Thousands of Copts on Tuesday celebrated the Virgin Mary’s flight into Egypt and performed the “Renaissance” prayer on the last day of a two-week religious festival marking the holy family's stay in Egypt.
Bishops held a procession at the Virgin Mary Church in Zeitoun and in the streets leading to the church as onlookers raised pictures of the Virgin Mary.
The church was surrounded by heavy security forces, who prevented Muslims from attending the celebration due to the large congregation that was present. An apparition of the Virgin Mary is believed to have occurred at that church in 1968.
One of the participants in the service said that people were also carrying photographs of the late Pope Shenouda III, who died earlier this year.
