Group Picture at St. Joseph Church
St. Joseph Church - Location of Daily Mass in Athens
National Archeological Museum
The Acropolis at Night
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Pictures from Athens
For those of you who have been waiting for pictures, here they are! I finally found a computer that will allow me to transfer pictures from my digital camera. So far, I alone have taken almost 300 pictures - so these will just be some highlights. First, from Athens
Day Five - Ephesus
One of our group commented at dinner this evening that today really seemed to be the start of a pilgrimage, and I think I can agree with her. Before today, most of our daily outings were to see places or objects of great historical or cultural significance, but without a direct connection to the reason for our pilgrimage, or any pilgrimage. This morning's visit to Patmos and this afternoon's visit to Ephesus most definitely were pilgrimages.
This afternoon, our cruise ship docked in the port of Kusadasi, where we met our local guide and driver for the bus ride to Ephesus. We first went to the top of Nightingale Mountain to visit the House of the Virgin Mary. According to tradition, Mary lived in Ephesus with John the Apostle after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension. A 19th century german nun and mystic, Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich, had a vision of the location of the house where Mary lived outside of Ephesus, and explorers later found a house exactly as she had seen. There is no concrete evidence that Mary lived here, but it is a beautiful tradition. The house itself is very small - two tiny rooms - and we were just able to walk through it. Since today is Sunday, it was a very busy day at the House of Mary, which was filled both with people from several cruise ships and people from Turkey on summer holiday. Most of our group was surprised to learn that Mary is also revered in Islam, and so many (at least half) of the people at the House of Mary today were Turkish Muslims. There was definitely an air of pilgrimage about the place, and it was a moving experience.
We then traveled by bus to the ancient city of Ephesus, the second largest ancient excavation site in Europe (after Pompeii in Italy). St. Paul spent around 3 years living and preaching in Ephesus, and the city became the recipient of one of his letters. Historically, Ephesus was one of the most important cities in the ancient world, home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (the Temple of Artemis) and the second capital of the Roman Empire at one time. The ruins of the city are magnificent. We were able to walk the very road that St. Paul walked - the paving stones of today are the same stones of the ancient city - and see the squares, markets, and theater that St. Paul would have frequented. The two best-preserved sites in Ephesus are the facade of the Temple of Celsus and the great Theater of Ephesus, which is spoken of in Acts 19. Upon reaching the Theater, we stopped to read selections from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians. When St. Paul wrote his letters, there was usually only one copy, and very few people could read. So someone would read the letter aloud to the rest of the Christian community, either in small or large groups. It was quite a moving experience to read the very words that St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians while standing on the ground where he walked, in the shadow of the Theater which he lived near.
This evening, we celebrated Mass back on the cruise ship and especially honored Richard and Laverne Smith, two of our pilgrims, who today celebrate their 40th Wedding Anniversary. Dinner followed, and now we are getting ready to pack in preparation for leaving the ship in the morning. Tomorrow, Monday, we will spend part of the day in Athens before flying to Rome for five nights. As the sun set on the Aegean Sea this evening, we thank God for the blessings of this portion of the pilgrimage, especially today's moving visits to Patmos and Ephesus as we truly walked in the footsteps of the apostles.
This afternoon, our cruise ship docked in the port of Kusadasi, where we met our local guide and driver for the bus ride to Ephesus. We first went to the top of Nightingale Mountain to visit the House of the Virgin Mary. According to tradition, Mary lived in Ephesus with John the Apostle after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension. A 19th century german nun and mystic, Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich, had a vision of the location of the house where Mary lived outside of Ephesus, and explorers later found a house exactly as she had seen. There is no concrete evidence that Mary lived here, but it is a beautiful tradition. The house itself is very small - two tiny rooms - and we were just able to walk through it. Since today is Sunday, it was a very busy day at the House of Mary, which was filled both with people from several cruise ships and people from Turkey on summer holiday. Most of our group was surprised to learn that Mary is also revered in Islam, and so many (at least half) of the people at the House of Mary today were Turkish Muslims. There was definitely an air of pilgrimage about the place, and it was a moving experience.
We then traveled by bus to the ancient city of Ephesus, the second largest ancient excavation site in Europe (after Pompeii in Italy). St. Paul spent around 3 years living and preaching in Ephesus, and the city became the recipient of one of his letters. Historically, Ephesus was one of the most important cities in the ancient world, home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (the Temple of Artemis) and the second capital of the Roman Empire at one time. The ruins of the city are magnificent. We were able to walk the very road that St. Paul walked - the paving stones of today are the same stones of the ancient city - and see the squares, markets, and theater that St. Paul would have frequented. The two best-preserved sites in Ephesus are the facade of the Temple of Celsus and the great Theater of Ephesus, which is spoken of in Acts 19. Upon reaching the Theater, we stopped to read selections from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians. When St. Paul wrote his letters, there was usually only one copy, and very few people could read. So someone would read the letter aloud to the rest of the Christian community, either in small or large groups. It was quite a moving experience to read the very words that St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians while standing on the ground where he walked, in the shadow of the Theater which he lived near.
This evening, we celebrated Mass back on the cruise ship and especially honored Richard and Laverne Smith, two of our pilgrims, who today celebrate their 40th Wedding Anniversary. Dinner followed, and now we are getting ready to pack in preparation for leaving the ship in the morning. Tomorrow, Monday, we will spend part of the day in Athens before flying to Rome for five nights. As the sun set on the Aegean Sea this evening, we thank God for the blessings of this portion of the pilgrimage, especially today's moving visits to Patmos and Ephesus as we truly walked in the footsteps of the apostles.
Day Five - Patmos
Happy Father's Day to all fathers, including my own! By today, many of us are realizing that the constant movement of the pilgrimage makes it hard to remember what day of the week it is. It took a while for us to remember that today is Sunday, as well as Father's Day in the US (although some of our Australian friends told us that Father's Day is not celebrated until September in their country). Today began with probably the earliest departure of the trip - breakfast was at 6:00 so that we could be ready to disembark the ship at 6:45 am for Patmost. We are going to two ports today, so the first port had to be early.
Patmos is a beautiful island on the far east of the Aegean Sea, near Turkey. It is most well known for us Christians as the place where St. John the Theologian wrote the Book of Revelation while exiled here. Today is a gorgeous day - like our other days in the Aegean - blue skies, a nice breeze off the water, but already this morning starting to get warm. We met our bus driver and tour guide, a native of Patmos, at the harbor and went first to the Grotto of the Apocalypse. Ancient tradition says that this cave is the very place where St. John received the vision from Christ and dictated the Book of Revelation to his assistant, Prochorus. Several chapels have been built around the cave, but we eventually made it to the cave itself. Since this is Sunday, a Greek Orthodox Mass was being celebrated in the cave when we arrived. Orthodox Masses include constant chanting throughout the service, so it was quite moving to have the chanting accompany our visit to the grotto. Because it is a small room, there are large numbers of pilgrims, and Mass was being celebrated, we had to move through fairly quickly, walking without stopping through the grotto. There was a definite air of sacredness throughout the visit - it seemed that no one from any of the many pilgrim groups spoke as we descended the 45 stairs to the grotto or while in the grotto itself. We later found out that the grotto has special significance to our tour guide because his daughter was baptized there. I think we have all agreed the great blessing of having native tour guides, and we have had very good ones.
After visiting the Grotto of the Apocalypse, we journeyed by bus higher on the main mountain of Patmos to visit the Monastery of St. John. More steps awaited us after leaving the bus before reaching the monastery courtyard. Founded in 1088, the monastery is still active and has 17 monks today. Most of the buildings date from the 11th century, and the icons and frescoes of the chapels date from teh 12th-18th centuries. Our guide led us through the monastery chapels and then the museum, which contains some of the oldest and most important Greek icons still in existance. In addition, we were able to see pages from a 5th century manuscript of the Gospel according to Mark. The pages of this manuscript are scattered in museums all over the world - from the Vatican to the British Museum - but more pages are here on Patmost than anywhere else. It is one of the oldest existing manuscripts of any portion of the New Testament. Following our tour of the museum, we had a little time to look in the shops that line the walk from the monastery back to the bus, and then we proceeded back to the harbor and the cruise ship. We just finished lunch and now are sailing along the coast of Turkey to reach Kusadasi, the port town for the ancient city of Ephesus. From there, we will have a guided tour to the House of the Virgin Mary and the ruins of Ephesus. From this point of the pilgrimage on, we will be following more precisely in the footsteps of St. Paul, beginning in the city he lived in for two years and to which he addressed one of his letters.
Patmos is a beautiful island on the far east of the Aegean Sea, near Turkey. It is most well known for us Christians as the place where St. John the Theologian wrote the Book of Revelation while exiled here. Today is a gorgeous day - like our other days in the Aegean - blue skies, a nice breeze off the water, but already this morning starting to get warm. We met our bus driver and tour guide, a native of Patmos, at the harbor and went first to the Grotto of the Apocalypse. Ancient tradition says that this cave is the very place where St. John received the vision from Christ and dictated the Book of Revelation to his assistant, Prochorus. Several chapels have been built around the cave, but we eventually made it to the cave itself. Since this is Sunday, a Greek Orthodox Mass was being celebrated in the cave when we arrived. Orthodox Masses include constant chanting throughout the service, so it was quite moving to have the chanting accompany our visit to the grotto. Because it is a small room, there are large numbers of pilgrims, and Mass was being celebrated, we had to move through fairly quickly, walking without stopping through the grotto. There was a definite air of sacredness throughout the visit - it seemed that no one from any of the many pilgrim groups spoke as we descended the 45 stairs to the grotto or while in the grotto itself. We later found out that the grotto has special significance to our tour guide because his daughter was baptized there. I think we have all agreed the great blessing of having native tour guides, and we have had very good ones.
After visiting the Grotto of the Apocalypse, we journeyed by bus higher on the main mountain of Patmos to visit the Monastery of St. John. More steps awaited us after leaving the bus before reaching the monastery courtyard. Founded in 1088, the monastery is still active and has 17 monks today. Most of the buildings date from the 11th century, and the icons and frescoes of the chapels date from teh 12th-18th centuries. Our guide led us through the monastery chapels and then the museum, which contains some of the oldest and most important Greek icons still in existance. In addition, we were able to see pages from a 5th century manuscript of the Gospel according to Mark. The pages of this manuscript are scattered in museums all over the world - from the Vatican to the British Museum - but more pages are here on Patmost than anywhere else. It is one of the oldest existing manuscripts of any portion of the New Testament. Following our tour of the museum, we had a little time to look in the shops that line the walk from the monastery back to the bus, and then we proceeded back to the harbor and the cruise ship. We just finished lunch and now are sailing along the coast of Turkey to reach Kusadasi, the port town for the ancient city of Ephesus. From there, we will have a guided tour to the House of the Virgin Mary and the ruins of Ephesus. From this point of the pilgrimage on, we will be following more precisely in the footsteps of St. Paul, beginning in the city he lived in for two years and to which he addressed one of his letters.
Update on Rhodes
I ended my last post a little abruptly - most of the keyboards in Greece have both our alphabet and the Greek alphabet on the same keyboard. Somehow, I managed to unknowingly switch over to the Greek alphabet, and I couldn't figure out how to switch back! No one was around to ask, and I was running out of time anyway, so I just cut-and-pasted to finish things up. Here's a little more on Rhodes.
The Old City of Rhodes contains the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The Knights of St. John were founded to take care of the sick and wounded during the Crusades. Because of the great political tensions in the world at the time, they kept having to move their headquarters. At one point, they settled on Rhodes and built a magnificent fortress and palace. To enter the fortress, you have to go through three sets of gates and massive stone walls. The oldest and most famous part of the fortress is the Street of the Knights where the nights from each country built their own buildings where they lived. Today, the streets of th Old City, as the inside of the fortress is called, are filled with shops and cafes. It is the best preserved medieval town in Greece, and one of the best in the world.
After our guided tour of Rhodes Town, we returned to the ship for lunch, and then several of us used the free afternoon to return to the town and wander the streets. We then had Mass on the ship with one of the other pilgrim groups, and then a formal dinner together as a group. Most people got to bed early on Saturday night because we had a VERY early meeting time on Sunday. More about that in the next post ...
The Old City of Rhodes contains the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The Knights of St. John were founded to take care of the sick and wounded during the Crusades. Because of the great political tensions in the world at the time, they kept having to move their headquarters. At one point, they settled on Rhodes and built a magnificent fortress and palace. To enter the fortress, you have to go through three sets of gates and massive stone walls. The oldest and most famous part of the fortress is the Street of the Knights where the nights from each country built their own buildings where they lived. Today, the streets of th Old City, as the inside of the fortress is called, are filled with shops and cafes. It is the best preserved medieval town in Greece, and one of the best in the world.
After our guided tour of Rhodes Town, we returned to the ship for lunch, and then several of us used the free afternoon to return to the town and wander the streets. We then had Mass on the ship with one of the other pilgrim groups, and then a formal dinner together as a group. Most people got to bed early on Saturday night because we had a VERY early meeting time on Sunday. More about that in the next post ...
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Day Four - Rhodes
The entire day today is being spent docked at the island of Rhodes, the fourth largest Greek island and home to two cities of great importance in the ancient world. This morning, our entire group participated in a 4 1/2 hour private excursion to Lindos and Rhodes Town. Our tour guide, Dafni, is a native of the island of Rhodes and has been giving guided tours of the island for 20 years - she has been one of the best tour guides we have had so far.
We began by traveling by bus along the eastern coast of the island to the town of Lindos, about 55 kilometers from where our cruise ship is docked in Rhodes Town. Lindos was one of the three most important cities of the ancient world and has a wonderful acropolis on a hill overlooking the town. The only way to reach the acropolis is by foot - climbing up over 300 steps - or by donkey. None of us road the donkeys, but 15 of us made the long, hot, tiring climb to the acropolis. The ruins of a temple to Athena and a medieval fortress are there, but perhaps the best reward to our climb was the view from the top of the Aegean Sea, the town of Lindos, and part of the rest of the island. But our reason to come here as pilgrims was to view St. Paul's Bay, which is only visible from the top of the acropolis. On one of his missionary journeys, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul sailed to the island of Rhodes, into this very bay, and stayed for a short while. It is a beautiful, small bay - I can't wait until I can post some pictures! Most of us also had some time to shop in the town of Lindos before boarding our bus for the return trip to Rhodes Town. Along the way, we stopped at a pottery store where we were able to see local Rhodians making some of their famous pottery.
When we arrived in Rhodes Town, Dafni took us on a walking tour of the Old City. There are many layers of history in this city. In ancient times, it was home to the Colossus of Rhodes, an enormous statue of Zeus and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In medieval towns, the Knights of St. John οccupied the Old City where they built a beautiful fortress and palace. We walked the Old City and then returned to the cruise ship.
We began by traveling by bus along the eastern coast of the island to the town of Lindos, about 55 kilometers from where our cruise ship is docked in Rhodes Town. Lindos was one of the three most important cities of the ancient world and has a wonderful acropolis on a hill overlooking the town. The only way to reach the acropolis is by foot - climbing up over 300 steps - or by donkey. None of us road the donkeys, but 15 of us made the long, hot, tiring climb to the acropolis. The ruins of a temple to Athena and a medieval fortress are there, but perhaps the best reward to our climb was the view from the top of the Aegean Sea, the town of Lindos, and part of the rest of the island. But our reason to come here as pilgrims was to view St. Paul's Bay, which is only visible from the top of the acropolis. On one of his missionary journeys, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul sailed to the island of Rhodes, into this very bay, and stayed for a short while. It is a beautiful, small bay - I can't wait until I can post some pictures! Most of us also had some time to shop in the town of Lindos before boarding our bus for the return trip to Rhodes Town. Along the way, we stopped at a pottery store where we were able to see local Rhodians making some of their famous pottery.
When we arrived in Rhodes Town, Dafni took us on a walking tour of the Old City. There are many layers of history in this city. In ancient times, it was home to the Colossus of Rhodes, an enormous statue of Zeus and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In medieval towns, the Knights of St. John οccupied the Old City where they built a beautiful fortress and palace. We walked the Old City and then returned to the cruise ship.
Catholic Pilgrimage Groups
Today's posts come from a cafe in Rhodes, our port of the day, where they have cheap and fast internet access. Before talking about today's excursions, some information about the other Catholics on board our cruise ship.
The first afternoon of the cruise, when our group met to set our schedule and answer questions, two women overheard us talking about Mass and asked if they could join us. They are from northern Florida, just north of Daytona Beach, and we were happy to welcome them to our first onboard Mass on Friday. As the afternoon went on, we discovered two other Catholic groups on the ship also journeying on pilgrimages in the Footsteps of St. Paul. One group is led by a Franciscan priest originally from Owensboro, Kentucky. He is leading a group of 30 from all over the country. Tomorrow, they will leave the cruise ship and proceed for a 5-day trip through other parts of Turkey. This evening, we are going to join together with this group for our Mass on board ship. The other group is a 30-person diocesan pilgrimage from Canberra, Australia. They are led by their Archbishop as well as their Archbishop emeritus. Like us, they are also visitng Athens and Rome, so we may encounter them during other parts of our trip. It has been a real blessing to find other pilgrims along our journey, all of us following in St. Paul's footsteps. In a way, it reminds me of the medieval pilgrimages when people from all over the world would meet on the roads to great sites like Canterbury in England or Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The journey of a pilgrim is a powerful experience, and it can be made even more meaningful knowing that you are not alone in your pilgrimage.
The first afternoon of the cruise, when our group met to set our schedule and answer questions, two women overheard us talking about Mass and asked if they could join us. They are from northern Florida, just north of Daytona Beach, and we were happy to welcome them to our first onboard Mass on Friday. As the afternoon went on, we discovered two other Catholic groups on the ship also journeying on pilgrimages in the Footsteps of St. Paul. One group is led by a Franciscan priest originally from Owensboro, Kentucky. He is leading a group of 30 from all over the country. Tomorrow, they will leave the cruise ship and proceed for a 5-day trip through other parts of Turkey. This evening, we are going to join together with this group for our Mass on board ship. The other group is a 30-person diocesan pilgrimage from Canberra, Australia. They are led by their Archbishop as well as their Archbishop emeritus. Like us, they are also visitng Athens and Rome, so we may encounter them during other parts of our trip. It has been a real blessing to find other pilgrims along our journey, all of us following in St. Paul's footsteps. In a way, it reminds me of the medieval pilgrimages when people from all over the world would meet on the roads to great sites like Canterbury in England or Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The journey of a pilgrim is a powerful experience, and it can be made even more meaningful knowing that you are not alone in your pilgrimage.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Day Three - Mykonos
Just a quick post for now on our third day of pilgrimage - I am on a computer on the cruise ship, where the internet access is much more costly! We set sail this morning on our cruise aboard the Aquamarine to sail for Mykonos. Two things that we most noticed on today's sail - the Aegean Sea is filled with islands of all sizes - we never really lost sight of at least one island as we sailed; second, the seas are rough! Probably the most memorable part of the day was Mass celebrated in one of the dining areas onboard while we were moving - which meant a lot of swaying back and forth as the ship moved during Mass. This evening, we were docked at the island of Mykonos, a small picturesque island of white buildings, windmills, and many churches. We each went our own direction on shore, visiting shops and strolling through the narrow, winding streets. Some of us were able to find the Catholic Cathedral of Mykonos, a church not much larger than the parish church in Athens where we celebrated Mass yesterday. We have finished dinner, and some are off to the show. Tomorrow, we visit the island of Rhodes, where St. Paul stopped on one of his journeys. Sometime soon, I hope to post more about today, including stories of some of the other Catholics and pilgrimage groups we have met.
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