ASIA MINOR - FAITH AND TRAVEL IN THE ANCIENT CHRISTIAN WORLD – MARY AND THE APOSTLE JOHN IN EPHESUS by Joan Foo Mahony in the Vatican City
Smitten By Faith Issue # 00044 June 2022
I am writing Part two of my Faith and Travel series from the most perfect place – the Vatican City where the head of the Roman Catholic Church—the Pope—takes his title from the ancient Roman office of the high priest - ‘pontifex maximus’. Come with me as we go back thousands of years in our journey through the ancient Christian world. Note that we are only covering ‘ancient ‘ history here – the period from 3000 BCE – 500 CE. Christianity which originated in the 1st century CE with the ministry of Jesus Christ who was born around 6 BCE and crucified around 30 - 33 CE, was at the tail end of this period.
Above : Two maps of the cities of Biblical Asia Minor - from the public domain
Today, in Part Two, we head to biblical ASIA MINOR (or ‘Lesser Asia’ the name given by the Romans ). Back then it was a vast area of the Roman empire which included parts of present day countries of Italy, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Egypt, Libya, Israel and Lebanon. The Roman Asia Minor included ancient Kingdoms, many of which were previous Greek colonies.
The ancient city of EPHESUS is located in the region of ANATOLIA in TURKEY or its just announced name of ‘TURKIYE’. As mentioned, Asia Minor’s ancient Christian history goes back to the 1st century CE ; as a result there is a long list of Christian sites in Turkiye which are still standing today together with other breath-taking monuments stretching back thousands of years to their Greek, Roman, Christian, Byzantine and Ottoman heritages.
Turkiye as a Christian sacred place does not come easily to the normal imagination. But in fact, Turkiye when it was part of Asia Minor is actually home to the world's first historic Christian church, named after the first pope, the Apostle St. Peter in Antioch (now Antakya) in South-Eastern Turkiye and the first place where since the 1st century, the disciples and followers of Jesus fleeing persecution in Jerusalem settled. They were called "Christians" because their speech and behaviour were so like that of Jesus Christ. These first Christians who came to Asia Minor included the 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ and most importantly his mother, MARY.
Far Left : St. Peter’s church in Antioch in Eastern Turkiye
Centre left : The cave chapels in Cappadocia
Centre right : Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
Far Right : Sumela Monastery in Trabzon, Northern Turkiye
The ancient Christian sites are located mostly in Western Turkiye - in Ephesus ( now Selcuk), Philadelphia ( now Alaşehir), Smyrna ( now Izmir ), Pergamon ( now Bergama), Thyateira ( now Akhisar), Sardis ( now Salihli) and Laodicea ( now Denizli). In Eastern Turkiye, there is the biblical Antioch ( now Antakya ) – a very important biblical Christian site as this was where St. Peter built the first Christian church; Christian caves in Cappadocia in the centre; Sumela Monastery in Trabzon in the north and many more churches scattered around in Eastern Turkiye. And then, of course, there is the incomparable HAGIA SOPHIA at the capital city of Istanbul. Built in 537 CE by the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I as the first Christian cathedral of Constantinople ( now Istanbul), the imperial capital, it was the largest Christian church of the Eastern Roman Empire. This 6th century Byzantine church is now a mosque; no longer a church but still amazing and beautiful and worth a visit. However, I will not cover this in my article since it is not technically an ancient Christian site. I will concentrate instead on EPHESUS – to the home of the Virgin Mary in her final days and the growth of the Christianity by John the Evangelist. In fact, we cannot speak of biblical Asia Minor without speaking of the final years of the Virgin Mary spent in Ephesus and the Apostle John.
MARY’S FINAL YEARS in EPHESUS
Crucifixion with the Virgin, John the Evangelist, and Mary Magdalene by the amazing renaissance artist and monk, Fra Angelico 1419-1420; Picture from the public domain.
What happened to Mary after the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension of her son, Jesus Christ ? Well, 50 days after the death of Christ, at Pentecost, God sent them the Holy Spirit and all the Apostles were imbued with the strength and fearlessness of the Holy Spirit. Prior to this, at the Crucifixion, Jesus’ beloved disciple, the gentle John the Evangelist was asked by Jesus with his dying breath to look after his mother Mary. They were 2 of the most precious people - keeping their sad vigil underneath his cross - his mother Mary and his favourite Apostle John. Jesus’ dying words to John was for him to take care of his mother. “ Son, behold thy mother; Mother behold they son”.
There is no doubt that John did so. After the Pentecost when the Holy Spirit had infused all the Apostles with courage and vigour to go forth out of Jerusalem and Judea and spread the word of God, just as in the case of all the other Apostles, John went boldly forth to preach. It was the task of John to spread God’s words in all of Asia Minor. And, since he was entrusted with the sacred responsibility of looking after his ‘mother’ Mary, he would have first made sure that he could prepare a safe haven for Mary.
How and where did Mary spend her final years? I will reproduce here some excerpts from my book, ‘Millennials Meet Mary’.
With the Gospels being silent on Mary’s final years, we will need to surmise this from legend, apocryphal history and other non-scriptural writings. One resource is that of the 7th century Byzantine author Hippolytus of Thebes who writes in his ‘Chronicle’ that Mary lived for 11 years after the death of her son Jesus. Some apocryphal legends believe that Mary lived even longer - at least 15 years after the death of her son. If so, the death of Mary would have been between 41 CE to 45 CE.
Left : The interior of Mary’s House in Ephesus - the chapel at the site
Right : The House of Mary in Ephesus; Photograph from the public domain
A SAFE HAVEN FOR MARY
Located on a remote hill called Mount Koressos or Mt. Nightingale, there is a small chapel now built on the site of the house of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus, 7 km from the town of Selçuk ( the modern name of Ephesus). The sacred place is known in Turkish as ‘Meryem Ana Evi’ or ‘Mother Mary's House’. It is a shrine visited by thousands of pilgrims and was discovered in the 19th century as a result of visions by St Anne Catherine Emmerich, a Catholic Augustinian nun and visionary who lived in Germany from 1774 until 1824. Throughout her life, Emmerich had many visions about the life of Christ and Mary. Emmerich, who never left Germany, described the location and appearance of a small isolated house near Ephesus, where she said Mary lived and died. In 1891, a research team followed the path described in Emmerich's visions and discovered this house—which matched her descriptions—built on a site that was already revered by local residents for past centuries. The house itself dates back to the sixth century, although the foundations are older and could indeed be from the first century. The small domed structure, with a cross-shaped plan, was renovated in 1950. We can see that the hillside terrain here is dry, with many rock caves, quiet and solitary, probably reminding Mary of her home and the hills of Judea. If John and Mary had travelled to Ephesus then, they would have met some of the Jewish and Christian settlers already living in the many caves and villages nearby. If John had to preach in Roman Asia Minor, it would have been natural for him to make a home here in Ephesus – close enough for him to visit often. For Mary, it would not have been unfeasible to live out the rest of her years quietly in Ephesus, devoting herself towards the new Christian Church. Furthermore, Mary would not have been alone in Ephesus. Not just John but the other 11 original Apostles and the legendary evangelist St. Paul as well as many hundreds of followers visited the thriving evangelical base of Ephesus continuously from time to time.
In her 11th or 15th year (we have no exact dates but apocryphal evidence believes it was closer to her 15th year) of living in Ephesus, Mary received a visit from the Archangel Gabriel. When this happened, Mary already knew that the Angel would be telling her the good news that the moment for her passing had finally come and she would soon be able to join her Son in Heaven. This was indeed the case. The Angel tells Mary to prepare herself and she is filled with utmost joy. Legend has it that Mary now asks all the Apostles to be gathered from wherever they were; from all the corners of the world to come to see her for the last time. The Apostles were physically scattered far and wide. Surely, it would have been a physical impossibility for Mary to get in touch with all of them so quickly in the ‘normal’ manner of communication. It would take a miracle. Which it did. It is believed that each of the Apostles were ‘summoned’ by Mary in clear visions to return to her side and then, they were miraculously ‘transported’ back by the Holy Spirit so that they were all present together at the Dormition or the ‘falling asleep’ of Mary.
Where did the dormition and assumption of Mary take place ? Was it in Ephesus ? The Gospels do not mention where. The main Christian tradition has held that Mary ended her earthly life in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Orthodox believers near Ephesus have held for centuries that Mary spent the last years of her life there and that the dormition also took place there. There is no clear evidence as to where Mary actually drew her last breath. However, Apocryphal evidence does point to Jerusalem and legend says that all of the Apostles (with the aid of the Holy Spirit) probably ‘carried’ Mary (from Ephesus) back to Jerusalem where her Dormition took place. Mary’s tomb is also said to be at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The details surrounding the events of Mary’s Dormition can be found in the writings of the Apostle John the Evangelist in his “The Account of St. John the Theologian of the Falling Asleep of the Holy Mother of God” . We know from the writings of John that on the day of the Dormition, Mary was surrounded by all the Apostles assembled there. Peter was standing in priestly vestments before an altar with the other Apostles behind him as they all prayed together. Towards evening, as she realized her death was approaching, Mary said farewell to the Apostles, disciples, and the women who were present. She lay back on her pillows and Peter gave her the Holy Eucharist. Mary died at the Biblical time of the 9th hour (or 3 pm), which is the same time as the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
JOHN THE EVANGELIST IN EPHESUS
Above : St John the Evangelist by El Greco
Left : Ruins of the Basilica of St. John on the slopes of Ayasuluk Hill just below the fortress near the center of present day Selcuk.
Right : The tomb of John the Evangelist
As already mentioned, there is written evidentiary proof from the Gospels that John the Evangelist went to Ephesus in Asia Minor then known as ‘Roman Asia’, part of the Roman Empire since 129 BCE. Ephesus was an ancient Greek and Roman city with one of the largest archaeological sites in the Mediterranean – the city being mostly destroyed by the earthquake of 614 CE. Ephesus was located on the Ionian coast about 3 kilometres south-west of the present-day Turkish city of Selçuk in Turkiye’s province of Izmir. It was here at Ephesus that John the Evangelist came to teach the Gentiles and he established the first Christian community at Ephesus where he lived a long life until his death there at around the age of 98 years. In fact, Ephesus became a very important centre of missionary activity for early Christianity from 50 CE onwards. John’s profound writings made him one of the most influential figures of the Christian world and was named “the Theologian,” because the nature of God was described by him in a manner beyond the unaided power of man.
Today, in the town of Selçuk very near Ephesus, you can find the tomb of St. John the Evangelist where it is believed that John is buried. The Basilica of St. John which stands over the tomb was constructed by the Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century. There is a legend about the tomb of St. John – that St. John was not dead but ‘sleeping’ beneath his tomb and that each time he breathed, he would cause the dust around to stir, which in turn, made them holy. Because of this, the dust, called manna, was said to be able to cure the sick. The pilgrims who visit St John’s tomb collect special flasks containing some of this miraculous manna or dust and many have attested to the miraculous properties of the manna dust.
A compelling story - the stuff of legends. Ephesus is a place which still draws thousands to continue coming - faith and travel indeed.
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