Our Lady of Warraq

Our Lady of Warraq is believed, by some, to be a mass apparition of the Virgin Mary that occurred at the Coptic Orthodox Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael church, in Warraq al-Hadar, Giza, Egypt, in the early hours (1:00 AM – 4:00 AM) of Friday 11 December 2009.

Our Lady of Warraq
Apparition of Mary above the middle dome of the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael Church.
LocationGiza, Egypt
DateDecember 11th 2009
TypeMarian Apparition

Apparition

The first person who saw the alleged apparition of Mary was reportedly an Egyptian Muslim neighbour, who was sitting at his coffee shop nearby, when he apparently saw a strong light coming from the Coptic Christian place of worship. He and others are said to have observed the light condense into a female form.[1]

Mary supposedly appeared above the middle dome of the church. The reported apparition is then said to have moved between the domes and on to the top of the church gate between its two twin towers in front of the central church building. Many local residents reported seeing the alleged apparition of Mary.[2]

A representative of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria has approved the apparitions.[3]

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 multiple newspapers, including the Egyptian Watani, American Los Angeles Times,[5] Egyptian Al-Ahram,[6] Italian AsiaNews,[2] Egyptian Almasry Alyoum,[7] and Egyptian Bikya Masr.[8]

A December 24, 2009 Agence France Presse (AFP) article recounted nightly gatherings bringing crowds of up to 10,000 people to watch the tower in anticipation of the "mysterious light over the church tower," which upon its appearance each night "jolt[ed] the gathering into a frenzy of cries an ululations."[9] This article was duplicated by several news agencies, including the Assyrian International News Agency,[1] Sudan Vision Daily,[10] Daily Star (Lebanon),[11] and British Middle East Online.[12]

See also

References
  1. Dec 25, 2009. "Glimpse of Hope for Egypt's Christians".
  2. Dec 29, 2009. "Christians see Our Lady in the lights that appear in the sky above Cairo".
  3. Hazel Heyer, Jan 04, 2010. "Virgin apparition over Christmas". Archived from the original on 2012-04-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. "Apparitions of the Blessed Holy Virgin Mary at El-Warraq Coptic Orthodox Church, Greater Cairo, Egypt. December 2009".
  5. Amro Hassan, Dec 15, 2009. "EGYPT: Is it the Virgin Mary or just a curious flash of light?". Los Angeles Times.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Sherine Nasr, Dec 17-23, 2009. "Crowds flock to Giza as news spreads of an apparition of the Virgin Mary". Archived from the original on 2011-04-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. Dec 25, 2009. "State papers focus on swine flu, independent papers cover Gaza, and MB". Archived from the original on 2013-01-16.
  8. Morris Sadek, Dec 21, 2009. "The Holy Virgin Mary appears in Egypt". Archived from the original on 2011-06-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. Salem, Mona (24 December 2009). "Virgin Mary sighting a glimpse of hope for Egypt Christians". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  10. Dec 27, 2009. "Virgin Mary Sighting a Glimpse of Hope for Egypt Christians". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28.
  11. Dec 29, 2009. "Late nights in Egypt with the 'Virgin Mary'".
  12. Dec 27, 2009. "Virgin Mary sighting provides hope for Egypt Christians".
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