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#Commemoration_of_the_Appearance_of_the_Virgin_in_Baba_Dablo_Church_of_St._Demiana, Egypt
March 25, 1986
I will tell, in my own words , about what I saw during the apparition of the Virgin Mary in St. Demiana Church in Baba Dablo, which was very close to where I lived at the time…
The apparition began in March 1986, and the date is very special to me because I was in high school. Despite the approaching exams, I used to go to the church daily to witness the apparition. I could not stop myself from going every day, to the point that it affected my studying before the exams, but I never regretted it because I saw wonderful appearances of the Virgin Mary that I can never forget. It was an event that will never happen again in my lifetime, and I thank God that I was among the fortunate ones who saw this apparition clearly and enjoyed it very much…
We used to go with my family at night to the church and stay up all night until morning, chanting and praising while waiting for the appearance of the Pure Lady, the Mother of Light. Indeed, we used to see her, and all the people would see her together. Despite the narrow street (for those who know the location of the church) and the heavy crowd, we felt great joy when we saw the Mother of Light appearing in many different forms…
I saw her in the size of an ordinary human being more than once, very clearly, accompanied by the scent of incense and doves. Sometimes her facial features would become very clear. Sometimes she would move to the right and left as if blessing the people… and sometimes she would bow before the cross.
I sometimes saw her on the minaret, and sometimes on the dome, especially when we stood on the rooftops of houses facing the church to see her clearly. I also saw her inside the church,in the nave or on the iconostasis curtain,when we were inside. Astonishingly, she would sometimes appear both inside and outside the church at the same time.
In addition to the appearances of the Mother of Light, there were also apparitions of other saints such as St. Demiana and St. Aboanoub. There were also appearances of the apostles during the Feast of the Apostles. I saw them inside the sanctuary, and that day I attended the liturgy. After the service, we saw a scene where the saints gradually gathered.
I will recount some miracles, and God knows I am not exaggerating but only telling what I witnessed. One night, security forces cut off the electricity in the entire area, suspecting that the apparition might be caused by lasers. But what happened that night was astonishing: the Virgin appeared very clearly and shone brightly, and the entire sky of the area was filled with a great light, leaving the security forces in amazement and confirming for them that it was the Virgin.
Another even more astonishing incident… The residents of the street complained about the noise because people were staying up every night praying and shouting, so the security forces expelled everyone from the street and moved us to a main road called Ahmed Helmy Street, which is very long. We were very sad to be far from the church and thought we would be deprived of seeing the Virgin that night. But imagine what happened,something beyond imagination… The Virgin appeared to us flying in the sky, her robe flowing, and a voice coming from her like thunder, as if she were shouting at the security forces. We shouted with joy because she came to us outside the church street. The astonishing thing was that incense spread and filled the sky of Ahmed Helmy Street, which is very long,visible as far as the eye could see.
Many miracles occurred that I heard about when I went to the church. I will mention one: one day I went in the morning before my exam to the church of the apparition because it was on my way to school. During the liturgy, when I entered to pray and receive blessings, we heard ululations (celebratory cries) because a blind person regained sight that day.