Synaxarium

On this day of the year 668 A.M. (May 2, 1952 A.D.), the holy father Pope Macarius the fifty-ninth of the Popes of the Markian preaching departed. He was born in the town of Shubra and renounced the world from his youth, longing for the monastic life. He went to Mount Shiheet at the Monastery of Saint Macarius and lived a righteous life that qualified him to be elected Patriarch in succession to Pope Cosmas. He ascended the Markian throne on the first of Barmouda in the year 648 A.M. (March 27, 932 A.D.).

When he left Alexandria to visit the monasteries in the wilderness of Shiheet, as was the custom of his predecessors, he passed by his hometown to visit his mother. She was a pious and righteous woman. When she heard of his coming, she did not come out to meet him. When he entered the house, he found her sitting and spinning, and she did not look at him or greet him. He thought she did not recognize him. He said to her: "Do you not know that I am your son Macarius who has risen to a high rank, attained a lofty authority, and become the leader of a great nation?" She answered with tears in her eyes: "I do not not know you and I know what you have become, but I used to prefer, my son, that you be brought to me carried on a bier rather than to hear of you or see you as a Patriarch. Do you not know that before you were accountable only for yourself, but now you are accountable for the souls of your flock? Remember that you have entered into danger, and it is unlikely you will escape it." She said this and continued her work as before.

The father Patriarch left her saddened and continued his duties, admonishing the people with preaching and guidance. He did not touch any church funds nor laid hands on anyone except with recommendation. He was diligent in advising the bishops and priests to care for and guard the people with preaching and teaching. He sat on the apostolic throne for nineteen years, eleven months, and twenty-three days in peace and tranquility. Then he departed in peace. May his prayers be with us, and to our Lord be glory forever. Amen.

On the evening of this day in the year 1684 A.M. (Tuesday, April 2, 1968 A.D.), during the papacy of Pope Cyril VI, the one hundred sixteenth Pope of Alexandria, our Lady, the pride of our race, the Virgin Mary, began to appear in spiritual luminous visions on and above the domes of the church dedicated in her pure name in the gardens of El-Zeitoun on the outskirts of Cairo.

This apparition continued on successive nights in a manner unprecedented in the East or West, lasting in some nights for several hours without interruption before tens of thousands of people of all races and religions. All saw her with their own eyes, pointed to her, and sought her intercession with chanting, supplication, tears, acclamation, and prayer. She looked at the crowds with a tender gaze, sometimes raising both hands to bless them from all directions. The first to notice this apparition were the workers of the public transport company on Toman Bay Street overlooking the church. It was evening when the guard Abdul Aziz Ali, assigned to guard the garage at night, saw a radiant luminous body above the dome and shouted loudly, "Light above the dome!" He called the garage workers, who all came and witnessed a shining light above the main dome of the church. They looked closely and saw a girl clad in white garments kneeling on the dome beside the cross above it. Since the dome wall was rounded and steep, their feet were fixed as they watched the girl's fate. Moments later, they saw the kneeling girl stand on the dome, and their cries rose in fear she might fall. Some thought she was desperate and intending to commit suicide, so they shouted for help and some called the emergency police. The police came quickly, and a crowd of men and women gathered. The girl's image became clearer and brighter, revealing a beautiful girl in a mantle of heavenly white light, wearing a white robe and holding some olive branches. Suddenly, a flock of pure white doves flew over her head, and then they realized this was a spiritual heavenly vision. To dispel doubt, they shone spotlights on the luminous image, which became more brilliant and clear. They then broke the nearby street lamps close to the church, but the luminous image did not disappear. They turned off all the lights in the area, and the girl in her heavenly light and luminous garment became even clearer. She moved within a circle of light radiating from her body in all directions. At that moment, everyone was certain that the girl before them was none other than the Virgin Mary. Applause, shouting, and acclamation erupted, reaching to the heavens: "She is the Virgin... she is the Mother of Light." Then the crowds began to sing, chant, and pray throughout the night until the next morning. Since that night, the pure Virgin has appeared in various spiritual visions before thousands and tens of thousands of people, Egyptians and foreigners, Christians and non-Christians, men, women, and children. Her appearances are preceded and accompanied by movements of spiritual beings that pierce the church's sky in a beautiful and stirring manner, lifting the natural human above the material level and soaring him high in an atmosphere of spiritual purity.

Among the most important visions in which the Mother of Light appeared before all people is her appearance between the western front dome and the central dome of the church. She appears as a full luminous body in the natural size of a young girl, sometimes larger than natural size, her head in the sky as if she had split the sky and descended from it, her feet in the air standing on her toes. Her holy head and luminous body are surrounded by a splendid silver veil, sometimes dark sky blue. The whole body is light from light, often phosphorescent tending to light blue. Sometimes the robe beneath the veil appears as a bright white luminous light, and the head beneath the veil bends downward in the image of the sorrowful Virgin, her gaze toward the cross above the main dome in the middle of the church roof. The vision sometimes remains fixed in this position and sometimes moves slowly and calmly, sometimes bowing before the cross, which itself shines and radiates light even though it is made of metal and is opaque. Light radiates from the Virgin's body, spreading gradually to illuminate the church's sky around the roof area. She sometimes raises her hands, then lowers them, or folds them on her chest as if praying, wrapped in her white veil with looks of calm, serenity, and dignity. Sometimes a tall angel appears behind her, spreading his wings. The vision may last for several hours. Another important vision is the Virgin in a majestic queenly stance in a beautiful spiritual image overflowing with glory, splendor, and dignity, in a light more brilliant than any natural light. A halo of pale yellow surrounds her face, while below the neck and above the chest is a somewhat darker color. On her head is a royal crown resembling diamond studded and shining. Sometimes a small glowing cross appears above the crown. Her radiant figure rises in the sky above a tree on the front side of the church. In this stance, she appears holding Christ the Glorious as a child on her left hand, crowned. Sometimes she holds the edges of her robe with her hands, and sometimes she boldly raises both hands as if blessing the world, turning to the right, forward, and left in a dignified, balanced movement enveloped in a spiritual exaltation beyond expression or speech. Her white robe flutters at the hem as if revealing herself to all people in all directions, pitying those who could not reach the viewing corner facing the church entrance in the narrow alley called "Khalil Alley." In this vision, the pure Virgin appears in the natural size of a young virgin with a healthy, perfect stature and a tall, slender body covered with a luminous fabric down to her feet. The vision's splendor increases when her holy head bends in a gesture of tenderness.

Perhaps the most frequently appearing vision is that of a girl wearing a white veil appearing from a niche in the eastern sea dome among the niches of this dome, nodding her royal head or raising both hands as if greeting or blessing. Sometimes she appears holding Christ the Glorious as a child on her left hand, and sometimes holding an olive branch in one hand. It is noted that before the Virgin appears in one of these niches — which is usually completely dark because it is fully closed from below the church roof so that no church lights reach it when lit — a faint light first appears in the dome, gradually growing until it becomes almost spherical and white with a bluish tint like the blue dome of the sky when the sun is bright. After a while, this light moves slowly toward the dome's niche from outside. During its slow movement, it gradually takes the shape of the Virgin Mary in a half-figure from the head to mid-body, her head surrounded by a veil that appears sky blue hanging on her shoulder. This luminous body represents the Virgin, looking out from the dome's niche and slightly extending outside the dome into the church space, sometimes standing on the sloping dome surface. This vision may last minutes or from a quarter to half an hour. Sometimes the vision forms and appears outside the dome for about two minutes, then moves inside the dome, fading into a spherical shape, then extinguishes or disappears for a few minutes before reappearing as a faint light, growing to a spherical size, then moving toward the dome's niche. During its movement, it takes the shape of the Virgin Mary looking at the crowds. This has happened many times, for example on the night of the Feast of the Entry of the Holy Family into Egypt (24 Bashans, June 1, 1968), when the Virgin's apparition in the eastern sea dome recurred countless times from 10 p.m. until dawn. This is the most frequently repeated vision enjoyed by the largest number of people. Among the very wonderful visions is one in which the Virgin appears as a very bright luminous crystalline body standing in a royal posture, upright and graceful, filling one of the western sea dome's niches in a small harmonious size, like a statue of shining white light extending fully from head to feet in each dome niche, comforting the heart and soul and spreading faith and tranquility throughout the person to the point of forgetting their presence before it due to the amazement and attraction it causes.

The apparitions of the Mother of Light are accompanied by the appearance of luminous spiritual beings resembling doves, usually larger than normal doves, appearing around midnight or after, around two or three in the morning. It is known that ordinary doves do not fly at night. These beings are white, shining, and radiant in a way unmatched in the bird world, especially as they appear in total darkness, glowing and illuminated from all sides, above and below. They move or fly by spreading their wings without flapping, usually gliding swiftly like arrows piercing the church's sky. They appear suddenly from unknown origins and disappear suddenly while still visible. The disappearance occurs when the sky is clear. Sometimes they seem to come out from the main dome and head toward the eastern sea dome, disappearing and then returning seconds later in the opposite direction. These spiritual dove-like beings appear in different formations and numbers: sometimes one dove, sometimes two, sometimes three in an equilateral triangle with equal distances, maintaining this shape during flight. Sometimes a flock of seven, ten, or twelve doves appears, sometimes forming a cross in flight, and sometimes in two parallel rows.

Among the spiritual phenomena accompanying the Virgin's apparitions is the appearance of stars of unusual size descending rapidly over the central dome or on its surface, shining and sparkling. Sometimes a star appears as a luminous ball descending from above to below, sometimes taking the shape of a glowing lamp of medium size. Among the repeated phenomena is an orange light that floods the eastern sea dome of the church from above and all directions. After minutes, it moves toward the main dome and floods it from above and all directions. Often, a bright white light tinged with some blue, resembling the color of the sky dome when the sun is shining, emanates from inside the eastern sea dome, appearing in the center of the dome. Sometimes it moves from bottom to top, appearing as if suspended in the upper part of the dome. Other times it appears in the dome's center in a spherical or oval shape, then moves very slowly out of one of the dome's niches or openings facing outside just before forming into a half-figure of the Virgin Mary looking from the dome's niche.

Among the phenomena also is a large light appearing on the western front dome, the eastern sea dome, or the central dome in the form of a cross with equal arms, a vision of creativity, splendor, and beauty. On some nights, the central dome is filled with a quantity of white incense spreading over the entire church roof and rising upward toward the sky to a height of 30 or 40 meters. Although the central dome is open from inside the church, it is not open from outside, so if incense rose from inside the church, it would not pass outside the dome. The amount of incense spreading over the dome and church roof is huge, not enough to be produced by a thousand censers. Were it not for the incense's fragrant smell and white, pure color, one would think it was caused by a large fire.

There is also the luminous cloud that appears directly above the church domes, sometimes large in size, often preceding the Virgin's apparitions. The cloud does not last long before gradually forming into the vision of the Virgin Mother of Light. Sometimes the Virgin's vision emerges from among the clouds as neon lights suddenly do. Sometimes it moves, and in all cases, it moves suddenly above the domes while the sky is clear and without any known source.

These are some of the visions in which the Virgin Mary appeared on and above the domes of the church dedicated in her name in the El-Zeitoun suburb, and the spiritual phenomena accompanying these apparitions. All are heralds and warnings of great and serious events in the near and distant future. Perhaps it is a spiritual breath from heaven indicating God's care for our church, people, and country, and His providence over us, which we cherish and rejoice in, while with humility and remorse for our sins, we repent to God, returning penitently. Perhaps with these "great signs from heaven" (Luke 21:11) we have entered an important stage of the last days, and perhaps it is the beginning of the end. May we be under God's mercy. May the Lord protect His people and church, and may He break the power of those who oppose us through the intercession of the source of all intercessions, the pure and generous Lady, our all, the Virgin Mary. To our God be glory forever and ever. Amen.

On this day is the commemoration of the departure of the Prophet Micah. May his prayers be with us, and to our Lord be glory forever and ever. Amen.