Soufanieh Yearly Bulletin

Damascus 18 May 2003

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

Please forgive me, because many are those who have waited until this day for the yearly bulletin of Soufanieh.

However, you must acknowledge that the circumstances surrounding the Near East and even the world were unusual. Apart from generating deep sadness and agonizing suffering, they also bear a sense of deep anxiety for the future.

Alike us, you must be wondering regarding those events; where is the will of the Lord, desire of love, justice and peace, in what we are doing to the world?

My dear brethren,

In my previous bulletins, I used to outline the main events of the year.

This year, I would like, foremost, to remind you of the following points:

  1. "The house of the Virgin" still welcomes faithful and pilgrims, in absolute gratuitousness and this since November 27, 1982.
  2. The Divine Liturgy is celebrated every Saturday evening as well as on the occasion of certain feasts or even at the wish of some visiting pilgrims.
  3. For the past two years, in the presence of "The Soufanieh Family" an additional prayer is celebrated every Tuesday evening, in order to further impression Jesus’ and Mary’s appeal for unity love and peace.

My dear brothers and sisters,

This letter covers the period stretching from the beginning of 2002 until June 30, 2003. Here are the main events:

 

On 16 May 2003, while praying with the faithful of St-Elian Ascetic, in Karyatain, near Homs, oil exuded abundantly from Myrna’s hands.

    1. Myrna was invited to a wedding on 26 June 2002, in Amman. Oil exuded from her hands on this occasion.
    2. While attending a funeral in Amman on 1st December 2002, oil exuded from Myrna’s hands.

Myrna was invited there by Father Maurice Yanni with the blessing of Mgr. Youhanna (Jean) Kolta, from 15 to 30 January 2003. Oil exuded from Myrna’s hands several times there.

Myrna was invited there by Father Adel Theodore Khoury, formerly dean of Münster theology faculty, from the 7 to 14 December. During the three conferences given by Father Adel Khoury and the testimonies of Myrna, oil exuded from her hands.

At the invitation of Msgr. Michel Saydé, representative of the Patriarch in Canada, Myrna traveled to Canada and the U.S., from 8 August to 3 September 2002. Father Boulos Fadel accompanied her. Oil exuded regularly from her hands during those encounters of prayer and testimony.

Myrna is invited there by Mr. Patrick Sbalchiero upon the authorization of three local bishops. The visit will last from 20 to 30 June, I shall be accompanying her.

  1. In English:
  2. Reverend Father Robert Fox, an American theologian, after a visit to Damascus in September 2001, has published a book on Soufanieh, entitled "Light from the East". This book seems to be an example of intellectual honesty, theological clarity and ecumenical concern, both from a Christian and a human point of view.

     

  3. In French:
  • "Fayard Production" has published in 2002 a sizeable "Glossary of Miracles and the Extraordinary in the Christian tradition". The French researcher Patrick Sbalchiero underwent this work. It includes three pages on Soufanieh (738- 741) which I wrote myself. My text has been reproduced in its entirety.

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  • My dear Friends,

  • Let me conclude this bulletin with a nice surprise, which occurred in two stages:

    1. On March 8, 2003 Mr. Antoine Al-Makdissi, a Syrian Christian intellectual, wrote a letter to His Holiness Pope John Paul II, regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict and its potential consequences on the presence of the Christians in the Arab world. He ended his letter as follows:

    Please bear in mind, Holy Father, that at present the Christians of Palestine number two percent only of the whole population. If there are still some Christians in the East, it is perhaps that God wishes to give us one last chance. We have the concrete proof of that with Our Lady of Soufanieh, who, for the past 30 years, along with her Divine Son, has been inviting us to a Christian life better adapted to this century. Two things are being requested:

      1. Pray, pray and pray…
      2. Achieve Christian Unity.
      3. Very Holy Father,

        You remain always for us the successor of Peter. Pray for us.

        I ask for your blessing.

        Antoine Makdissi

         

        Shaalane St.  -  Damascus, Syria

         

      4. The Holy Father reply did not take long time to arrive and was dated 4 April 2003. I am happy to reproduce it in its entirety.

    Sir,

    You have written to the Holy Father through the Nunciatura in Syria, regarding the situation in the Holy Land.

    I have been requested to thank you warmly on behalf of His Holiness who has been very touched by your poignant words regarding the human drama which is unfolding in that region as well as the dramatic situation of the number of Christians, still living there. The Pope assures you of his daily prayer for peace, especially in the Holy Land, as well as for all the victims of that conflict. Entrusting to Our Lady of Soufanieh your personal intentions, he grants you wholeheartedly the apostolic blessing which he conveys to all those who are dear to you.

    On behalf of the Holy Father, I remain.

     

     

    Yours very sincerely

    L. Sandre  - Substitute

    Dear friends,

    Wasn’t that a beautiful surprise? Let us continue to pray and act together, so that Our Lord grants to His Church the grace of Unity and to the whole word the grace of real peace.

    Father Elias Zahlaoui

    Damascus 18 May 2003