A Great Miracle of the Virgin Mary (Panagia) in Syria:
In December 2003, at a historic Monastery called the Panagia Saidnaya (or Seidnaya), (an Arabic word meaning ‘Our Lady’), which is 27 km north of Damascus in Syria, where Cain had killed his brother Abel (Genesis 4:1-17), a Saudi Arabian man, a Moslem (Muslim), appeared before several news agencies to relate the following incredible event he experienced and which changed his life (this story appeared on TV, the Internet, radio, and was circulated in newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets throughout Saudi Arabia, Syria, Palestine, and evidently in all neighbouring countries).
Some years ago, this man married a very rich Moslem woman but was sterile. As the years passed, and despite all their efforts and significant medical expenses with many doctors, they remained childless. The man’s parents suggested to him that he marry a second woman, while upholding his initial marriage (as the local laws permits up to four concurrent marriages).
Being exhausted, worried, downhearted, and because he loved his wife very much, he did not accept his parents’ advice but rather chose to take a vacation with his wife in Syria. There, they hired a limousine with a driver who would serve as a tour guide for all their site-seeing excursions throughout Syria. As the vacation progressed, the driver noticed that the Saudi Arabian couple was experiencing bitterness, pain, and grief. Having gained familiarity with the couple, the driver cautiously asked them why they appeared to be so unhappy… was it perhaps because he was not conducting the tour to their satisfaction?
The couple confided to the driver that the source of their unhappiness was their inability to have children. The driver who was also a Moslem, then told them that in Syria the Christians, specifically the Orthodox Christians, have a Monastery named Panagia Saidnaya and that many people who can’t have children take refuge to Her miracle-producing icon. They went to the Monastery and there they were given to eat, the wick from the lamp which burns before the miraculous icon. And then the “Mary” (Panagia) of the Christians gives them according to their faith, what they wish for.
Becoming excited, the Saudi Arabian and his wife asked the driver to take them to the Monastery “Saidnaya” of “The Lady of the Christians” and said that ‘if we have a child, then I will come back and I will give you $20,000.00 US and, I will give the Monastery $80,000 US.’ So they went to the Monastery and did as they were instructed. Later they returned to their homeland and after some time the wife was found pregnant. In a few months she gave birth to a charming baby boy. It was truly a miracle of our Lady, the Most Holy Theotokos.
Now, as soon as his wife gave birth, the Saudi Arabian man wanted to return to Syria to uphold the promises he had made. Upon his return he called the same driver and asked to be picked up at the Damascus airport.
(The Horrific Murder)
But the driver was cunning and wicked and he persuaded two of his friends to go to the airport with him to pick up the rich Saudi Arabian man and to take his money and kill him. So they picked up the rich man at the airport and he, as they drove, without realizing that they had planned to kill him, told the friends of the driver that he would give them also $10,000 US each.
These men still not satisfied, deviated from the route to the Monastery and went to a deserted place and proceeded to slay the Saudi Arabian man and to cut off his head and other parts (hands and legs) of his body into pieces. Blinded by passion and overcome by the horrific act that they just committed, they put the man’s remains in the trunk of the car rather than just leaving him there. After taking his money, watch, and all that he had, they proceeded to find another deserted place to discard the remains.
(The Great Miracle)
Then on the National highway, their car broke down and stopped in the middle of that road. The three men got out to determine why the engine had stalled. Then a passerby stopped to help them but they, afraid that their terrible act would be discovered, pretended that they did not need any help.
But as the passerby motorist was leaving, he noticed blood dripping from the rear of the vehicle and he called the police to investigate because the scene and the three men looked suspicious. The police came and they saw the blood under the car and on the pavement so they ordered that the trunk be opened.
Reached capacity:
