Oil seeping Our Lady of Perpetual help Icon, California
June 29, 2004 - Reported in chicoer.com. Written by Larry Mitchell. A Chico couple who believe they've experienced a miracle are opening their home to anyone wishing to see what they say is holy oil oozing from an icon on their wall. The public is welcome to visit any day, between 6 and 8 p.m., said Eimad Abdulaziz. Members of the 30 to 40 families who attend St. Elias Syrian Orthodox Church in Chico have been coming regularly to the Abdulazizes' apartment to pray and dab some of the oil from the icon on their foreheads, said Youssef Sayegh, an ordained deacon in the church. The uncanny events at the Eaton Road apartment began early on the morning of June 8, according to Eimad, a 37-year-old grocery store owner who came to the United States from Syria nine years ago. At about 1:30 a.m. that day, his wife, Nujoud, asked him to get some milk for their 1-year-old son, Jack, who was awake and fussing. Eimad got the milk from the fridge and went upstairs to the couple's bedroom. As he knelt by the bed, he said, he saw a blazing light in the window and felt pushed back against the closet. Nujoud, who couldn't see the light, said her husband seemed to be in a trance. She had told him her stomach hurt, and now he began muttering about oil and the Virgin Mary icon that she should put oil from the icon on her stomach. The young woman said she went downstairs, where she saw oil seeping out of the icon, which depicts Mary holding the baby Jesus. She said she took some of the oil and put it on her fingers and made the sign of the cross on her forehead. Then she went upstairs, and after she marked her husband's forehead with the cross, he came out of his altered state of consciousness. The couple both went down and looked closely at the oil dripping from the icon. They were very frightened, said Eimad. They tried to call a neighbor who is also a member of the Syrian community and also called Sayegh, who quickly came over. "We woke up about 15 families and they all came over," said Sayegh. Family members videotaped the oozing oil and their relatives praying before the icon. Some cried tears of joy. Also notified was Archbishop Clemis Eugene Kaplan, who is in charge of the 13 churches that make up the Syrian Orthodox Archdiocese of the Western United States. Kaplan visited the Abdulaziz home on June 13, where he examined the icon and led members of the Chico congregation in special prayers to the Virgin Mary. In a letter to clergy and parishioners in the archdiocese, Kaplan wrote, "We confirm this miracle and declare that it is a blessing from heaven ... We contacted His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka (patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church). He was overwhelmed with joy and congratulated our people for this heavenly gift." Sayegh said the icon has continually oozed yellowish-green, odorless oil since June 8. He said there have been a few similar occurrences in the past in Syria. Last weekend, Trad Trad, a close friend of the Abdulaziz family, drove to Chico from Los Angeles with his wife and baby to make a quick visit. "We heard about the miracle and came to be blessed," he said. "I'm sure a lot of our community will come to see it. It's worth the drive." Sayegh said he understood a bus is being chartered to bring church members from Los Angeles to see the icon. Eimad said his sister, who lives in Toronto, bought the icon there, apparently at an art store, and brought it to him as a gift when she visited two years ago. It's a printed picture on wood and seems to have a lacquer finish. It was one of three similar icons his sister brought to relatives. She also brought two that depicted The Last Supper. Eimad's wife, Nujoud, was asked if she put some of the holy oil on her stomach on that first morning. She said in the excitement she forgot all about her stomachache. Eimad said he didn't know just what the light of the Virgin Mary and the oozing oil mean. But he feels strongly that they signify goodness and help for everyone, he said. Mariam Awill, mother-in-law of the Rev. George Durghali, who serves St. Elias Church, said she felt the extraordinary events were "a sign warning us to come back to the faith." Eimad Abdulaziz, a member of St. Elias Syrian Orthodox Church in Chico, said after he saw a brilliant light in a window, oil mysteriously began seeping from an icon in his home. The events at the Abdulaziz home this month have been declared a miracle by the archbishop of the Syrian Orthodox Church's Archdiocese of the Western United States.
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