EPHESUS
(Revelation 1:11, 2:1-7; Acts18:19-28, 19:1-41; Ephesians)
The second pilgrimage center for
Christians, also home to the Virgin Mary and St.John. In 431 A.D., the
second ecumenial council convened in the church of the Virgin Mary. The same
church is also known as one of the "Seven Churches of the
Apocalypse". There is also a Basilica where St.John was buried and
nearby is Bulbul mountain where the house of the Virgin Mary is located.
There is a foundation in front of the
Odeum of the city. It is thought to be the foundation of an ancient temple
that was later converted into a church. A bull's head carved in the doorjamb
once led people to believe that this was the tomb of St.Luke since the
bull's head was an ancient symbol for him.
When Paul returned from Corinth to
Ephesus, he stayed briefly in the city and talked the people of Ephesus in
the synagogue where he was asked to stay longer. He promised and said :
"I shall come back to you is it is God's will" (Acts
18:18-20) and he left Ephesus for Phoenecia and Jerusalem.
On his next journey to Ephesus, Paul
stayed longer and taught to his followers all the details of the
Christianian faith, during this two year period. His relations with the
locals started to go bitter when he preached that "gods made by human
hands are not gods at all" (Acts 19:26). After a public speech he was
reacted by the angry citizens of Ephesus, led by Demetrius, a leader of the
silversmiths. Paul was saved from the uproar of the people by the city
clerk. However, it was apparent to Paul that he had better leave the city as
soon as possible. Calling his followers together, he said goodbye to them
with words of encouragement and set off for Macedonia (Acts 19:28, 20:1).
St.John came to Ephesus in 40 A.D.
with the Virgin Mary. They lived here until their deaths. He presided over
the churches of Asia in the later years of his life and was buried where the
church of St.John now stands in Ayasuluk hill. Durign the reign of
Byzantine's emperor Justinian, the church was converted to a cathedral. Some
of its collapsed columns have been set up again recently. Besides the nave,
there is a baptistery and a small chapel with some frescoes.
The home of Virgin Mary, is now
visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year. The pilgrims come to
drink the waters of the sacred spring, to meditate, to pray for health, and
to breathe the holy atmosphere of this ancient place of worship. Pope Paul
VI visited the place in 1967 and recently Pope John Paul II came to
celebrate the mass here and prayed in both churches and Ephesus itself.
In Revelation, St.John wrote the
following words to the people of Ephesus and the church in Ephesus :
Revelation (2:1) "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand
and who walks among the seven gold lampstands. (2:2)I know what you have
done; I know how hard you have worked and how patient you have been. I know
that you can not tolerate evil man and that you have tested those who say
they are apostles but are not, and have found out that they are liars. (2:3)
You are patient, you have suffered for my sake, and you have not given up.
(2:4) But this is what I have against you : you do not love me now as you
did at first. (2:5) Think how far you have fallen! Turn from your sins and
do what you did at first. If you don't turn from your sins, I will come to
you and take your lampstand from its place. (2:6) But this is what you have
in your favor : you hate what the Nicolaitans do, as much as I do. (2:7) If
you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches! To
those who win the victory I will give the right to eat the fruit of the tree
of life that grows in the Garden of God."
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