Marking 40 years on the apparition

Beginning tomorrow and till next Thursday the Coptic Orthodox Church will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the apparition of Holy Virgin on the domes of her church in the Cairo suburb of Zeitoun on 2 April 1968. At 6:30pm tomorrow Pope Shenouda III will inaugurate the celebrations at the Holy Virgin’s Cathedral in Zeitoun where the church choir will await him to sing a welcome. Hot air balloons carrying paintings of the apparition will be flown in the sky, followed by spectacular fireworks. The congregation will then head to the church for prayers of Thanksgiving and praises for the Holy Virgin. The Coptic Orthodox Bishop of Youth, Anba Moussa will deliver the opening speech, following which a documentary on the apparition of the Virgin will be shown. The Pope will wind up the evening with a speech.
Holy Mass will be sung twice daily at the Zeitoun cathedral on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The evenings will witness events including choir performances, screening documentaries, prayer meetings and sermons. The Sudan Bishopric choir will make a special appearance with praises for the Holy Virgin, as well the famous Umm al-Nour (Mother of Light) choir, and the St Mary deacon choir. On Wednesday evening the pope’s weekly sermon will be aired live from St Mark’s cathedral in Abassiya, Cairo and, later, men and women who witnessed the apparition in person in 1968 will narrate their experiences. Midnight praise will follow and end with Holy Mass at dawn on Thursday.
On Thursday evening the festival will close and awards will be handed to the men and women who generously volunteered their time and effort to the preparation of the jubilee celebration. The event has been two years in preparation.

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