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— Your Reverence, how did you first learn about the Zeytun miracle?
— It was 1968, I was then studying at the theological academy. In the autumn of the same year, when the Zeitoun apparitions began, the next Assembly of the World Council of Churches was held in the Swedish city of Uppsala. Both the Russian Orthodox and the Coptic Churches took part in it. The Egyptians brought to Uppsala the first official materials about the apparitions of the Most Holy Theotokos in Zeytun. They distributed brochures, photographs, and various printed publications at the assembly. Members of the delegation of our Church collected all these testimonies and brought them to Russia. Among the materials smuggled almost illegally from Uppsala was a pamphlet titled “Transfigurations of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Zeitoun.” One of my teachers, who participated in the Assembly of the World Council of Churches, gave it to me. It was a small book in English. I read it in one breath, and from the new knowledge I received about the phenomena of the Queen of Heaven, my heart literally caught fire. I felt that this is an exceptionally important event, and it is not only of local, Coptic, significance — it is a message to the entire Christian world. The presence of the Mother of God was observed by countless people — of different confessions, nationalities, of all ages. They saw what only great saints had previously enjoyed, and for a short time. And in Zeytun, the appearance of the Mother of God continued continuously for hours.
— When you learned about this miracle, how did you try to spread the new knowledge that amazed you?
— With friends, we translated into Russian all the sources that fell into our hands, from English, then from Arabic. It was the Soviet time, except through samizdat it was impossible to disseminate such information. Then the semi-underground magazine “Veche” was published, which was published by Vladimir Osipov. It contained my article about the Zeytun miracle. In addition, they printed materials on a typewriter and distributed them to their friends. Thanks to contacts with Egyptian students studying in Moscow, I managed to get from Cairo a book by the Coptic Bishop Gregory “The Appearance of the Virgin Mary in Zeytun” in Arabic. An Arabist friend translated it into Russian, and already in the 70s we began to distribute it in Russia. Thus, more and more people learned about the miraculous appearance of the Mother of God.
Through friends who were often in the West, other, more detailed testimonies were obtained. We have come across a report on the miracle in Zeytun, which was compiled by Bishop Gregory of the Coptic Church, chairman of the committee for the study of those miraculous events. It was already an official document. It said that a year had passed since the first appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos, and the appearances were still going on.
A report compiled by Bishop Gregory spoke of “instant cures” for such ailments as malignant tumors of various types, severe thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis, blindness, chronic speech disorder, severe hypertension, paralysis, severe chronic asthma, severe infection with threat of amputation and many other diseases… And this is confirmed by extensive medical research.
In October 1971, for the first time in the history of the Church, the Coptic Patriarch and Pope Shenouda III visited Russia with a group of bishops. On the day of the celebration of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the Assumption Cathedral of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, he announced the appearance of the Virgin Mary in Zeytun, to which, as he put it, “we are all witnesses.”
— In addition to the outward manifestation of a miracle — healing, afterlight — there is undoubtedly some kind of sacred meaning in these appearances of the Mother of God to many and many people. What does it consist of, in your opinion?
— This kind of healing has happened in all ages — this is normal and natural. Since the Mother of God appeared to people, then miracles of healing must occur, because She is the Healer. But my friends and I were sure: the Zeytun messages of the Mother of God were addressed not only to the Copts, but to all people. That is, to us, Russians, who at that time were under the cruel yoke of the atheists.
This appearance of the Queen of Heaven interests us primarily as a sign of the times. All the perfections that Christ promised the Church were realized in the person of His Mother. In church hymns, the Virgin Mary is glorified as the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of the Divine, the Most Pure Temple of the Savior, as the first Person Who will fulfill all God's plans for humanity. All the brightest promises of the biblical prophets are connected with the Mother of God. Very important promises are just about the goal of the historical path of the people of God.
The event in Zeytun is unique: a lot of people, among whom were both clearly unworthy and sinful, see a miracle that only the great chosen ones are worthy of. By such miracles, witnessed even by unworthy people, this very boundary of time is recognized. I immediately remembered the episode from the Gospel when the Savior reproves the Pharisees for not being able to recognize the signs of the times. And I understood: the miracle that happened in Zeytun is the sign of the times that Christ speaks about.
There are words in the Gospel which in translation mean “appointed” or “destined” time. The time, which in the covenant with God is predestined, is appointed. These are some of the most important milestones in history. Remember the Gospel of Mark, when the Savior began to preach, saying that
the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand
(Mark 1:15).
To recognize such a boundary of time, one must be free from hypocrisy. You don’t have to be a great scientist, a theologian, but you just need to feel that such generous manifestations of grace, the vision of which becomes available to people of any condition, is clearly such a milestone.
What times are we talking about?
It is about those whose promise is not noticed. We need to look at them more carefully, and for this we need to study the Holy Scriptures, the works of the Holy Fathers. The Mother of God then appeared so that we would be attentive both to ourselves and to the time.
The appearance of the Intercessor of the human race took place over the temple of the Coptic Church. It happened in the very place where the Holy Family stopped, hiding from Herod.
In Zeytun, the appearances of the Queen of Heaven continued for more than three years — from April 2, 1968 to May 29, 1971. After that, they are renewed from time to time in different places in Egypt, most often where the Holy Family stopped during their flight from Herod.
It is clear that these phenomena are addressed to all peoples. The Mother of God appeared with an olive branch. This is also a very eloquent sign, testifying to the grace-filled world that, according to biblical prophecy, comes after the end of the time of the Antichrist.
All the signs in Zeytun are very joyful, kind. The olive branch of all peoples, including the most ancient, symbolizes peace, tranquility. I think this is good news that the end of the spiritual mortification of peoples is coming and the world is waiting for the revival of Christianity — such as the Holy Spirit created it. Indeed, in early Christian times, the people were filled with grace, but in our time, some kind of deadness, mental laziness is felt. And the Mother of God seems to foreshadow the coming resurrection of Christianity.
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
(Isa 2:4).
— Why do you think such an incredible miracle, even when it happened, did not stir up the whole world?
— It was a time when the West was gripped by student riots, the so-called sexual revolution that had begun.
For some reason, these events turned out to be more significant for the media. They were devoted to all the pages of newspapers, television programs. As for the USSR, it is known that any mention of miracles was banned in our country. The main argument then was the phrase “this cannot be, because it can never be.”
— I know that you managed to visit those places where miracles happened. Tell about it.
I vividly remember my blessed experiences when, as a student of the Moscow Theological Academy, I read for the first time a brochure about the Zeytun miracle. It was like an earthquake of the heart. And now, many decades after those blessed events, I was fortunate enough to visit Egypt, visit the places where the appearance of the Mother of God took place, pray there, hear the stories of eyewitnesses. Egypt is a country with a very high morality, there is an insignificant percentage of crime, there is no alcoholism, a very ethical clergy and conscientious people. One senses a high spiritual life in the monasteries. The Egyptians are a people who have kept the faith. Atheism is not possible in this country. It seems to me that they do not even understand how a state can exist that imposes atheism on its people. They can't get it in their head. Everyone there believes — some are Christian, some are Muslim. But not to believe at all is simply unthinkable for the Egyptians.
The Copts themselves explained the appearance of the Mother of God in Zeytun in their own way. In 1967, Egyptian troops were defeated by Israel. And this miracle — the appearance of the Virgin Mary — they interpreted as follows: everything will be fine with us, and in the end we will win, because the Mother of Light has come to us, as they call the Mother of God. This interpretation is very narrow, I would say local.
On one of the first days of our stay in Egypt, we were lucky to pray in the Zeytun temple itself in front of the icon of the Mother of God, to hear the stories of people who saw the Queen of Heaven with their own eyes. This will be remembered for a long time…
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