www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Apparitions/Divine Revelation to Byzantines?...

I would be interested in hearing more about these occurrences in the Greek Orthodox Church too.

BTW, does anyone know if the frequency of crying/bleeding/oil exuding icons is as frequent as it is in the Roman church?

I find it quite fascinating that Heaven is trying to communicate with us in such ways. The fact that these things are occuring in the Catholic and Orthodox world seems to bring a message in itself...

I have a beautiful icon of "The Theotokos, the Inexhaustible Cup" that I found at Istok Enterprises (istok.net) and the booklet "Akhatist to the Theotokos: the Inexhaustible Cup". I truly feel the Theotokos has blessed me with healing graces when I've prayed the akhatist humbly and fervently. Apparently, this icon mysteriously appeared to an alcoholic in pre-revolutionary Russia who was miraculously cured of his alcohol addiction after kissing and reverencing the icon. Others have experienced similar healings of alcoholism and other addictive disorders.

Would this be considered an apparition or not?

NEMO

Not Byzantine but Maronite:

http://www.ayletmarcharbel.org/RaymondNaderExperience.htm

http://www.byzantines.net/stmary/myrna.htm

http://www.soufanieh.com/main.index.html

Dear Byzantinemo,

The healing of the alcoholic is a miracle healing. It is not an apparition. That's okay, because I'd like to hear of these wonders too.

Miracles such as these do give faith the way an apparition would. The difference is that in an apparition, the person experiencing it is actually seeing Mary/Jesus/Saints/Angels. They are there present, and usually give a message for all of humanity. Examples are: Fatima, Lourdes, La Salette, Akita, etc. These are all well known, and church approved to be authentic. Sometimes they just give a message for that specific person. (You probably already know all of this, I am just clarifying for future readers who may not know).

Divine Revelation would be a message given by Mary/Jesus/Saints/Angels to be spread as a devotion to help the world/convert sinners/help people in purgatory, etc.

Three examples would be the Rosary, given to St. Dominic by the Blessed Virgin, and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, given to St. Faustina by Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Jesus Prayer, given to a monk by an angel to conquer temptation. In all of these cases the devotion was to be spread and used by ALL people as a means to defeat evil, and promises were given to people who practiced these devotions. Many people will attest to miracles which have been a result of keeping these devotions. Padre Pio said the rosary "IS" the weapon against the evil one.

Not all apparitions are truly heaven sent though, and discernment is needed. There are cases where apparitions start out as seeming to be Divine and as time passes they reveal their true nature as being demonic. Remember, the devil is a wolf in sheep�s clothing. Again, discernment is needed. If the apparitions are authentic, Heaven will make sure there truth is known. If they are questionable (Medjugorie comes to mind), Heaven will again make their origins known.

Decon Lance, I find the Marionite apparition to be very interesting. Thank you for sharing. The Soufanieh one I knew about, and personally believe.

All of these posts have really been wonderful, and I thank you all for sharing. It is spiritually edifying to learn more about these.

I just want to point out to any future lurkers who might not know that the Maronite church is named after St. Maron, and it not Marian-ite as in after the Virgin Mary. I know a lot of people who hear Maronite and think it is after Mary, so for their benefit I am pointing it out.

Dear Friends,

In the Orthodox calendar, there are hundreds of miraculous icons/apparitions that are commemorated, even daily.

The only real difference I find between East and West is that the East tends to immediately place approved miraculous icons/apparitions within a public, liturgical/ecclesial context.

Although Western devotions likewise have a liturgical context, they are often known by their private, paraliturgical character.

And, although I could be overstating it, Western apparitions sometimes can be seen to be almost adding to the deposit of faith, and not just confirming it. This is done when acceptance of a certain apparition is almost raised to the level of Divinely-revealed doctrine e.g. Fatima.

Alex

From my experiences, it seems that whatever happens in the Orthodox Church is merely to reinforce one's faith. Sometimes they happen before some terrible event. I believe that a Serbian Church here had an icon of Saint Irene, (whose name means 'peace'), that was crying before the war in Kosovo.

I know an icon of Saint George in a little church of Saint George outside of Athens had a strong scent of ether right before the Greek 'catastrophe' of 1923. The wounded returning soldiers were stationed in the area, and there was also an outbreak of smallpox.

Around 1960, six months after Iakovos became Archbishop of the GOA, an icon began to cry in a womens house on Long Island. It was carried in a procession to the church in Hempstead, and followed by three doves. The doves also circled the church during the liturgy. After that, two more icons started to cry and so on and so forth.

Looking back at it, I have my suspicions as to why they were crying. It was the beginning of an era that has yet to end...if ever.

Zenovia

Zenovia,

Please enlighten me as to what you meant by this last part.

Dr. Eric

The connection of the 1960s and the women's house, I took it to mean abortion/women's lib type stuff.

I have a long fascination with icons that exude oil, myrrh, and so forth. I've seen several people mention visiting churches, chapels, and religious houses with them. How does one know where they are to plan such travels?

Dear Wondering,

It is often the case that travel websites will list the famous shrines of a place, e.g. the patron saint of Capri is San Costanzo and the patronal Madonna is Madonna della Libera - I found pictures of processions etc.

In addition, it is often the case that "tourist-friendly" European cathedrals will have explanations of the Saints and miraculous icons/relics they enshrine e.g. in Barcelona's Cathedral where St Eulalia is entombed together with four bishop-saints, and two miraculous Images.

No matter how much one reads or prepares, there is always the element of surprise when one journeys to discover the holy shrines of the places we travel to!

Alex

Apparition photo of Holy Theotokos holding Icon of her son [mother-of-jesus.org]

In regards to the above post...

Personally, I am less inclined to believe in 'apparitions' on windows of buildings.

IMHO, I think they are more like Rorschach ink-blot tests. People see what they want to, in these cases.

If I am wrong, I pray God will enlighten me to the truth.

Not all apparitions are 'real' apparitions. Discernment is needed. I can remember a case locally where rainwater had left an image - a silhouette of a woman - on a Baptist church. Everyone was fanatical about it, thinking it was the Blessed Virgin. I think things like this make us look kind of silly. Fatima, Lourdes, LaSalette, etc. are an entirely different story.

Again, just my opinion. May God show us all which are true apparitions, and which are not.

Here is an interesting article on www.spiritdaily.com [spiritdaily.com] about trumpets blowing. It gives an account by a Franciscan priest in Palestine, Father Angelo Ison, of the Custody of the Holy Land, stationed in Jerusalem since 1991.

http://www.spiritdaily.com/trumpetssounding.htm