Soufanieh and the Holy Oil

The Oil

Oil is a symbol of abundance and joy. It cleanses and softens; it is a sign of healing and comfort. It strengthens and gives off light. It is the sacred symbol par excellence. It was used to anoint kings. It is a synonym and symbol of the Holy Spirit. Holy chrism, whose anointing symbolizes the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, is used in Baptism, Confirmation, the Anointing of the Sick and priestly ordination.

The Sources

The oil flows from Myrna while she prays, while she speaks about the event, or during her ecstasies.

It flows from her hands, her face, her neck, her eyes, her abdomen (on the third and last day of a total three-day fast, from November 26 to 29, 1984) and her feet (once). The oil also flows from the hands of people outside the family and outside Syria, but always connected with the phenomenon of Our Lady of Soufanieh.

When the blue icon (1) was carried in triumphal procession to the Byzantine Church of the Holy Cross of the Greek Orthodox community (500 metres from the house) on Sunday, January 9, 1983, the oil stopped flowing from it; but it began flowing from the violet icon (1) from January 17, 1983. Oil has also flowed from more than a thousand photographic copies of the icon. It has also sprung from the floor of the terrace, at the spot where the Virgin appeared, from a relief of the Virgin, from a prayer book, from the wall behind the inner niche where the blue icon had been placed and sealed, from the glass covering the two niches (one at the entrance and the other in the courtyard), from cotton in a box prepared for distribution to the sick, and from a medal hanging around Myrna’s neck.

Oil Flowing from Copies of the Icon

In Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Beit Sahour (Palestine), Venezuela, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Australia, Haiti and other Arab countries.

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