www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall A londoner's standpoint on Islamic terrorism

Dear Alex you said:

"I love the story of how St George became England's Saint:

King Richard was in the Holy Land, near St George's shrine at Lydda, when he and his army were surrounded by a Saracen force three times their size.

"Richard invoked St George and it seemed that a Red Cross developed on a white cloud above them.

Buoyed by this, Richard's army routed the Saracens and Richard declared St George the patron of England from that time forward (displacing St Edmund the Martyr and St Edward the Confessor).

St George for Merrie (Merrieg or holy) England!"

I say:

I know that some miracle had taken place during the crusades for the English to adopt Saint George as their patron saint. I also recall reading an old book on WW I and how either Saint George alone or with an army supported the English and French and fought off the Germans in Belgium. According to the book, when the wounded Germans were asked if they had seen anything, they answered that it was a heavenly force and they were unable to fight them.

Now I know that the Moslems also revere Saint George. Can't help but feel that he fought them many, many times.

In Christ,

Zenovia

Dear Myles,

Thank heaven you're okay. I recalled that you told us you were in London and I was concerned.

As for the Muslims, I once read a book on the Koran. The author stated that it is outstanding in it's original Arabic. Funny that satanists also use poetry and rhyme. It's very mesmorizing.

Being Greek I love Middle Eastern music and have noticed that the Muslim religious chants have a certain 'martial' quality. I find it tends to arouse nationalistic feelings in the same way that the German music did in the Nazi era.

Zenovia

Can you please post a correct html address? I tried to click the link, and it lead to nowhere.

Thanks,

SPDundas
Deaf Byzantine

Dear Myles you said:

"In my humble opinion it is not a coincidence that Bin Laden chose to attack New York on September 11th nor is it by coincidence that Our Lady appeared at Fatima in 1917. Archbishop Fulton J.Sheen once said we should be careful to note that Our Lady chose to appear at the one place in Europe with a Muslim name (Fatima was Muhammed's daughter) and he also stated that the call to conversion was as much as for Islamdom as for Russia. I have come to become more convinced that he was correct."

I say:

You might be correct about Sept. 11 although I had heard that Bin Laden was planning a more thorough attack and decided to change his plans because the FBI had someone in custody.

Had their original plan gone through, they would have managed to bring down the USA and the rest of the world with it. With the World Trade Center alone some German and Japanese insurance companies went broke. Had there been more damages, it would have thrown us into a world depression and probably another world war.

Bin Laden had plans of using planes as misiles on the West coast as well as attacking our nuclear facilities. No doubt he would have attacked the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco and other landmarks as well.

Thank heaven for President Bush and his quick thinking. By quickly reducing our taxes he managed to restore our economy. Bin Laden knew very well what he was doing.

As for Fatima, I had heard that it has become a pilgrimage for the Muslims because of it's name. Very frightening since they consider themselves the original 'Arian' inhabitants of the peninsula. They resent that they were forced to leave.

What frightened me the most though, was when Princess Diana was going with Jodi Fayez. It made me recall the many times that Byzantine princesses were married off to the sultans. I can't help but feel they know their history well, and want to follow the same patern today as they did when conquering Asia Minor and the Middle East.

Don't think for one minute that it was not Jodi's father's intent for him to have a grandchild closely related to the future king. That's why he can't accept that the deaths were an accident. Not for his son's sake, but because it hindered his ambitions on the growth of Islam.

We should try to convert Muslims but it is quite hard. I believe Saint Francis asked the Sultan to convert and he responded by saying: "Do you see all those around me. If I convert they will kill me." Yet there has to be a way. God did not intend that those people should remain tied to a 'cult'.

I can't help but feel that when John Paul II kissed the Koran, he was blessing those that followed it with the hope that they will soon see the light.

Zenovia

Most Holy Theotokos save us!

Why Has The Virgin Made Her Apparition?
And Why At El-Zeitoun?

It is also notable that the word Zeitoun means olive ...sound familiar?

Moslems who saw the apparitions chanted from the Koran, "Mary, God has chosen thee. And purified thee; He has chosen thee. Above all women." She was seen accompanied by doves of light in apparitions that lasted from a few minutes to as long as nine hours.

As in Zeitun, the silent witness of the Mother of God renewed the faith of tens of thousands and brought both Moslem and Christian to a place of peace where all could pray to the God who loved them enough to remind them of his love by sending His Mother.

THE VIRGIN'S APPARITION: WHY AT EL-ZEITOUN, IN PARTICULAR?

In my belief, the apparition has two missions, one of which has been accomplished, and the other will be accomplished in due time.

The one that has been accomplished is the consolidation of faith at a time when heresy spread and when materialistic beliefs, i.e. communism and dissipation, deny resurrection, immortality, the existence of the soul and of God and of the Metaphysical.

The apparition of the Virgin, then, was a strong urge that has strengthened the faith of the believers and disproved the claims of the sceptics.

The apparition of the Virgin has consolidated the Orthodox creed. Had we been in the wrong, the Virgin would not have made Her apparition for a whole year over the domes of an Orthodox church. THE MOTHER VIRGIN HAS THUS MADE HER APPARITION OVER THE DOMES OF THE CHURCH THAT HAS PRESERVED FAITH FOR US!

It is an act of Providence that the Virgin Mary Church at El-Zeitoun should become a sacred visiting-place at a time when the Copts were denied the right to visit the Holy Places in Jerusalem because of the occupation of the city. This apparition was also the herald of the forthcoming victory of our valiant army that crossed the canal and destroyed Ber-Lev line (1973).

As for the mission that has not been accomplished; it is still unknown to us. It must impart a lot of good to all the world, to our land and to the cause of peace. We are looking forward to it.


WHY HAS THE VIRGIN MADE HER APPARITION?

The Arabic word El-Zeitoun means "olives," and olives are the symbol for peace. When Noah sent a pigeon to see if the water had receded, it returned with an olive branch in its beak indicating the appearance of trees and of life in general.

When Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem, He was welcomed by the crowds carrying olive branches and shouting: "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." Olive branches are thus a symbol of salvation and of peace.

According to the law of Moses, olive oil was used in the lantern upheld in the tabernacle of faith.

When we chant for the Virgin on the first day of Bashans (a Coptic month) we say: "Peace be on thee, O Mary. Peace be on Mary, the source of the righteous. Peace be on Her who is more chaste than the angels. Peace be on the "olive tree", the basis of all believers. Peace be on the blessed Mother of Christ.

The olive tree is ever-green; so, it is a symbol of growth, of fertility, of constant regeneration and of the integrated fruitful Christian life that does not wither.

On the Mount of Olives the Saviour used to spend the night praying, and on the eve of His suffering, the earth was soaked with his sweat that flowed like drops of blood. So, that land has been sanctified ever since.

Furthermore, the Virgin has made Her apparition at El-Zeitoun because in that place, in particular, She and Her beloved Son had rest from the weariness of travel during the Holy Family's Journey to Egypt.

http://www.zeitun-eg.org/stmaridx.htm

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