddenly there were shouts of friendship, then the Blessed Virgin appeared over the rear dome of the church. Everyone rushed there, and I - along with everyone. There I saw a vision that I will never forget. I clearly, distinctly saw the Virgin Mary, surrounded by a halo of light, in the guise of a queen with a crown on her head. She shone like a bright sun in the dark. But what about the state power - how did it react to events in the suburbs of the capital? The Minister of Tourism of Egypt Hafez Ghanem officially confirmed in his report: “The results of the official investigations are such that certain facts should be recognized - the Virgin Mary in the form of a bright luminous body appeared to the eyes of everyone in front of the temple, both Christians and Muslims. Any possibility of fabricated neon images or any other type of deception is considered impossible and completely excluded. ' Be that as it may, during any, even the most resonant mystical events, there are people who do not believe not only in the Divine, but also in any manifestations of the subtle, spiritual world in general. They simply will not go to look at what the whole country is talking about, because these conversations are not consistent with their view of the world. However, their testimonies can be valuable. One from the Cairo surgeons, a complete atheist, said that during the events in Zeitun, an inexplicable incident occurred in his practice that deprived him of peace. The client, to whom he had removed a cancerous tumor two years earlier, was with him for an examination. After conducting an examination, the doctor discovered that he had a new tumor. Taking tissue for biopsy, the surgeon performed a test that confirmed the malignant nature of the tumor. However, the man refused the immediate operation offered by the doctor, citing lack of funds. After a couple of weeks, he returned and asked for a second examination - which the doctor did. The tumors were gone: in its place there was now only white scar tissue! The man explained to the doctor that he had been in Zeytun, observed the appearance of the Virgin and prayed to her for her recovery, which soon happened - in a manner incomprehensible to an unbelieving doctor. However, if the doctor had ended up in Zeytun on one of the nights when the events described above took place, he would hardly have looked at such things differently. There is, for example, the testimony of a professor of anthropology at one of the US universities Cynthia Nelson, who saw the phenomenon on the roof of the temple with her own eyes - but at the same time speaks only of 'periodic flashes of light.' What then can we say about those who were not in Zeitun at that time and are making inferences, not going beyond their own worldview limitations? So the Canadian neurophysiologist Michael Persinger and the American geologist John Derr connect the manifestation of light phenomena in Zeytun ... with seismic activity in the region in 1958-1979! Well, as they say, let it be to each according to his faith! V. Sergienko