Holy oil a "protection for the whole world" Mary said

Founded by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, the Monastery of Our Lady of Saidnaya is a female Orthodox monastery in the hills 20 miles northeast of Damascus, Syria. Saidnaya was the seat of the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch. Many scholars consider Saidnaya to be second in religious importance to Jerusalem. Pilgrims from all over the world seek Saidnaya for renewal of faith and for healing. Saidnaya is also an area renowned for its faithfulness to Christianity. In past times when many cities and villages in Syria apostatized from Christianity, Saidnaya always remained a zealous defender of Christianity.

This monastery also houses one of the icons traditionally attributed to the apostle Luke, called the holy icon El Chagoura, making it an important Christian pilgrimage site in the Middle East. The monastery and the nuns who live there have always been protected and unharmed, including most recently during the civil war (2011) and the frightening Covid-19 epidemic (2020).

Syria's civil war began in March 2011. The monastery was in the middle of a zone of armed conflict, yet none of the nuns were injured. A missile fired at the monastery damaged the structure, but did not explode.

As for repairing the material damage caused by the missile, this was providentially funded and organized by an Australian woman, Caroline Daoud, who had no particular knowledge of Syria and had never heard of the Saidnaya monastery, but who heard a locution sending her to rescue the nuns: "My house in Saidnaya, Syria, north of Damascus, must not fall into ruin, for it is my daughters' house."

Later, in the fall of that same year, the monastery ran out of food while being still encircled by Islamic State jihadists. As the situation had become critical, two trucks of supplies unexpectedly arrived! It turned out that a Damascus resident had been visited by the Blessed Virgin, who urged her: "My house in Saidnaya and my religious daughters lack everything, they risk starvation, get up!", so she sent her son to fulfill this mission. As a Muslim, he was able to pass through all the checkpoints and numerous roadblocks! 

In March 2020, the scourge of Covid-19 was added to the terrible situation of the civil war. With no vaccine or treatment available for the much-visited sacred shrine, it seemed likely that the epidemic would wreak havoc in Saidnaya. In a dream, a nun was warned to mark the doors and windows of the houses, as well as everyone's forehead, with the sign of the cross and holy oil: "This is protection for the whole world."

The nuns welcomed thousands of pilgrims and visitors at that time, taking no precautions other than those indicated by the Blessed Virgin, and no one contracted the coronavirus! Given the extreme contagiousness of the virus, this is scientifically and statistically impossible.

Adapted from www.1000raisonsdecroire.com

and https://saidnaya.com/