The altars
and Icons at St. Mark Church
in Cleveland were
consecrated on Sunday,
October 1, 1989, during my
pastoral visit to the Coptic
churches in the United
States.
On the feast
of St. Athanasius the
Apostolic on May 15, 1990,
His Grace Bishop Tadros of
Port Said visited the church
in Cleveland. While
traditional prayers were
being conducted inside the
church, oil seeped from the
Icon of the Virgin Mary, the
Mother of God, holding the
Lord Jesus in her arms.
Everyone attending witnessed
this. The same thing also
happened on the feast day of
the consecration of the
church of St. Demiana at the
Barari by Pope Alexander
(19) : oil seeped once more
from the same Icon as well
as from the Icon of Our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Oil seeped
also on the following dates:
5/22, 5/23, 5/24, 5/25,
5/27, 6/4, 8/11, and 8/18 of
the year of 1990. Large
quantities of oil had
seeped, and this was
witnessed by many Americans
including a reporter who
wrote an article in the
Cleveland newspaper. No
sooner had he wrote it when
thousands had flocked to the
church to see the oil and be
blessed by the seeping
icons.
The media
gave the matter utmost
attention; local TV
channels: 3, 5, 8, 43, and
61, as well as NBC from
which CNN derived the news,
the latter being two
National TV channels came to
the church to report this
phenomenon. Radio channels
also broadcast many programs
covering this phenomenon,
while many religious
magazines published various
articles in this regard.
On the day
of the Feast of the Cross of
September 19, 1990 oil
seeped again. Oil also
seeped on October 8, 15, 16,
and 23, 1990. It happened
that the oil seeped from the
face of Jesus Christ and the
Virgin Mary on both
icons in the presence of His
Grace Bishop Thomas of
Koussia. Oil seeped
also on other days like
November 18, 1990.
Very
Reverend Father Mikhail, the
church's pastor, had stated
in a report submitted in
this regard, that the number
of visitors to the church
had reached 27,000 persons
of various denominations and
religious beliefs and coming
from different parts of the
United States.
In this
report, Very Reverend Father
Mikhail provided statements
about miraculous healings
that resulted from the
seeping oil from the Icons
in the church. Such
statements have been written
by the persons themselves to
whom such miracles had
happened, many being
Americans and non Copts.
An example of such cases is
that of a youth by the name
of Anthony Mikhail Dillio
who recovered after he was
involved in a near fatal
accident on July 28,
1990. Another example is
that of a young boy by the
name of Bobby Collette who
also recovered, after being
anointed by the oil, from
urinary retention without
having to undergo imminent
surgery. Other examples are
those of Francis Picarek who
regained his sight after all
hope was lost and
of the young Coptic Orthodox
girl Annetta Gad's healing
without the surgery required
for the healing process.
Many other miracles of
healings were recorded in
Very Reverend Father
Mikhail's report.
The
following are our remarks
regarding this phenomenon:
1. Oil
seeped from Icons
consecrated with the Holy
Oil which does not happen to
non-consecrated Icons.
2. Oil
seeped during church
services and in the presence
of one of the bishops, and
this happened repeatedly.
3. The oil
has attracted people to the
church rather than kept them
away from it. People are
anointed with the oil inside
the body of the church by
one of the bishops or the
priests.
4. This
phenomenon does not happen
to one particular person as
an individual, but it
concerns the church as a
whole.
5. The
spiritual life of the
congregation has been
revived.
6. This
phenomenon has added a good
dimension to the report of
the Coptic Orthodox Church
among the churches of the
world as had previously the
appearance of the Virgin
Mary in the church bearing
her name in Zeitoun and in
the church of St. Demiana in
Pappadopolo in the years
1968 and 1986 consecutively.
7. Oil
seeped on the feast days of
popular saints of our church
as well as on the feast day
of the Cross and it happened
in a church consecrated and
dedicated to St. Mark, our
patron saint. All this binds
the congregation to
the saint of the church, its
traditions, its rites, and
its fathers like St. Mark,
Pope Alexander, and Pope
Athanasius.
8. The
miracles of the presence of
incense witnessed by His
Grace Bishop Hedra of Aswan
during his visit to the
church in Cleveland, as well
as the miraculous healings,
all glorifying God in His
saints. His Grace Bishop
Reweis, Bishop at large has
submitted a report regarding
the seeping of the oil and
the miracles associated with
it. Another report was
submitted by His Grace
Bishop Missael. Reports were
also submitted by His Grace
Bishop Tadros and His Grace
Bishop Thomas, as well as by
people who experienced
miraculous healings or by
those surrounding them who
witnessed those miracles.
Based upon
what preceded, it is clear
that the phenomenon of the
seeping oil from the Icons
in the church of St. Mark in
Cleveland is a miracle that
glorifies God and His
saints, that augments
people's faith as well as
their adherence to the
church, its rites, and
beliefs, and will not cause
them to drift away.
May God's
Name be glorified in His
saints forever.
Pope
Shenouda III
Pope of Alexandria and
Patriarch of
the See of St. Mark
Cairo, Egypt
May 15,
1991
(The Feast of St. Athanasius
the Apostolic)
