We first toured what was considered to be the last home of the Virgin Mary, that is nestled in the mountains outside of Ephesus. A couple students in our group voiced that they did not truly believe that this was in fact the house of the Virgin Mary because the discovery of it seemed questionable. Supposedly in the 19th Century a nun from Germany named Anna Catherine Emmerich had visions that described with amazing accuracy the hills of Ephesus and the house where she saw the Virgin Mary spending her last years. Accordingly, two scientific expeditions were organized, and they found this house to match her visions accordingly.
Historically two pieces of evidence can support this theory. Firstly, in the "Acts of the Apostles," they assigned to each apostle a different sect of the world to preach the Gospel, and St. John was given Asia Minor. In his Gospel, he tells us that Jesus, before dying on the Cross, entrusted to him the care of His Mother when He said, "Here is your Mother." St. John's tomb was later discovered in Ephesus and with the ongoing persecutions and his assignment to Asia Minor, it would make sense that St. John would bring Mary to Ephesus with him.
The second supporting argument that this indeed was the Virgin Mary's house is that the first Basilica of the world that was dedicated to her was found in Ephesus. In the early days of the Church, places of worship were only dedicated to people who had lived or died in that location. In addition, the Ecumenical Council of 431 was held in Ephesus in this Basilica in order to define the dogma of the Divine Motherhood of Mary. Another confirmation is the oral tradition of the Villagers of Kirkindje, who are the descendants of the christians of Ephesus. They full-heartedly believe that the death of Mary occurred in that house, which they call Panaghia Kapulu. On August 15th, the Villagers of Kirkindje make an annual pilgrimage to this site.
Skeptics may agree that these historical accounts are not sufficient evidence of that the Virgin Mary indeed lived her last years in that house, but to many Christians it is and in fact to Muslims also. At the end of the very brief tour of the house, there were several translations of passages in the Quran about the virtue of Mary. The juxtaposition of the Quran passages and the traditional Catholic candle lighting was inspiring to me. Seeing the two religions worship side by side in peace was heartwarming. Whereas in the churches converted to a mosque like the Hagia Sophia and the Chora, the religions are almost battling each other inside the walls fighting for space.
Also, the Quran was translated into several languages, probably 6-8 which I thought also showed how people from all over the world come together at this location. The wall full of wishes and prayers was a beautiful, unconventional mosaic of paper, tissues, and cloth that displayed the diversity of the believers; some were christian prayers, others Islamic, some were in english, others were in Japanese, or German.
Along with my classmates, I may not fully believe this is the house of Mary but I do believe that it is a special place that brings together all different types of people which makes it sacred to me. The homeric epic poems may not have been true, but it did give Greeks a sense of unity and pride. At this time Greece was not yet a nation, but several city states ruled by kings; Achilles king of the Myrmidons, Odysseus king of Ithaca, and Menalaus king of Sparta. Although the stories of the Trojan War and Odysseus' wild sea adventures may not have been completely true, they were passed on for centuries because they depict the virtues and values of the Greeks that bring them together. Another example is the Aeneid, an epic Latin poem written by Virgil about Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy to found Rome. The fall of Troy in the Iliad was tragic for the Trojans, but the Aeneid tale redeems their glory by having them found one of the largest, most powerful empires in the world.
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