Reported stigmatist and visionary will promote message of unity among Catholics, Orthodox

Warren — Catholic and Orthodox Christians in southeast Michigan will have the opportunity to hear a message of hope, love and unity from a woman who’s described personal encounters with Mary, the Mother of God.

Myrna Nazzour, a mystic from Damascus, Syria, who’s reportedly received visions, ecstasies and messages from Jesus and Mary, will be speaking at 7 p.m. June 3 at Our Lady of Redemption Melkite Catholic Church in Warren and at 11 a.m. June 5 at St. Michael Melkite Mission in Plymouth about the need for faithfulness to Christ and for peace, humility and reconciliation among Christians.

Nazzour has reportedly been receiving visions since 1982 and has experienced phenomenon that have been verified by Catholic and Orthodox experts, including holy oil that’s exuded from her skin that has been tested and found out to be pure olive oil, and reported experiences of the stigmata, or the wounds of Christ on her forehead, hands, feet and side.

Nazzour spoke May 14 at Our Lady of the Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral in West Roxbury, Mass., the seat of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton.

Her message at Michigan’s Melkite churches, spoken in Arabic with interpreters on hand, will focus mainly on the need for unity among Christians during the current times of trial in the Middle East, as well as the visions she received from Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, according to Fr. Michel Cheble, pastor of Our Lady of Redemption Parish.

“She’s here not just to speak about her visions, but about the need for unity and praying as one Church,” Fr. Cheble said. “Now with the situation of Christians in the Middle East, there’s a need to come together as one.”

Nazzour, a Melkite Catholic who’s married to an Orthodox Christian, tours the world, speaking of her experiences and the hope that Christians around the world will celebrate Easter — “Pascha” — in unison.

While Our Lady of Soufanieh, as the reported apparitions to Nazzour are known, is an Orthodox devotion, Fr. Cheble said her message is one Catholics can appreciate.

“It’s a message of unity between Orthodox and Catholic, and how she accepted this sign of Jesus,” Fr. Cheble said. “She’s had big apparitions, stigmas of Jesus Christ, bleeding for hours.”

Fr. Cheble said miracles have been reported after people prayed for the intercession of Mary and touched the oil from Nazzour’s hands, but her two stops here aren’t meant to be construed as “healing events.”

“She doesn’t do miracles; she doesn’t touch people,” Fr. Cheble said. “She is a very humble, quiet lady, asking people to pray and pray more. Everything she preaches is within the guiding of the Church.”

Nazzour has made previous stops in America before — she has family in the Boston area — but Fr. Cheble said now her message is even more important with the rise of violence against Christians at the hands of extremist groups such as the Islamic State and Boko Haram.

“They don’t want us to stay in the Holy Land,” Fr. Cheble said. “It’s important for events like this between Orthodox Christians and Catholics, because unity is our power. When Jesus said we become one, then we will have power. That’s why it’s so important now for her to give us this message.”

Fr. Cheble said attendees will be “amazed” by Nazzour’s humility and devotion to Our Lady — she doesn’t ask for money or donations when she speaks, just that people hear the message she has to give.

“She doesn’t prepare any document or paper,” Fr. Cheble said. “I’ve known her for a long time, and she never wrote or read anything on paper. She prays through the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit flows through her. She is just so humble, giving herself to this mission to talk about the Virgin Mary and be one with her message.”

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If you go

Myrna Nazzour will speak at two southeast Michigan Melkite Catholic churches in June:

• 7 p.m. June 3 at Our Lady of Redemption Melkite Catholic Church, 29293 Lorraine Ave., Warren


• 11 a.m. June 5 at St. Michael Melkite Mission, 585 N. Mill St., Plymouth