Mary, Mary, Why Ya Buggin?

When I was studying art and architecture in Florence, Italy a couple years ago, one of my classes was about women in medieval/renaissance art and religion.  We read about icons of the Virgin Mary, appearances by her, and the miracles attributed to her in Tuscany.  Despite learning a lot, it all seemed academic and far-away.  I mean, when people are malnourished and suffering from plague, the ordinary can seem miraculous.  However, despite my belief that these sorts of miraculous appearances stopped with modern medicine or the printing press, the Virgin Mary (or Miryam al-Adhra in Arabic) is apparently still maintaining a busy schedule these days.  In the last month, she's appeared in no fewer than five churches in Cairo alone.  Concentrated mainly in the poorer Coptic neighborhoods in Imbaba, Shobra, and Helwan, she has taken the form of a water stain, a crying icon, and at the church nearest to my house, a blue orb of light floating outside the sanctuary.


After hearing about this from an atheist ex-Muslim Coptic Art Historian (wow, that's a long title), we got in the proper mindset and trekked up north to see the Virgin Mother and get ourselves saved.


We passed by police barricades and about a hundred riot police with shotguns to enter.  Apparently, a few nights before, after word of Mary's appearance had spread, a mob showed up, shouting insults at the Copts inside.  This is particularly odd as Mary is the only woman to have her own chapter in the Qur'an and Muslims also believe in the virgin birth.  Maybe a little respect is in order for the Theotokos?  Thankfully, the often negligent government took some precautions to protect the church tonight.


In any case, with my whiteness and my friend's lack of hijab, we got in with no problem.  Once inside, as the priest chanted mass, people excitedly showed us cell phone videos they had taken of the previous night's appearance. One has to wonder how the various cults of medieval Christianity would have developed differently if videos were being taken of stigmata, bread becoming flesh, and Mary being everywhere.  

From the video, Mary appeared on the roof where all those streamers end.

The videos I saw definitely showed something.  It seemed to be a blue, glowing orb floating between the central and right cross on top of the church.  At risk of falling back into my usual pattern of blasphemy and disrespect, it reminded me most of Ghostbusters.


DON'T CROSS THE STREAMS, ST. MARK.

STICKERS!

After looking at pictures children had drawn of the previous appearances, we sat outside for a while, waiting with the rest of the crowd for Mary to appear again.  After waiting for an hour in the cold, the Virgin Mary Laser Light Show did not begin as expected, and we headed back home.