In the Name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy-Spirit, One God, Amen

Steubenville, August 26^th, 2002.

In the Name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy-Spirit, One God, Amen.

Firstly, I thank God for our encounter today, for in His Name we are gathered together.

I thank the Blessed Virgin Mother for here Love and intercession that united us around Her Son Jesus.

I also want to thank all those who facilitated this encounter, while hoping it will be for prayers and for the Glory of God foremost;

especially Drs Alan Schreck and Mark Miravalle.

I see you before me and I remember one of the Messages of the Virgin Mary:

"You will teach the generations the Word of Unity, Love and Faith."

Yes, yourselves.

So God is in need of disciples of peace and unity for His world and His Church.

Don’t forget that future generations are entrusted in your hands.

Don’t ever forget that the Virgin Mary trusts us and allow me to repeat with the Virgin Mary this message:

"You will teach the generations the Word of Unity, Love and Faith."

Surely, all of you are interested in discovering the Phenomenon of Soufanieh.

So I will try to summarize my 20-year experience for you.

My name is Mary Al-Akhras, known as Myrna Nazzour, born in May 3^rd 1964.

I was 18 year-old when I married Nicolas in 1982.

I am Melkite-Catholic and he is Antiochian-Orthodox.

Six months after our marriage, on November 22^nd 1982, on the very small street of Soufanieh in Damascus where I live, I was praying at my ailing sister-in-law’s house,

Nicolas’ sister, my body trembled and I noticed what appeared to be water on my hands.

I smelled it, and it smelled like oil.

An internal struggle started inside me.

I did not understand what is happening,

Why the oil in my hands?

And why me?

On November 27^th 1982, oil started oozing from a small icon of Our Lady,

known as Our Lady of Kazan (skaya).

The icon measures 6x8cm or 2.5x3.2 inches and housed in a simple plastic frame.

Nicolas had bought it in Bulgaria before our marriage.

It was a simple ornament in our house.

I did not understand what was happening.

I took it to my husband Nicolas who was in our bedroom getting dressed.

He took it and put cotton underneath it on a wooden plate.

We immediately knelt and cried.

That sight was so beautiful that I wished the whole world could have been in my eyes to see what I have seen.

Nicolas asked me not to tell anyone about what was happening as he went to inform his parents.

I remained alone in the house and was afraid.

I did not know what to do nor what to pray and suddenly I heard a female voice saying to me :

"Mary, My daughter, do not be afraid, I am with you.

Open the doors and do not deprive anyone from My sight.

Light me a candle."

When my husband returned, I told him what I heard and he could only say:

"If this is God’s will, let it be!"

When we surrendered to His Will, I said:

"Take, O Lord, my will, so that Your Will be done in me."

And I told the Virgin Mary:

"Teach me O Mother, to say : let it be done unto Me according to thy Word, O Lord".

And from that time, my husband changed from a non-believing, non-pious person to someone who surrenders to the Will of God.

And now I can confirm that the first miracle in this Phenomenon was my husband’s conversion.

I cannot forget what he always repeats:

"I regret the time that I was away from God."

On December 15^th 1982, around 11:00pm as I was praying with people,

I felt a hand pushing me forward.

I looked back and I did not see anyone.

I felt it again and I see myself heading towards the terrace of the house that overlooks a garden.

I was trembling and I did not know if it was from the cold or from fear, and suddenly I saw a beautiful Lady surrounded by a very bright light.

I was scared and ran away.

When Father Elias Zahlaoui found out about this incident, he told me:

"Myrna, the Virgin Mary is a Mother, and a Mother does not scare anyone.

Pray more and prepare yourself in case She wants to give you a Message.

Pray and say: Prepare me O Virgin to receive You."

On December 18^th 1982, I saw the Virgin Mary for the second time.

This time again, I felt a hand pushing me towards the terrace.

All the people who were present followed me to the terrace.

I felt peaceful, for I thought they would see what I see, however,

I saw and heard Her alone.

In the first Message, She said:

My children,
Remember God, because God is with us.
You know all things and yet you know nothing.
Your knowledge is an incomplete knowledge.
But the day will come when you will know all things the way God knows Me.
Do good to those who do evil.
Repent and have faith, and remember Me in your joy.
Announce My Son the Emmanuel.
He who announces Him is saved, and he who does not announce Him, his faith is vain.
Love one another.
I am asking for love.

There was altogether 5 apparitions to date, the last one was on March 24^th 1983,

on the eve of the Annunciation.

In this Message, the Virgin Mary clarified her clear desire for Church Unity.

She said:

My children,
My mission has ended.
That night, the Angel told Me:
"Blessed are thou amongst women."
And I was only able to tell Him that "I am the Servant of the Lord."
I am happy.
I Myself do not deserve to tell you: "Your sins are forgiven."
But My God has said it.
Establish a church. I did not say: "Build a church."
The Church that Jesus adopted is One Church, because Jesus is One.
The Church is the kingdom of Heaven on earth.
He who has divided it has sinned.
And he who has rejoiced from its division has also sinned.
Jesus built it.
It was small.
And when it grew, it became divided.
He who divided it has no love in him.
Gather!
I tell you: "Pray, pray, and pray again!"
How beautiful are My children when they kneel down, imploring.
Do not fear, I am with you.
Do not be divided as the great ones are.
You, yourselves, will teach the generations THE WORD of unity, love and faith.
Pray for the inhabitants of earth and Heaven.

On November 28^th 1983, a new aspect of the Phenomenon emerged: the ecstasies.

While in prayer with people, I suddenly feel the oil appearing on my hands, my face and sometimes in my eyes.

There I would be unaware of the material world around me.

I would see the Virgin Mary and She would confide me a Message or

I would see a strong light in the shape of a person and I would hear a voice confiding me with a Message.

The priests present during the ecstasy assured me that this Person in the shape of light is Jesus Christ based on the content of the Messages given to me.

I have lived 35 ecstasies to-date.

The Message of Our Lord Jesus and the Virgin Mary can be summarized by:

Love, prayer, forgiveness, penance and by evangelization.

Their most important request is the unity of the church,

beginning with the unity of the Feast of Easter.

In the years 1984, 1987, 1990 and 2001, I bore the stigmata.

I received His Wounds in my hands, feet, flank, and forehead.

During these years, the Feast of Easter for the Eastern and Western Churches had coincided according to their respective calendars.

When the Feast is celebrated together among Catholics and Orthodox,

the wounds would appear on Holy Thursday and heal by themselves at the end of the day

in the presence of many priests and doctors.

On Holy Saturday, I would enter into a state of ecstasy and I would receive a Message emphasizing the unity of the church beginning with the unity of the Feast of Easter.

On May 1^st 1985, the Virgin Mary said:

My children, assemble.
My heart is wounded.
Do not allow My heart to break because of your divisions.
And on April 19^th 1987, Jesus said:

I have given you a sign to glorify Me.
Continue along this path and I am with you.

On April 14^th 1990, Jesus said:

My children,
You, yourselves, will teach the generations THE WORD of unity, love and faith.
I am with you.
But you, My daughter, will not hear My voice until the Feast (of Easter) has been unified.

On November 26^th 1990, the Virgin Mary said:

Do not be afraid my daughter, if I tell you that you are seeing me for the last time until the feast (of Easter) is unified.

Therefore, tell my children: Do they want to see and remember the wounds of my Son in you, or not?

If it does not bother them that you suffer twice, I myself, am a Mother, and it is not easy for me to see my Son suffer many times.

Therefore, I am with you and with everyone who wishes that the Feast (of Easter) be ONE.

10.

Based on Jesus’ request on November 26^th 1987,

To "Go and preach in the whole world and tell them without fear to WORK FOR UNITY,"

The first visit was to the United States in 1987 where I began spreading the Messages of Soufanieh. I accepted many invitations from Europe, several Arabic countries, Australia, Canada, Portugal and Italy.

To put it simply, the Messages are spreading to the whole world day after day, in order to fulfil the wish of Christ our Lord when He said:

All I want is for you all to gather in Me as I am in each one of you.

11.

In case you’re wondering what is the unity that Christ is asking for, it is

The unity of the Church is our unity with Christ,

unity with ourselves, with our neighbor and with others.

It is the acceptance of others in love and openness.

It is for the church to feel poor but rich in the unity of its members.

This unity is achieved through humility, love and openness to the work of the Holy Spirit who unites, and to believe that the Will of God will be achieved if we respond to God’s signs in our lives.

What we lack is mutual love.

Because whenever our love weakens, the division increases and so does the distancing of the Love of God that is within us.

12.

We are called to one Faith in the Resurrected Christ.

What unites is one Faith, one Hope.

What unites us is lot greater than what divides us,

however, the problem lies in loving.

That is why the Virgin Mary said in her 2^nd apparition:

I am asking for love…

And on her last apparition She said:

The Church is the kingdom of Heaven on earth.
He who has divided it has sinned.
And he who has rejoiced from its division has also sinned.
Jesus built it.
It was small.
And when it grew, it became divided.
He who divided it has no love in him.

The difficulty in loving lies upon the fact that we want to love our way and not the way Jesus loved us, and to forgive our way but not the way that Jesus forgives.

Jesus wants us to be the salt, the light and the yeast of the world and He marked us with the Seal of the Holy Spirit.

The weakening of our love has diminished the light and delayed the action of the Holy Spirit within us.

We all want unity, however everyone wants it accomplished according to his own perception.

This is why we pray to the Lord for Him to accomplish this unity according to His Way.

This is why during Unity Week, Christians constantly repeat in their prayers:

"That we find in You O Perfect Love, the path that leads us to Unity in the way and the manner that you want it in obedience to Your Love and to Your Truth. Amen."

13.

God did not choose Myrna alone, for she is married and mother of 2 children:

Myriam – 16 years old and John-Emmanuel – 14 years old.

On November 26^th 1987, Jesus told me:

Continue in your life as wife, mother and sister.
That is why I say that the Lord chose a family and the family is a small church and the church is a family and the unity of the family is the cornerstone of the unity of the church.

In His last Message, on November 26^th 2001, Jesus says:

How beautiful is the family whose emblem is unity, love and faith.
Its path is My path and My Mother is its support.

And this is when the family is built on love unity and peace, it will be a witness to Jesus’ Church.

14.

I am very happy today to be speaking with you since you are the future of the church in your country and possibly in the world.

You are Christ’s witnesses.

Christ’s Mission is your mission!

And this mission today, is Christian Unity!

How beautiful is the home from which a vocation is borne, for it strengthens the foundation of the Church.

I pray for vocations for the priesthood and consecrated life based on love, peace and faith.

Some of you will choose priesthood while others will choose family life.

We are called, - priests and lay people- to build the One Body of Christ.

15.

Finally, I ask you to pray for me, so that God’s Will be accomplished in my life and to be faithful to my mission.

Pray for my family.

Pray for the house that God chose.

This house has remained open to prayer during 20 years in total gratuitousness,

and without us asking anyone about his identity or religious belonging.

Amen.