I hardly know how to describe our day in Ephesus! I didn't have any expectations, but any I would have had would have been greatly exceeded! This was an amazing day. I have a feeling there will be about five posts about this one day. We started our day with a breakfast of champions...
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| Les did eat more than Fruit Loops... |
We saw the Fortress of Kuşadası as we sailed in to port. It takes up the entire island floating off Kuşadası’s beach promenade and was built in the 13th century A.D.
As we made our way to our bus we were met by Turkish dancers.
We boarded bus #3 and were met my our tour guide, Hakan. He explained that the Turkish pronunciation of Kuşadası is KOOSH-ah-dah-suh. The small symbol below the first "s" indicates an "sh" sound. In our seats were goodie bags and bottled water. The goodie bags included a clay pot (that I'll talk about in a little while), a small trinket, and a handout about Paul in Ephesus. The front/back:
We were surprised to see that the inside contained Acts chapter 19. The entire chapter was printed, which includes the conversion of some of the disciples of John the Baptist - including being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus and receiving the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues.
Our bus took us high in the mountains to Mount Koressos to "The House of the Virgin Mary."
"The house was discovered in the 19th century by following the descriptions in the reported visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774–1824), a Roman Catholic nun and visionary, which were published as a book by Clemens Brentano after her death. The Catholic Church has never pronounced in favor or against the authenticity of the house, but nevertheless maintains a steady flow of pilgrimage since its discovery." (Wikipedia)
Catholic pilgrims visit the house based on the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this stone house by Saint John and lived there until her assumption (another teaching of the Catholic church that has no Biblical basis.)
A pathway led us to the wishing wall where people have left prayers.
Next to the wishing wall is a fountain of "holy" water. This is where many from our group brought their clay pots to fill and take "holy" water home with them.
We then went inside a small church for mass. Again, we did not know this was part of our excursion, but we decided to go in and just be respectful. I did not take any pictures of the priests or inside the building, but these handouts were on our seats.
In my 52 years on earth, this is the first mass I have ever attended. I was amazed at how many people knew every single word they were suppose to say. I couldn't even follow it on paper! They knew when to repeat, when to say something else, when to stand, and when to kneel. Beholding their devotions, their sincerity, it really affected me.
The time for communion came. Again, having never been to Catholic mass before, I didn't know what would happen. Many of us did not participate, but Les and I watched closely. The priest put the bread directly in the people's mouths and only he drank the wine. I think this puts a layer between God and man that is not there. We have direct access to the power of the blood.
I'm pretty sure this isn't suppose to be funny, but... Priest: "Go forth, the Mass has ended." All: "Thanks be to God."
Hakan pointed out this cistern to us. He said this could have been used for baptism at one point because it was deep enough for people to be fully immersed. I didn't think about it at the time, but several things that Hakan said and did make me think he had a much clearer understanding of the Bible then he shared with our group. I would love to go back and ask him.
After a few more minutes for pictures, we were back on the bus headed the Ephesus.
As always, you can find more pictures HERE.
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