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The Virgin Mary's Apparition in El Maadi in 1968 AD

The Virgin Mary's Apparition in El Maadi in 1968 AD

In the year 1968 A.D., the Immaculate Virgin Mary appeared in her church in the city of El Maadi to hundreds of people.  This happened after her luminous appearance in The Virgin Mary Church in El Zeitoun. This apparition caused frequent numbers of visitors from all over the world to come and take her blessing.

Then, The Virgin Mary appeared once again in the early of eighties; particularly in 1984, that was the night of the commemoration of the ascension of her body to heaven.  

One of the amazing events that occurred in this ancient Church, occurred on the 3rd of Baramhat (13th march 1976 A.D.).  That day, after the completion of the Holy Liturgy, some members of the congregation walked out to the church’s outer courtyard which overlooks the River Nile, and they saw a Bible that was being tossed around by the waves of the Nile.  When the Bible was washed ashore, it was opened towards the page of a picture that depicted the Mother of Light carrying her child Jesus as she sat on the donkey.  The Bible was opened on the page that had the verse: "Blessed is Egypt My people" ("Isaiah 19:25").

        This event confirms the Coptic tradition which states that the Holy family passed by this place during their escape from Herod. This Bible was placed into a glass case, and the page still remains as it was found when it was washed ashore.

 
        The Church has a history full of events and is known as the Virgin Mary’s Church at Al-Adawiya, it is located on the shore of the River Nile in the suburbs of El Maadi, South of ancient Egypt. The location of this church is one of the many where our Lady the Virgin Mary stayed for days, and the Holy Family travelled from the south of the Nile towards the north, by boat. This church is still a popular destination for many visitors.


The Church has two archeological icons. One of them carries Christ, putting His left hand on the globe. The other is rare and archeological icon that depicts all the life stages of the Virgin Mary.

 
This Church was visited by St. Arsanious; the teacher of the Kings' sons, as well as Pope Matthew 1st.  The church was also visited by Pope Cyril V who took care of the collections of all the manuscripts that were found in the church.