REPORTS of Pope Ratzinger getting jumped by an allegedly “unstable” young woman on Christmas eve have eclipsed a story that the Virgin Mary showed up in Egypt, where she is said to have performed eye surgery on a 39-year-old mother of two.
According to this report, Jesus’ mum put in an appearance above a church in Al-Warrak, a poor working class neighbourhood of the Egyptian capital. Since then thousands of Christians have congregated in the area to stare silently at the sky in the hope of seeing She Who Was Bonked by God.
Said Father Fishay, a priest at the Warrak church:
The first person to spot the sighting of the Virgin Mary was a Muslim neighour. He took a video and pictures and distributed them to everyone.
The man was sitting at his local coffee shop when he saw a strong light coming from the church.
Others on the street noticed the light and saw a bird circling above the church. At around 2 am, a vision of the Virgin Mary in her white and blue robes appeared, Fishay said.
He added:
The church closes its doors in the evening, we were not there when the image appeared the first time, so we decided to come back the second night and we saw the bird circling the church then the light.
News of the apparition quickly spread in the area, prompting hundreds to rush out of their homes armed with mobile phones to capture the momentous event. But Muslim residents in the area insist it is a hoax, with someone creating the image with laser beams.
Said an excited Rami, 36, in response to sceptics:
It’s her, with her blue and white clothes, there is no doubt about it. It cannot be an illusion.
Kawkab Munir Shehata, 39, is convinced. The mother of two says the Virgin Mary even performed surgery on her, giving her back the sight she had lost in her left eye.
It was about 3:40 am when she started performing the surgery on my left eye. I felt immense pain which lasted about quarter of an hour. Then I was ecstatic to find out that I could see clearly. You see, my left eye is even better than my right one now.
Nabil, 32, his wife Mariam, 28, and their three children came from Shubra al-Kheima, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) away on the other side of town, to receive the Virgin’s blessings.
Mariam said:
Her appearance means she approves of us and if she blesses us, we will stay till morning.
Her husband added that the sighting proves that Christianity is still alive. He is angry over the recent publication of an article in a periodical of Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning, questioning the foundations of Christianity.
The apparition of the Virgin Mary means that Christianity is real and the Bible is real.
The priest Fishay said:
It is not possible to know the reason for the Virgin’s appearance, but it could be to push people towards faith, and help put an end to their problems. Maybe her appearance is to bring people closer together, maybe it will bring about the end of the state of tension between Muslims and Christians and an end to extremism. Â Maybe it’ll bring back forgiveness like there once used to be in Egypt.
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