Between 1968 and 1971, millions of people claimed to see the illuminated Virgin Mary atop the St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Zeitoun, Egypt. One witness thought he saw a nun on the roof of the church and ran to intercept what he believed was a suicide attempt. Instead, the glowing woman disappeared. Over the next three years, the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared for minutes or hours to crowds of people gathered at the foot of the church. She was seen holding olive branches and with doves flying around her at night, or with St. Joseph and a baby Jesus on occasion.
Investigations by local police tried to debunk the miracle and disperse the crowds from the area. A search within a 15-mile radius of the church uncovered no special effects equipment, special lighting rigs, or projectors capable of putting on such a spectacle. Some theories include mass hysteria, with the gathered people seeing what they wanted or expected to see. Many of the assembled witnesses, though, were Muslim and had no reason to imagine a figure they don’t consider highly significant to their religion.
Many religious scholars point to Mary’s appearance as the fulfillment of a promise she made to the family who built the church. Around 1918, the Virgin Mary allegedly appeared to Ibrahim Khalil in a vision and told him to build the church in her name on the land. She promised to return to the location and bless the church in 50 years. The church was completed in 1924, and the Virgin Mary returned in 1968 to perform what is now considered the miracle of Zeitoun.
