Marie de Nazareth
To Jesus, through Mary
On August 21, 2004, two Sunni Muslim Jordanian tourists, a child named Muhammad and his father, walked into the church of Bechwat. They were accompanied by a friend of the family, a Maronite Christian.
It was a «first time» for them: they had never before entered a Catholic religious edifice.
They hadn't come to pray, just to visit a small nave built in 1830.
The boy however, when he came in front of the statue of Our Lady of Pontmain, asked his dad:
« 'Ammo François, who is this woman who's smiling at me? »
Right after that, the child offered a more rational explanation:
« Is this statue electrically animated? »
At first, the guide-friend answered that it was « only a statue made of plaster, which can't move or smile », but as he got closer, he perceived a movement of the rosary wrapped around the joined hands of the statue.
A faithful who was there at the same time joined the trio and exclaimed too that he saw « the Virgin's eyes become alive as if about the make the sign of the cross».
The young man heard himself pronounce the words of a prayer that was "bigger than him":
«We greet you, Virgin Mary, Queen of the world, of peace and of love.
Elderly people, children and woman are falling, throughout the world.
Bring peace, love and freedom over the face of the earth, O Queen of the world. »
A few moments later, the visitors saw «fragrant oil» run off the Virgin's statue.
That same evening, the faithful flocked to the chapel and "witnessed the phenomenon."
The healings
The next day, a crowd of fervent souls was pressing around the statue inside the chapel. Among them was a Shiite child suffering from a tumor in the right ear, who was "suddenly healed."
Soon after that it was the turn of a young Maronite man, handicapped for many years, to be touched by a « miracle »: he left his wheelchair and walked in the chapel. A long series of cures would follow.
Recognition of the supernatural character of the events
Bishop Mounged Hashim was in charge of the diocese of Baalbek-Dayr al-Ahmar from 1995 to 2005.
On August 21, 2005, the diocese organized a ceremony to celebrate the anniversary of the event. Muhammad was the guest of honor.
In a lengthy speech, the bishop insisted on several points:
« Through the voice of Muhammad, we have heard the message of the Virgin. Through him, the Virgin has entered the history of our country! »
These words amount to a recognition of the supernatural character of the events.
The child was doubly « alien», as a Sunni and a Jordanese. In a sense he was the perfect proof: he was detached, disinterested, and objective.
The message of Our Lady of Bechwat
The child's identity (Jordanese and Sunni) made the Virgin a bridge between the Christian and Muslim communities that war and political clientelism have divided.
The child's words contained an act of faith; his words were a prayer.
This prayer says that through Mary three necessary gifts can come to the region: peace, love and freedom.
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Sources :
L'Orient. Le jour dated August 23, 24 and 28, 2004; The Daily Star dated August 30, 2004, and October 7 and 10, 2004; Al-Najwâ dated September 6, 2004.
Emma Aubin-Boltanski cnrs, Centre d'études interdisciplinaires du fait religieux, La Vierge, les chrétiens, les musulmans et la nation Liban, 2004-2007, In « Terrain » Religion et Politique, issue # 51 2008/2
Patrick Sbalchiero, « Deir el Ahmar II », in : René Laurentin and Patrick Sbalchiero, Dictionnaire encyclopédique des apparitions de la Vierge. Inventaire des origines à nos jours. Méthodologie, prosopopée, approche interdisciplinaire, Fayard, Paris 2007, annexes.
Synthesis by F. Breynaert