House of Mary

 The House of Mother Mary in Ephesus 

Whether The House of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus (Meryem Ana Evi in Turkish) is actually where Mother Mary  lived has neither been declared, nor denied, by the Catholic Church.  

But that has not stopped millions of faithful, both Christians and Muslims, from making a pilgrimage to The House of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus (Meryem Ana Evi in Turkish), which holds immense spiritual importance as Mary’s last place on Earth before her Assumption into Heaven. 

The house is a relatively new single storey stone structure apparently built on an older foundation, which some say date back to the first century BC. 

The house is ensconced in an enchanting pine forest with passerine birds twittering above a water fountain, and a wishing wall, just outside and below the house. 

Visitors commonly take holy water from the fountain, and leave their written petitions on a prayer cloth or piece of paper along the wishing wall (a pre-Islamic Turkish tradition).

Because we visited in the off season when there are few tourists in the area, we was able to have as much time as we wanted in tiny chapel inside the house spending it in blissful prayer.

And it was a very emotional experience so I can totally relate with many who believe that being in the presence of where Mary once lived brings them closer to the divine presence of God and nourishes their faith.

According to the Gospel of St John: "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, "Woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home." 

Furthermore, according to a tradition recorded by Irenaeus and Eusebius of Caesarea, John later came to Ephesus after his exile to Patmos, where he wrote the Gospel and finally died at a ripe age of almost 100 years; it is assumed that after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the apostle John took Mary to Ephesus for safety. 

It is believed that Mary lived the final years of her life in a small stone house on Bulbul Mountain, which later became known as the House of the Virgin Mary. The legend of Mary’s presence in Ephesus has been passed down through generations, attracting pilgrims who seek solace and blessings.

The House of the Virgin Mary near Ephesus is considered a possible location but lacks conclusive archaeological or historical evidence

One line of argument in favour of Ephesus as the place where St. Mary lived is the existence of the Church of St. Mary in Ephesus. It was the first Christian temple devoted to Mary, the mother of Jesus. 

Additional arguments are the choice of Ephesus as the venue of the Council of Ephesus. It was convened in 431 to resolve the dispute concerning the determination of the unification of human and divine nature in Jesus Christ and the title of Mary as the Mother of God.

The earliest recorded reference to the possibility of St. Mary residing in Ephesus can be traced back to the synodal letter of the Council of Ephesus in 431. This letter mentions the city of Ephesians as the place where John the Theologian and St. Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, lived and were buried.

Pope Leo XIII formally recognized Mary’s House as an official place of pilgrimage in 1896. Later, Pope Pius X granted a plenary indulgence for the remission of sins to pilgrims who make the journey to Mary’s House, and in 1967, Pope Paul VI made the first papal visit to the shrine, bringing a bronze lamp as a present for the Blessed Virgin. A decade later, Pope John Paul II visited the shrine where he celebrated an outdoor mass for thousands of pilgrims. In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass at the House of Mary.

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (c. 1774–1824), was a German Augustinian nun and mystic known for her vivid visions and religious experiences. In the early 19th century, she became renowned for her accounts of the life of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. One of the most significant events detailed in Emmerich’s visions was the House of the Virgin Mary. According to her accounts, the House of the Virgin Mary, also known as the “Blessed House,” was the place where Mary lived during her final years. Her close friend, the German poet, and writer Clemens Brentano, meticulously recorded these visions, and published them after Emmerich’s death in 1824. The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1852) was among the books published. 

On October 18, 1881, relying on the descriptions in the book by Brentano based on his conversations with Emmerich, a French priest, the Abbé Julien Gouyet discovered a small stone building on a mountain overlooking the Aegean Sea and the ruins of ancient Ephesus in Turkey. He believed it was the house described by Emmerich and where the Virgin Mary had lived the final years of her life.

Abbé Gouyet’s discovery was not taken seriously by most people, but ten years later, urged by Sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey, two Lazarist missionaries, Father Poulin and Father Jung, from Smyrna rediscovered the building on July 29, 1891, using the same source for a guide. They learned that the four-walled, roofless ruin had been venerated for a long time by members of the mountain village of Sirince, 17 km distant, descended from Ephesus’s early Christians. The house is called Panaya Kapulu (“Doorway to the Virgin”). Every year pilgrims made a pilgrimage to the site on August 15, the date on which most of the Christian world celebrated Mary’s Dormition/Assumption.

The Roman Catholic Church has never pronounced on the authenticity of the house, for the lack of scientifically acceptable evidence. Although the place has never been officially recognized by the Catholic Church as the home of Mary, a lot of gestures made by the popes authenticated its history in the eyes of the faithful. An investigation commissioned by the Archdiocese of Smyrna concluded in December 1892 that the assumption that the Blessed Virgin Mary might have died in the house was scientifically and theologically justifiable.

Then, several popes visited the site. First, Pope Leo XIII blessed the House of the Virgin Mary during his pilgrimage in 1896. This blessing gave an early boost to the site as a pilgrimage centre and signalled a positive attitude of the Catholic Church towards it

Pope Pius XII gave the House of the Virgin Mary the status of a Holy Place and the Catholic place of pilgrimage in 1951, following the definition of the dogma of the Assumption. In this dogma, the Pope had decided not to specify the location of death and the ascension of the Blessed Mother. This privilege was subsequently confirmed and made permanent by Pope John XXIII. He had close ties to Turkey where he had been active as an apostolic delegate in the 1930s. He was also said to have visited the House of St. Mary on the occasion of the 1500th anniversary of the Council of Ephesus, celebrated in 1931. In 1960, he sent a special candle to the House of St. Mary for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and such candles are donated only to important Marian shrines. One year later, he granted a plenary absolution to Catholic pilgrims who visited the House with faithful intentions.

Pope Paul VI paid a visit in July of 1967. The main aim of his trip to Turkey was to better explain his thinking about the relations between the two primatial seats from Rome and Constantinople. Using the opportunity, he also went to the House of St. Mary and granted a plenary absolution to all the faithful who visited it. In more recent history, the House of the Virgin Mary was also visited in 1979 by Pope John Paul II, and in 2006 — by Pope Benedict XVI, during his four-day pastoral trip to Turkey. All three of these popes celebrated a holy mass at the place of pilgrimage.

Although all these papal visits have no dogmatic value, they show the religious importance of this site.

References

1. House of the virgin mary (2024) Ephesian Tourism & DMC. Available at: https://ephesiantourism.com/house-of-the-virgin-mary/ (Accessed: 28 November 2024). 
2. House of the virgin mary in Ephesus (2022) Turkish Archaeological News. Available at: https://turkisharchaeonews.net/object/house-virgin-mary-ephesus (Accessed: 28 November 2024).