St. MARY'S HOUSE IN EPHESUS
POPES VISITS MARY'S HOUSE
Paul the 6th kept his word and after a
triumphal entry to Istanbul he came to pay his respects to Virgin Mary
at Meryem Ana in Ephesus, on 26th July 1967. He entered the shrine escorted
by the crowd. He prayed for a long time in front of the altar and he himself
lit the sculpted lamp he had brought. In memory of Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey,
he gave the superior of the sisters of Charity who live there a gold chalice
for their oratory. Pope John Paul II also came to Virgin Mary on 30th November
1979, after an official visit to Ankara. Although the pilgrimage of these
two Popes does not constitute official recognition of Meryem Ana Evi as
the place where Mary lived and died, they did at least make known to the
whole world, through press and television, the existence of the shrine.
DISCOVERY
OF THE HOME
(Anna Catharina
Emmerick)
The house of the Virgin was first
discovered in 1881 by Abbe' Gouyet, of Paris, through the diligent use
of Anne-Catherine Emmerick's descriptions. His discovery went unpublished
and was generally discounted. Ten years later, in 1891, inspired by the
detail of Emmerick's accounts, a group of explorers under the leadership
of the learned Father Jung of the Order of Lazarists, again followed her
descriptions to relocate the Virgin Mary's home. Catherine Emmerick had
revealed that Mother Mary prepared her meals at a fireplace located in
the centre of the room and that spring water was present. Excavations by
the explorers revealed the presence of the ashes and the spring water continues
to flow to his day. Flowing water on a mountaintop in an otherwise and
countryside is itself a wonder. The explorers were amazed how closely their
discoveries conformed with the description of Emmerick.
