May2020 Apparitions of Mary Page 1 Z EITOUN, EGYPT -- The first apparition at Zeitoun was recorded on the evening of April 2, 1968, when a Muslim bus mechanic named Farouk Mohammed Atwa, who worked across the street from St. Mary's Coptic Church in Zeitoun, supposedly thought he saw a woman attempting suicide by jumping from the structure. Two other men also noticed a white figure on the top of the church and the sighting was reported to the police. A crowd gathered on the site and the police at- tempted to disperse it. Ac- cording to the police, the sighting was just a reflection of the light from the street lamps. However, the crowds reportedly viewed the sight- ing as a clear apparition of the Virgin Mary, and so, the attempts by the police to dis- perse the crowd were unsuc- cessful. The event itself ended after a few minutes. One week later on April 9 the phenomenon reoc- curred, again lasting for only a few minutes. After that time apparitions became more fre- quent, sometimes two-three times a week, for several years, ending in 1971. In 1924 Caleel Abraham had a dream one night where the Virgin Mary appeared to him and said, “Build a church in my name and a miracle will take place.” The church was built on the spot where the Holy family stayed during their flight from Egypt’ According to Coptic tra- dition, the site is one of the locations where the Holy family stayed during their flight into Egypt. The head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexan- dria, Pope of Alexandria, Kyrillos VI appointed a com- mittee of high-ranking priests and bishops to investigate the matter, headed by Bishop formed by the police could find no explanation for the phenomenon. No device was found within a radius of fif- teen miles capable of project- ing the image, while the sheer number of photographs from independent sources suggests that no photographic manipu- lation was involved. Having been unable to produce an alternative explanation for the luminous sightings, the Egyptian government ac- cepted the apparitions as true. Skeptical interpretation of the events. Estimates of the number of observers of the event vary greatly. Thou- sands were said to have flocked to the Church after the first announced occur- rences of the phenomenon. Some claim the apparitions were seen by millions. Other sources estimate the figure at around 250,000 in total. Cynthia Nelson was a profes- sor of anthropology at AUC doned faith in favor of hu- man-made ideas and belief systems." Sociologists Robert Bartholomew and Erich Goode offer the Zeitoun ap- paritions as a prominent case of mass hysteria: "It appears that the Marian observers were predisposed by reli- gious background and social expectation. During this two year pe- riod of time many miracles of healing took place. A women traveled to Zeitoun, Egypt. Laying in a bed of pain she saw our lady standing next to her bed, then she was at the window, then she was gone. The lady returned with a young boy. She had a knife in her hand ready to cut out the cancer. The next morn- ing the women awoke with no wounds free from cancer. A blind man who was walking around the church during the vision began to cry out, “ I can see, I can see.” Several other miracle healings hap- pened at this time. Seven to 12 doves could be seen fly- ing around Mary, doves never fly at night. This is the most unusual apparition because every one could see it that looked up on it. These are the many appa- ritions that are changing lives and hearlding the second coming of Jesus. Gregorios, bishop of post- graduate studies, Coptic cul- ture and scientific research. On May 4 Kyrillos VI issued an official statement confirm- ing the apparitions. Nuns of the Society of the Sacred Heart also witnessed the apparitions and sent a detailed report to the Vatican, resulting in the arrival of an envoy on April 28 who also saw the apparitions and sent a report to Pope Paul VI. As the apparition appeared over a Coptic church, the Vatican left the investigation to the Coptic authorities. On May 5, 1968, Coptic Orthodox Pope Kyrillos VI approved the apparition. The apparitions were also witnessed by President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and captured by newspaper pho- tographers and Egyptian tele- vision. Investigations per- (American University in Cairo) and the founding di- rector of the Institute of Gen- der and Women's Studies. She visited the church site on several occasions including April 15, 1968, another week later near the end of April and on June 1, 1968. Despite the accounts of ongoing, if ir- regular, visitations by the Marian apparition, Cynthia Nelson documents seeing nothing other than a few 'in- termittent flashes of light'. Some authors suggest that the sightings must be consid- ered in context. The appear- ances came at a period of cri- sis in Egyptian history and, echoed "a widespread feeling that the defeat of Egypt in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war was the result of having aban- In 1924 Caleel Abraham had a dream one night where the Virgin Mary appeared to him and said, “Build a church in my name and a miracle will take place.” Millions Saw Her June 1968 to 1970 All Could See Virgin Mary Above is the apparition on the Coptic Church in Zeitoun, Egypt.