� SECOND REGARD �
1997 - 1998 SEASON
CREDITS:
����������� Carole-Anne
Petit-B�langer, director
����������� Pauline Aubut, assistant
����������� Gilles-Claude Th�riault,
journalist
�����������������������
����������� Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
August 1997
�final
version
Date of last update :
COLOR BARS - ������ [
T1 - TEXT 1� -���
[
����������� Strange,
astonishing, inexplicable phenomena�
����������� Oil
oozes from an image of the Virgin Mary;
Oil oozes from Myrna�s face and hands,
and during ecstasies,
����������� she sees the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ...
����������� And,
on four occasions, she received Christ's wounds...
T1A - TEXT 1A� -�
[
����������� � Our
Lady of Soufanieh, Source of Holy Oil,
M1 -
MYRNA 1� -� �� [
����������� I was 18 years old when
the events began,
����������� Six months after being
married.
����������� I like to pray, but not
as much as people imagine.
����������� I was so frightened
then because I didn't understand what was happening.
����������� But when I saw the
first drop of oil oozing from the icon
����������� and
when I heard the message of the Virgin Mary:
����������� �My daughter Mary, do not be afraid, I am with you; open the doors and
don't deprive anyone from my sight.�
Light me a candle.�,
����������� I surrendered to God's
will and I asked God to strengthen me and to help me understand what is
happening.
T2 - TEXT 2� -�� [
����������� On
����������� oil
began to ooze from an image
����������� representing
the orthodox icon of Our Lady of Kazan.
����������� And oil oozes from
Myrna's hands while praying...
M2 - MYRNA 2�� -�� [
����������� At first, when Nicolas
heard that oil oozed from my hands, he told me: �you must have eaten something oily without wiping your hands.
����������� Don't
tell anyone.. I don't want people to make fun of us.�
����������� He didn't believe me in
the beginning.
����������� But when he saw the
icon oozing oil, he knelt and cried.
E1�
- FATHER
ELIAS 1�� -�� [
����������� Nicolas
is a very reserved and discrete person
����������� who doesn't like to be disturbed by anyone.
����������� Whereas since 15 years, he is more than annoyed.
����������� Sometimes
he says jokingly:
����������� " Nothing belongs to me anymore.� Not even my wife!" .
����������� And
Nicolas, who was very distant from God,
who even thought that he could marry
Myrna without a priest,
����������� -
you can imagine how little his faith or belief was -,
����������� Nicolas
is now a totally changed man...
����������� �a peaceful, discrete and a welcoming person.
����������� �completely disconcerting.
M3 - MYRNA 3�� -��� [
����������� I consider that
Nicolas� faith is stronger than mine,
����������� and
the Lord chose him to help me in my mission.
����������� As for myself, I have
'seen', and it is a consolation for me,
����������� but he 'sees' through me.
T3 - TEXT 3��
-�� [
����������� Father
Elias Zahlaoui, is a Greek-Melkite Catholic priest
����������� and vicar of the parish of Our Lady of Damascus.
He is one of the spiritual guides of
Myrna and Nicolas...
A privileged witness since the
beginning of the phenomenon,
He accompanies Myrna...
He is almost permanently involved in
the events of
Our Lady of Soufanieh...
G1 - GILLES-CLAUDE 1�� -�� [
After seing Myrna and all these
phenomena,
����������� did you think you were facing a case of hysteria for
example?
E2 - FATHER ELIAS 2�� -� [
����������� Yes.
��� I asked myself this question several
times.
����������� Myrna,
as I knew her since the beginning of the phenomenon,
����������� always seemed to be a very simple girl,
����������� a well-balanced person and of a cheerful character.
T4 - TEXT 4��
-�� [
����������� These
events are taking place in the
In
����������� A Moslem city where Christians are numerous.
����������� A
famous city in the history of Christianity
����������� that witnessed the conversion of
����������� Since
15 years, this little house of the Christian neighbourhood�
of Soufanieh has been the scene of
astonishing facts:
oozing of oil,
����������� apparitions
of the Virgin Mary
and visions of Jesus
Christ during ecstasies...
Events so disconcerting,
that sound like a fairy tale from the
� Arabian Nights ��
����������� Father
Malouli, Myrna's other spiritual guide
����������� welcomes pilgrims of all denominations
����������� who come to Soufanieh from all over the world.
E3 - FATHER ELIAS 3�� -� [
Right from the beginning of the
phenomenon, instinctively,
Nicolas and Myrna had, I would say,
an honest reaction by putting a sign in the entrance of their house where one
could read:
� We refuse all donations. �
M4 -
MYRNA 4�� -�� [
�����������
����������� Because God gave us His
graces out of pure generosity, in return,
����������� we
also try to give generously.
T5 - TEXT 5��
-�� [
����������� It
is in this atmosphere that Myrna and Nicolas raise their children...
M5 -
MYRNA 5�� -� �[
����������� ... God chose a young
bride and in several messages,
����������� He insisted that my
married life remains unchanged.
T6 - TEXT 6��
- [
����������� John-Emmanuel
is now 9 years old, and Myriam is 11.
E4 - FATHER ELIAS 4�� -� [
Seeing how Myrna, Nicolas, and the
children react,
one is really astonished�
which points us to a supernatural
presence.
T7 - TEXT 7��
-�� [
����������� In
the first days of the phenomenon, the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate
����������� sent a bishop and two priests to the Nazzour's home...
����������� And
in front of them,��� oil oozed again from
Myrna's hands�
E5 - FATHER ELIAS 5��� -�� [
On
four officers from the Syrian secret
services and a physician came to the house to investigate.
Two of the officers introduced
themselves as government officials,
while the other two mingled with the
crowd.
����������� They
wanted to examine the image.
����������� They
disassembled the frame to check if there were hidden tubes in it.
����������� Oil
was exuding from the image.
����������� They
examined it and put it back to its place.
����������� They
had also heard that oil oozed from Myrna's hands.
����������� They
asked her to wash her hands in front of them, and so she did.
����������� She
wiped her hands with a dry towel.
E5A -� They took her to the living room and
told her:"now, pray!".
����������� After
a few moments of silence, and in front of everyone,
����������� Myrna's
hands were covered with oil.
����������� The
physician held her hands,
scratched her palms and turned them on both
sides.
Her forearms were completely dry
while her palms were full of oil.
����������� He
then looked at the officers and said:
����������� God is great!
����������� And
that was it.
T8 - TEXT 8��
-�� [
The different analyses of the oil in
M6 - MYRNA 6�� -�� [
����������� I
think that oil is a light.
����������� Because many people recovered their
faith because of this drop of oil.
����������� And many were healed.
Of
course, it is not the oil that heals, but the person�s faith,
through
this drop of oil.
����������� I consider oil as a light, but I cannot say more than
that
����������� because I don't know.
����������� I don't know why the oil,
����������� why it oozes from my hands, from
my face.
����������� I
don't know.
T9 - TEXT 9��
-�� [
Since 1990,
Myrna travels all over the world and
the signs are almost always present.
����������� Very
often, during the Divine Liturgy, oil oozes from Myrna's hands...
����������� and she anoints the people with it.
����������� Prayer
associations have been established in
����������� the
����������� Volunteers
from everywhere commit to live the spirituality of Soufanieh:
����������� that is the unity of their life with the Lord,
����������� in their family and in the Church,
����������� to promote Christian Unity and the unity of the Feast of
Easter.
E6- FATHER ELIAS 6�� -�� [
Friends of Soufanieh invite us and
finance these missions around
the world�
But beforehand, we ask them to get
the consent of the local religious authorities of their country.
����������� Otherwise,
we do not leave
I can assure you that we can leave
and return back as we left.
����������� All
we need is the travel tickets and the passports.
����������� We depart by plane and when we
arrive at our destination, ����
friends welcome us and lodge us in their
homes.
And believe me,
the quality of these friendships created through the Soufanieh phenomenon is
exceptional.�����
Truly exceptional.��
����������� We
go there to pray and to give our testimony; that�s all.
T10 - TEXT 10��
-�� [
The children often accompany their
mother in her missions overseas,
like here, in
M7 - MYRNA 7��
-�� [
In the summertime,
I dedicate a lot of time to my
missions and to the people while I also take care of my children.
But in the winter,
I give my children all my attention
because of their studies,
since it would be unreasonable for me to
leave the children behind
while I go to pray.
I consider that taking care of my
children is a part of my prayer,
and that my children are also part of
my mission.
����������� Of
course, the family is a small church and marriage is a sacrament.
����������� Maybe
my mission is to be at the same time a wife and a mother;
����������� so the unity of the church begins through the unity of the
family.
����������� Especially
that I am Melkite-Catholic and my husband Greek-Orthodox.
����������� But
I don�t oblige the children to pray.
����������� In
the evening, we read the Bible and we all pray together;
����������� Myriam, John-Emmanual, Nicolas and myself.
����������� On
Sundays, we attend Mass together, and that�s all.
T11- TEXT 11��
-�� [
����������� Several
times, the Virgin Mary appeared to Myrna.
����������� All
the apparitions took place at night, on the terrace...
����������� The
Virgin Mary appeared on a branch from an eucalyptus
tree
about fifteen meters away from the house,
����������� and Myrna
was the sole person to see Her.
M8 - MYRNA 8�� -�� [
����������� I felt a hand pushing
me in the back directing me to the terrace,
����������� on
the roof of the house.
����������� I went up and knelt,
but I don't know why I knelt.
����������� Suddenly, I raised my
head and I saw the Virgin Mary.
����������� I could not look at Her, She was surrounded by a bright light.
����������� And I ran away. ���������
����������� I wasn�t able to see Her very well.
����������� The second apparition
happened three days later,
����������� Once again I felt a
hand pushing me in the back.
����������� I went up, I saw Her, and... She was...
����������� I cannot describe Her very well
����������� because
She cannot be described,��
����������� She is so beautiful�
����������� She was dressed in
white,
����������� with
a blue belt, and a blue shawl on the shoulder.
����������� When I saw Her,
����������� She was shining and was
surrounded by a lot of light�
����������� and
She is very beautiful, very beautiful.
T12 - TEXT 12��
-�� [
At first, Father Elias asked Myrna
and Nicolas not to say anything about the apparitions...
E7 - FATHER ELIAS 7�� -�� [
����������� ...
because we were already accused of madness,
����������� to speak about the apparitions, we would have been locked up
!
T13- TEXT 13��
-�� [
����������� Since
1990, Myrna doesn't see the Virgin Mary anymore...
M9 -
MYRNA 9�� -�� [
����������� During
the last ecstasy, the Virgin Mary told me:
�Do not fear my daughter if I tell you that it
is the last time that you are seeing Me until the Feast is unified�,
����������� that is when the Feast of Easter
amongst Catholics and Orthodox coincide.
����������� We always pray for this intention.
E8 - FATHER ELIAS 8��� -�� [
����������� The
first ecstasy took place on
����������� There
were a total of 33 ecstasies.
G2 - GILLES-CLAUDE 2�� -�� [
What is an ecstasy?
E9 - FATHER ELIAS 9�� -�� [
An ecstasy�
You see, while praying, Myrna's face
is suddenly covered with oil,
and her hands are also covered with oil
suddenly !
����������� We
don't know where it comes from.
����������� On
oil had oozed from Myrna's eyes and all
her face prior to the ecstasy.
Then we carried Myrna to her
bedroom,
-because she
lost her balance slightly, whereas Myrna is very natural-,
we placed her on her bed
and after a short while,
Myrna made the sign of the cross and
crossed her arms
and then became absent from our world.
����������� She
doesn't hear, doesn�t see nor feel anything�
M10 -
MYRNA 10�� -�� [
����������� My
parents thought I was dead!
E10 -
FATHER ELIAS 10�� -�� [
����������� And after a while, she makes the
sign of the cross,
����������� opens
her eyes, looks around her and smiles !!
M11 - MYRNA 11�� -�� [
����������� The inner peace that I feel cannot
be described accurately.
����������� Because
I am afraid not to express myself precisely.
But
it is enough for me to say that I feel so much inner peace and love,
that I
forget my family,
����������� I mean... when I am in
this state,
����������� I forget my children, ��� I forget my husband, �� I forget everything.
����������� And
I wish to remain in this state.
T14 - TEXT 14��
-�� [
When Myrna must see Christ, oil also
oozes from her eyes...
and it burns them ...
M12 -
MYRNA 12�� -�� [
�����������
����������� I
saw Jesus during several ecstasies,
����������� but I don't know how many times
exactly.
����������� I saw Him in the Shape of a human being surrounded by
light.
����������� And
I heard His voice.
T15 - TEXT 15��
-�� [
Myrna regains her sight very slowly
after seeing Christ,
����������� but in 1984, at the end of an ecstasy...
����������� Myrna
painfully realizes her blindness.
����������� She
will remain in this state for three days...
E11 - FATHER ELIAS 11�� -�� [
����������� Myrna
received the stigmata four times.
The first time occurred on
two days before the first anniversary
of the Phenomenon of� Soufanieh.
That day, the wounds opened around
on her side, hands, palms and feet.
����������� At
That day,
we had convoked� 8 physicians from different medical
specialties
to come and to perform various
examinations.
����������� The
three other times were in 1984, 1987 and 1990,
����������� -the years when Catholics and Orthodox celebrated Easter
together-,
����������� which is the essence of the Message of Soufanieh: ������ the
unity of the church.
�����������������������
M13 -
MYRNA 13�� -��� [
����������� Before I receive the
stigmata,
����������� I
feel an atrocious pain in all my body,
����������� until the wounds open.
T16 - TEXT 16��
-�� [
The Catholic Church is always very
reserved about the stigmata.
����������� The
first known stigmatist was Saint Francis of
����������� Since
then, more than 300 people would have received the stigmata,
����������� 200
of which were in the 20th century.
Th�r�se Neumann, Padre Pio and
Marthe Robin are probably the most well known stigmatists of our century.
M14 -
MYRNA 14�� -�� [
����������� What is wonderful
during the stigmata,
����������� is
that my body endures a lot of pain but my soul rejoices.
T18 - TEXT 17��
-�� [
����������� Stigmatists
are a sign of contradiction.
����������� They
are venerated by some, discredited by others.
����������� A
sort of puzzle for theologians and physicians...
����������� No
satisfactory explanation to this day...
When fraud is dismissed,
the question is not really the origin
of these wounds
- for the believer, they come from
God -
����������� but what they mean and convey to the faithful ...
G3 - GILLES-CLAUDE 3�� -�� [
... What is the purpose for a person
to receive in his or her flesh,
the stigmata, the wounds of Christ ?
E12 - FATHER ELIAS 12�� -�� [
����������� It
is quite significant for a person to participate in Christ's passion.�
����������� To
remind us that Christ suffered,
����������� had His hands, feet, side and head pierced.
����������� And
in the Middle-East, in a Moslem country;
that is very significant !
����������� And
believe me,
a lot of people have been shaken at
the sight of these wounds.
����������� Because the house is often visited by a lot of Muslims.
T18 - TEXT 18��
-�� [
����������� Priests
and physicians are preoccupied...
����������� And
television permits us to see Myrna's stigmatization.
����������� Troublesome images, to say the least.
Nearly
unbearable...
G4 - GILLES-CLAUDE 4�� -�� [
����������� Are
we in the midst of a mediatic curiosity?
E13 - FATHER ELIAS 13�� -�� [
����������� Several
people in
����������� As
far as we were concerned, we were documenting everything.
����������� Regardless
of what people said.
We knew that ecclesiastical and
scientific authorities would eventually need to know all the facts.
����������� These
facts span several years.
Eventually,�
even the most opposing ones will have to
study this phenomenon.
M15 - MYRNA 15�� -�� [
����������� Sometimes I feel the
sufferings even though there are no wounds.
����������� The presence of blood
is not important.
����������� The Lord always reminds
me of this ��� when I am tired,
����������� disturbed
or irritated whether by the ambiance in the house,
����������� the
children or the people.
����������� The pains remind me to
become stronger,
����������� and
that no matter what I endure, I won't endure as much as He did.
G5 - GILLES-CLAUDE 5�� -�� [
What meaning do you give to all
these phenomena?
Do we really need to hear about them
again?
E14 - FATHER ELIAS 14�� -�� [
I think that if we didn't need them,
then the Author of this Phenomenon would
not have done so.
You see, nowadays, in a world that
has put aside God,
����������� spirituality and the life after,
more than ever God creates ways to
remind us:
��My
children, I am present! �...
G6 - GILLES-CLAUDE 6�� -�� [
����������� Do you consider
yourself like another Christ?
M16 - MYRNA 16�� -�� [
����������� No!� �� I am
a Christian, not a Christ.
����������� I thank people for their love...
����������� but
I ask from them not to make me endure more than I can.
����������� That is to make me feel
that I am Myrna, the normal person.
����������� Because there are a lot
of people who come to me,
����������� thinking
that I am a saint
����������� and
that bothers me and makes me suffer,
����������� because
I consider myself quite far from sainthood.
����������� Help me to remain
faithful to my mission and not to lose my humility.
����������� That is the most important.
����������� My mission is to sow
the seed of love in the heart of the church.
����������� Because
without love, unity is not possible.
����������� And to spread the
message that unity is,
����������� first
of all, unity with oneself,
����������� with
others and with God.
����������� The unity of the family
is part of my mission.
����������� And I pray for the
divided families
����������� so
that God reunites them by the ties of unity and peace.
����������� I have a small chapel
in my house.
����������� From time to time, I go
there to pray silently.
����������� I don't say anything, I
meditate on the crucifix and I write my diary.
����������� My prayer is:
meditation and writings.
����������� And when I write, I
always ask God: � when will You take me? �
����������� This wish is not an escape from my responsibilities.
����������� Sometimes ... when I wish to die,
����������� it looks as if I am escaping
from my responsibilities towards
����������� my husband and my children...
����������� In fact, it�s not that at all;
����������� it�s only the total desire of
God, nothing else.
����������� And I always wish to die when I am in state of grace,
����������� while oil is oozing from my body
or during an ecstasy.
����������� I ask God to take me,
����������� and not to let me die when He is
not happy from me.
����������� Pray for me.
END��� -� ������� [24 :50]