Our Lady of Warraq is believed, by some, to be a mass
apparition of the
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
that occurred
at the
Coptic Orthodox
The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the Apostolic see, See of Alexandria i ...
''Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael'' church, in Warraq al-Hadar,
Giza,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, in the early hours (1:00 AM – 4:00 AM) of Friday 11 December 2009.
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.
[
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.][
A representative of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria has approved the apparitions.
]
Press coverage
This event was widely covered by Egyptian newspapers, Arabic TV channels and by the international press.[
]
The news about the apparitions appeared in multiple newspapers, including the Egyptian Watani,
American Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
,[
]
Egyptian Al-Ahram,[
]
Egyptian Almasry Alyoum,[
]
and Egyptian Bikya Masr.[
]
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 dthe gathering into a frenzy of cries an ululations."[
]
Sudan Vision Daily,[
]
Daily Star (Lebanon),[
]
and British Middle East Online.[
]
See also
* Our Lady of Zeitoun
* Our Lady of Assiut
* Marian apparition
* Coptic Orthodox Church
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warraq, Our Lady of
Marian apparitions
Coptic Orthodox Church
2009 in Egypt