Mary Apparition

Nigeria Holy Orthodox Church – Apostolic Succession

Contemporary Apparitions of the Mother of God

From the very first days after Her Dormition to the present time, the Most Holy Virgin has been giving succor to Christians. This belief is substantiated by accounts of Her appearances and especially by the multitude of miracles performed by Her icons. We shall mention here some of Her apparitions and miraculous icons.

Protection of the Holy Virgin. This feast was established in remembrance of Her apparition during the siege of Constantinople [Istanbul] in the middle of the 9th century. The Slavs [Variags], at that time pagans surrounded the city of Constantinople by sea and land with a huge army. Christians inside the city rushed to their churches with prayers for divine help. A beggar in the city, Saint Andrew the Fool-for-Christ’s-sake, was in the church of Vlahern praying all night with many other Christians. In the fourth hour of the night, the Saint saw a majestic Woman, the Virgin Mary, coming forth above the royal gates (in the middle of the sanctuary) accompanied by John the Baptist, John the Theologian, and many saints, some preceding and some following Her, singing hymns and praying. Saint Andrew approached his pupil Epiphanius and asked if he also saw the Queen of the world. “I see Her and tremble,” answered the latter. And while they looked, She stood above of the sanctuary and prayed for a long time.

Then the Virgin Mary removed Her veil and spread it over the church and the city. Saint Andrew told the people about this apparition of the Holy Virgin. Encouraged, they made a procession along the walls of the city and submerged in the sea an icon of the Virgin Mary. A few hours afterward a great storm arose and destroyed most of the enemy ships. The Slavs who survived retreated, and the town was saved. From that time many Slavs started to convert to Christianity. Saint Andrew by birth was also a Slav. Perhaps explains why Russians so greatly honor this appearance of the Mother of God to him and dedicate to this miracle the feast of the Protection of the Holy Virgin, which is celebrated each year on October 1/14.

The information that follows regarding other appearances of the Mother of God is drawn from foreign publications. Our Church has not as yet voiced its opinion on these events, and we cite them here simply as supplemental information.

Fatima, Portugal. On March 13, 1917, not long before the revolution in Russia, the Virgin Mary, surrounded by a radiance, appeared in Fatima, Portugal, to three shepherd children. For several months She continued to appear to the children, and at one of Her appearances five to eighteen thousand people convened from all parts of Portugal. An unforgettable miracle occurred when, after a torrential rain, unexpectedly there came an unusual light, and in an instant the people’s soaked clothes became dry. The Virgin Mary was summoning the people to prayer and foretold the forthcoming conversion of Russia from godlessness to faith in God. The Roman Catholic Church later interpreted Her words as foretelling the conversion of Russia to Catholicism. However, this was not what the Virgin said. Now, as the Russian people turn back to God and to their Orthodox faith, we are witnessing the fulfillment of this prophecy.

Egypt. For more than a year from April 2, 1968, the Virgin Mary appeared in Zeitun, a suburb of Cairo, above a church dedicated to Her name. Her appearances, which usually occurred between midnight and five in the morning, attracted a multitude of worshipers. The Mother of God was surrounded by radiance as bright as the sun, and around Her there hovered white doves. Soon all of Egypt heard of the appearances of the Mother of God, and the government became concerned that these public gatherings at the site of Her appearances should proceed in an orderly fashion. The local papers wrote in Arabic about these apparitions of the Holy Virgin, and several press-conferences were held about them, during which people shared their impressions regarding what they had heard from Her. The Mother of God also visited individuals in the suburbs of Cairo, such as the Coptic patriarch who was skeptical of Her appearing to the people. During the appearances of the Mother of God there occurred many cures that were confirmed by local doctors.

The Washington Post on July 5th, 1968, wrote of additional appearances of the Theotokos over the Church of St. Damian, in the industrial area of Terra Gulaki, north of Cairo. The Virgin Mary was seen holding the infant Jesus in Her arms, and accompanying Her were several saints, among them St. Damian. As elsewhere, Her appearances were accompanied by many cures of incurable diseases: blindness, kidney and heart diseases and many others.

Medjugorje, Yugoslavia. From June of 1981 the Virgin Mary started to appear on a hill in Medjugorje. At these appearances there sometimes congregated as many as ten thousand people. Many saw Her surrounded by unearthly radiance. Then the appearances to the public stopped, and the Blessed Virgin began to appear regularly to six young people, speaking to them. Italian and other newspapers described these events, and Medjugorje became a place of constant pilgrimage by the faithful from all parts of the world. Our Lady slowly disclosed to the young people 10 mysteries, which they must impart to church representatives in due course. The Holy Virgin promised that on the third day after revealing Her last mystery She will leave a visible “sign” for the faithful. Representatives of the medical world and other highly-respectable people testify that the young people who have been seeing the Blessed Virgin were absolutely normal, and that their outward reactions to these appearances were natural. Often, the Virgin Mary, while weeping, told the young people of the necessity to establish peace on the earth: “Peace, peace! The earth will not be saved until peace is established over it. It will happen only when people find God. The Lord means life. Those who have sound belief in Him will attain life and peace… Christians have forgotten prayer and fasting.” It is interesting to note that in Medjugorje, where atheism had predominated and where there were a lot of communist party members, most of the Medjugorjians became believers and renounced communism. Also in conjunction with the apparitions of the Mother of God in Medjugorje, there occurred many miraculous cures.

Lvov, Ukraine. At Easter 1985 in the town of Lvov, during the celebration of the Liturgy by the Metropolitan John at the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Mary, in view of a great throng of faithful there suddenly appeared through the window pane a cloud as bright as a ray of sunlight. It slowly took the shape of a human form, and all acknowledged it to be the Holy Virgin. In a spiritual impulse, the people started to pray aloud and call upon Her for help. People standing outside also saw in the window the image of the Holy Virgin Mary and tried to enter and prayed aloud. The throng kept increasing as news of the miracle spread with the speed of lightning. All efforts of the militia to disperse those praying were in vain. People started to come from Kiev, the Pochayevskaya Lavra, Moscow, Tbilisi and other towns. The governor of Lvov requested that Moscow send some experts to investigate what was going on. The scholars began to argue that there were no miracles so that the people should disperse. Suddenly the Blessed Virgin spoke: “Pray; repent from your sins, since there is little time left …” After this She cured many cripples and sick. The vision of the Virgin Mary and the cures continued for three and a half weeks, and She spoke much on the salvation of mankind, as the people remained there day and night.