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A
Vision of Light
By
Paul Perry
The photo with this article has been declared one of an official
vision by bishops of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt. It
consists of a mysterious spray of light coming down from the heavens
directly over the church of St. Mark in Assiut, 250 miles south
of Cairo.
Egyptian legend say that it was near this spot that an angel appeared
to Joseph in a dream and told him King Herod had died. From here
the Holy Family began the return trip to Israel that would end
its five year exile in Egypt. There is nothing written in
the Bible about what the Holy Family did here, but Egyptian Christians
and Muslims have collected stories over the centuries and assembled
a Holy Family Trail, which includes 33 sites venerated by the
Coptic Orthodox Church.
This church in Assuit is the 33rd site, associated with miracles
since it was built more than 200 years ago. For two centuries
miraculous lights have appeared to come down from the sky directly
over the church steeple. Tens of thousands of people have seen
them, and many Egyptians have captured them on film.
This photo is the first one ever taken of these lights by a Westerner.
He had just completed a research trip of the Holy Family Trail.
The voyage took two months and stretched across the Sinai Desert,
through the Nile Delta and then down into “Fundy Land,”
an area once haunted by the Osama's Islamic fundamentalists.
He was writing a book about the time Jesus spent in Egypt, looking
for evidence of a historical Jesus in the “extra Biblical”
stories of the Egyptians. Soon he realized that there was
no material proof of Jesus to be found on the Holy Family Trail.
How many of the stories of Jesus in Egypt are real? He asked.
And then the photo happened, coming at a point when it could be
taken as an answer. But what kind of answer? He wondered.
I am the Western photographer. Eight years ago, while working
on a documentary film about the stone temples of the Nile, I became
obsessed with documenting the Holy Family's flight to Egypt.
It represented a significant gap in the life of the world's
most influential man. And although there was nothing about
it in the Bible, I knew that there were many stories in circulation
about historical figures that had never been written down or were
written in non-Biblical documents.
I collected these stories, and with the help of a translator I went
to Egypt to find what I could about this mystery period in his amazing
life. I was not disappointed. A field of fallen stone idols surrounds
a first century well in Tell Basta. Ancient stories (and even
a modern archaeologist) claim that Jesus created the well and destroyed
the idols. Was that possible? The center of the town
of al-Qussia was empty except for a collapsed pharaonic temple,
supposedly because Jesus had cursed that part of town. Was myth
so strong that people were afraid to build there? I asked these
questions and more to religious leaders, scholars and the man on
the street and received a variety of answers. It was clear
that they too had pondered these very questions about the sites
in their midst and were as uncertain about the answers as I was.
Finally I had a chance to ask the highest authority. At the monastery
of Deir Muharraq, I was given the rare opportunity to visit the
altar stone that Egyptian Christians believe was used as a bed by
Jesus for six months. This is the holiest spot in Egypt for Egyptian
Christians, who consider this the “altar to the Lord in the
midst of the land of Egypt” referred to in the book of Isaiah.
Upon touching the altar stone, the monk accompanying me advised
me to pray for something I truly wanted. “No one is ever refused
what they ask for at this altar,” he declared.
My guide said I should pray for a best seller, but I wanted a sign
from God that would answer my questions about the Holy Family trail.
I stood silent for a moment while I formed the question in my head:
is there truth in the Holy Family trail or is it all just folklore?
Then I let it go.
The next night, at the church of St. Mark in Assiut, I became the
first westerner to photograph the vision of light. Perplexed
by the photo, I showed it to two bishops and asked what it meant.
Both agreed that it was meant to be a personal answer from
God. I began to take the experience apart, but a bishop told me
I would ruin it if I chose to dissect it. “Receive it in the
way that you feel it,” he said.
I turned off my intellect and let my heart be my guide. The historic
Jesus had eluded me, but the effects of his brief presence in this
country were everywhere. I had seen the light, and that was
enough.
Paul
Perry has co-written three New York Times bestsellers and is the author
of “Jesus in Egypt: Discovering the Secrets of Christ's
Childhood Years,” (Random House/Ballatine Books). See him
at LifeArts Expo (ad on What's Happening page, click
here)
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Wonders
