A Miracle of the Panagia in the Home of a Turk
By Nikos Chiladakis
February 24, 2015
Years ago a couple from Turkey, specifically from the area of Antioch (Antakya), emigrated to Paris and found work and settled in Banlieue, a suburb of Paris. The couples names were Esat and Sevim Altindagoglu.
In this Altindagoglu household in Paris one can observe an influx of visitors not only from France but from abroad as well, many of them coming to see this strange event. This event, which the Turkish press has called a miracle, has to do with a Greek Orthodox Byzantine icon of the Panagia which they found in Antioch and the Altindagoglu's, despite being Muslims, took it with them, and the eyes of the Panagia began to flow with tears.
According to the testimony of the couple, this icon was given to them in 2006 by an Orthodox monk from Lebanon. From the first moment they took it they sensed its great holiness and a newfound sense of calmness in their home. When they migrated to Paris they reverently took it with them and placed it in a separate area in their new home, as they confessed, and the icon of the Panagia began to shed tears. The news spread quickly among Turks and Christians. The icon of the "Virgin Meryem", as the Turkish couple calls, quickly became a place of pilgrimage and indeed, as noted, it has acquired miraculous properties.
The event became widely known and visiting pilgrims from Germany and Belgium began to arrive at the home of these Turks to venerate the Greek Orthodox Byzantine icon of the Panagia. Esat Altindagoglu tells how a short while ago a married woman who was unable to have a child came to venerate the icon of the Panagia, and she was greatly in sorrow because her marriage was in danger of divorce. This woman knelt and prayed for a long time beneath the icon of the Panagia. A few days later this woman called the Altindagoglu's greatly moved and happily informed them of a miracle and that she was expecting a child.
To skeptics we cite the miraculous icon of the Panagia in the home of a Turkish couple in Paris, as well as the report from the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet [dated 9th March 2010], with the characteristic title "Bir Türk ün evinde Meryem mucizesi", which is translated as "The Miracle of Mariam in the Home of a Turk".
In the photo above, you can see the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, with the Turkish title «MUCIZE!» superimposed, meaning "MIRACLE!".
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Virgin Mary Icon Crying Tears of Oil
March 8, 2010 telegraph.co.uk - An image of the Virgin Mary has been crying tears of oil, its owner has claimed, in a story that has drawn hundreds of visitors to the man's home in France. Esat Altindagoglu has been inundated with more than 50 visitors a day hoping to see the "miracle" at his house near Paris. An Orthodox icon representing the Virgin Mary is pictured weeping tears of oil at a resident's home in Garges-les-Gonesse, France. The one-foot high painting was given to his wife Sevin by a Lebanese priest on her birthday in 2006, the Turkish-born salesman said.
It began weeping oil on February 12 this year, and had been "crying" every day since, he claimed. He said: "As word spread, people started arriving from France, then from all over Europe. I've been having between 50 and 60 people a day turning up for more than three weeks now." An Orthodox priest had now agreed to say mass at his home in Garges-les-Gonesse this week to thank the Virgin Mary, Mr Altindagoglu said. He added: "Apparently the next step is to have the weeping witnessed by a bishop so the miracle can be officially recognised by the Church." Over the centuries there have been hundreds of incidents of statues said to have wept blood, oil or water. But the only one ever approved as a miracle by the Pope was Our Lady of Akita in Japan, in 1973, with all the others ruled out as hoaxes.
'Miracle' in Paris Suburb
July 3, 2010 france24.com - Hundreds of people have been flocking to a house in a Paris suburb over recent weeks to see an icon of the Virgin Mary "shed tears of oil", according to the owner. Esat Altindagoglu said the tears began flowing from the icon hanging in the hallway of his house in Garges-les-Gonesse on February 12 and that some 50 people have been showing up at his door daily since word spread of the "miracle".
"It's a small miracle," he said on Sunday. "This is a message sent by the Virgin and her son." Esat's wife Sevim, also a fervent believer, said she was praying before the icon when "I noticed that she was crying. I said to myself 'this is not normal'." Visitors who come from as far away as Belgium and Germany often bring a small wad of cotton to collect some of the oil from the icon that they believe holds healing powers. A woman came in mid-February and explained that she was unable to have a child. She took a bit of oil with a hankerchief and placed it on her belly. Two days ago she called me and said that she could now have child," said Sevim.
