Lebanon - Worshippers continue to flock to the miraculous Lady of Beshwat in Ras Baalbek, as tales of more miracles performed over the weekend continue to spread.
President of the Saydet Ras Baalbek Monastery, Father Elias Khodatri, told the press in Hermel that Hadi Mahrous Chaaban and his wife, and Salima Mtanios Melhem and her mother, saw the Virgin close and open her eyes. Other worshippers also saw this happen.
Asaad Chamoun, a crippled 79-year-old man, was reportedly cured in front of hundreds of people Sunday. Chamoun got up from his wheelchair and walked on his feet beside his wife Fadwa and his son Joseph, who said the old man has been crippled for seven years after a surgery he underwent.
Chamoun then walked from the old church where Our Lady of Beshwat appeared to the people, to the new church where he explained what happened to him and how he saw a light.
"I saw a light in front of me and I was compelled to walk," he said, "I tried to walk and I could do it."
Thousands flocked to the old church on Sunday.
Traffic came to a standstill on the Baalbek-Deir al-Ahmar main road, prompting visitors to use the Bsharri-Cedars-Ainata road, Hermel and other roads to reach the church. However, some people even came on foot.
Civil Defense personnel and municipal police ensured the safety of worshippers, while in Deir al-Ahmar, residents offered coffee, cold water and bread to people.
News of patients being cured and the movement of the statue of the Virgin started emerging two weeks ago, after a 10-year-old boy who came from Jordan with his family on a pilgrimage claimed that he saw the phenomenon.