Journey Back to Eden.pdf - St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Chicago

114 FEBRUARYJust then some of the people who had seen the apparition cameinto the church and said, “Abuna, why didn’t you come outside tosee the miracle?” The father of the baby said, “We didn’t have togo outside to see a miracle. Through the Virgin above us, Godgave us a miracle right here by blessing my baby!” The peoplewent home and brought back picnic baskets of fruits and breadsand sat on the floor of the church and celebrated until dawn.These people are a people of faith. They know how to betouched by God. I felt that I was little more than a prop in thatchurch—a prop that held a baby and kept the wind from makingher cold. But the faith of these people was open to the grace ofGod. Because they were able to see beyond me to God, they wereable to receive this marvelous gift from him. They know how to beChurch; they know how to admire even unworthy earthen vessels,how to be open to blessings from God through such vessels. Theirfaith, their openness, was all that counted. It was their faith, theirprayers, that brought that baby back to health by the grace of God.I asked the father of the baby for his name and address and toldhim that I would like to meet him again when I next came back toCairo, to see how he and the child were doing. He gladly providedthis information for me, and I departed from this festive place toretire to my friends’ house in Cairo from which I would be safelytaken back to the monastery soon thereafter.FEBRUARY 4, WEDNESDAYI’ve been spending the last few days at the home of Mr. Kamal-Hanna, his wife, Juliet, and their son Emil. I’ve been speaking tothem about my experience at Sitt Damiana. They are completely atease with the story, because events such as these are part of theirdaily conversation. However, they acknowledged this occurrence tobe rather extraordinary, even in Coptic Egypt, where miraclesabound. The sharing of such stories with one another is their delight,and it reinforces their faith. Some years earlier, this familysaw the apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the Church of Our Ladyof the Olives at Zeitoun. They saw her in an extraordinary waythere. She appeared in the form of a radiant figure, also in the airabove the church, like the apparitions at Sitt Damiana. They describedthe event in detail and how they were touched and movedby it. They told me how the crowd responded, and how completely