There have been many recorded in the Orthodox Church as well, one in particular during the Fourth Crusade called the Crusaders “Enemies of my son”. Do you find that rather compelling? If not why should I find the appearance in the Catholic Church compelling?
This is interesting. Actually the Pope forbade the Crusaders to deviate from their path to Jerusalem, and when they did, he excommunicated the whole party that went to Constantinople. Those who went to Constantinople to put that guy who invited them into power, and later sacked Constantinople when he couldn’t pay them as promised beforehand, were actually in a state of excommunication while they did all of that at Constantinople. From a Catholic standpoint, you could call them “enemies of Christ”, since from the Catholic standpoint, the Pope speaks for Christ, being the vicar of Christ. The Catholic Church probably has no official stance on the apparition you mentioned (was it an apparition of Theotokos in Constantinople?), but it’s interesting to mention that this particular case doesn’t seem to contradict the Catholic Church’s stance.
I’m aware of other purported miracles in the EOC, though, that do contradict the CC.
I’ve read on the
orthodoxinfo.com website that when the EP of Constantinople transitioned to the New Calendar (Gregorian Calendar) in 1923, he also moved Pascha to the New Calendar date. However, the miracle of the Holy Fire did not occur that year according to the New Calendar date in Jerusalem, it occurred at the Old Calendar date. Thus, he moved the date of Pascha back to the Old Calendar (Julian Calendar) calculation, while keeping the New Calendar calculation for the un-moveable Feasts (Christmas etc). However, again according to the orthodoxinfo website, there occurred yet another miracle on the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Namely, the New Calendar folks were already finished commemorating the Feast, but 13 days later, those who refused to transition to the New Calendar, were having the Feast according to the ancient calendar. And on that day, a cross appeared in the sky, and it was witnessed by the faithful who were gathered. I don’t remember, did this happen on Mt. Athos, or somewhere else in Greece. And according to those EO who reject the New Calendar, this miracle was proof that the New Calendar is against the will of God, since God sent this miracle to endorse the celebration of that Feast according to the Old Calendar.
I guess the above story is controversial within Orthodox circles, since it’s at the heart of the Old Calendar - New Calendar controversy. I don’t know more about it, i.e. is it accepted by those EO Christians who use the New Calendar, etc.
A famous miraculous story in Russian Eastern Orthodoxy is the Icon of Theotokos of Kazan, found by a 13-year old girl, buried, after the Tatar invasion receeded, in the 15th century if I’m not mistaken. She was led by miraculous events (dreams and miraculous lights) to the place where the Icon was to be found.
Another beautiful story from Russian Orthodoxy is when an ordinary woman visited St. Seraphim of Sarov, and she witnessed the apparition of several saints, including the Theotokos herself and St. Borbala (St. Barbara), at the place where St. Seraphim and this woman were standing.
Yet another widely known miracle from Russian Orthodoxy is when the Theotokos appeared in the sky, and was seen by a large number of Soviet (Russian) and Nazi (German) soldiers fighting each other, during WWII.
And finally, I’m aware that the onion cupolas of some Russian EO churches got a miraculous gold covering and golden shine, at the height of godless persecution in the Soviet Union.
As for stories outside of Russia, we can’t fail to mention the apparitions of Theotokos at Zeitoun (suburb of Cairo, Egypt, 1968-72), witnessed by as many as 2 million people over a period of some 4 years - including Nasser the Egyptian President, Coptic Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox Bishops and priests, the Coptic Pope, Roman Catholic Bishops, Priests, Cardinals, the Papal Nuncio to Egypt, and other high-profile personalities. These apparitions happened on top of the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of St. Mary in Zeitoun. Interestingly, the apparitions in Zeitoun and elsewhere in Egypt resumed in late 2009 - early 2010. The apparitions of 1968-72 took place at a time when Christians in Egypt were persecuted and anti-Christian genocide was a very real possibility. Theotokos’ apparitions might have played a significant role that genocide was averted then. And now, I find it very significant that Theotokos started to appear again in Egypt in 2009-2010, and lo and behold, we witness a new wave of anti-Christian persecution and terrorist attacks in Egypt. My theory is that Theotokos came back to Egypt to strengthen the Christians there, and to induce peace and understanding in the hearts of well-meaning Muslims.
We should also mention Soufanieh, in Damascus, Syria. Theotokos has been appearing there since 1982. Myrna Nazzour, to whom she has been appearing, is a Melkite Catholic married to Nicholas Nazzour, her husband belongs to the Greek Eastern Orthodox Church. Jesus Christ also appeared several times to Myrna and instructed the Christians there to unify the Feast, i.e. that they should celebrate Pascha on the same day, as a first step towards reunification of Orthodox and Catholic Christians.
Both Zeitoun (also spelled Zeitun) and Soufanieh are fully approved by the CC, otherwise I wouldn’t mention them.
