Marian devotion
Where is he?
The House of Saint Ananias is located in the ancient city of Damascus (Syria). It is a Latin Catholic chapel and place of worship guarded by the Custody of the Holy Land. The map's coordinate represents the town of Damascus, with precise location: the sources consulted confirm the sanctuary and its neighborhood, but do not allow to verify here a building coordinate that is sufficiently secure.
Documented history
The place retains the Christian memory of Ananias, the disciple who, according to the Acts of the Apostles, received the mission to approach Saul after his encounter with Christ and to incorporate him into the community. The history of the current building must be distinguished from the exact biblical identification of the building. The sources of the Custody describe the remains of a Byzantine church of the V-VI centuries; the excavations of 1921 brought out vestiges linked to a church of the Holy Cross.
The Franciscan presence is documented in a testimony of 1347. The Custody of the Holy Land recovered the place in 1820. The building was rebuilt in 1867, after the destruction referred to in 1860, and was rerenovated in 1973. This succession of testimonies, excavations, reconstructions and reforms documents the material continuity of a sanctuary; it does not in itself prove that the current chapel is exactly the house of the 1st century.
Tradition
The local tradition identifies the chapel with the house of Ananias and with the place where St. Paul would have received baptism and regained his sight. He also presents Ananias as one of the seventy-two disciples, the first bishop of Damascus and martyr. The book of Acts does mention a disciple named Ananias and his encounter with Saul, but does not offer all these biographical data or an archaeological description of the current building. Therefore, the elements that sources do not document with the same degree of certainty are preserved as tradition.
Legend and limits of the record
There is no independent legend to add to the history of the sanctuary. There is also no archaeological evidence that allows the biblical scene to be moved to the visible building today. The veneration of the place, its excavations and its Franciscan history are made from the sanctuary; the exact identification with the house of Ananias belongs to the Christian tradition of the place.
Ecclesial State
The House of Saint Ananias maintains Latin Catholic veneration and is entrusted to the Custody of the Holy Land. Indicated permitted veneration to express the existence of the sanctuary and its public veneration. This label does not mean that the Church has defined every detail of the traditional location as supernatural or that it has turned archaeological identification into a dogma.
Anecdotes and stories
An ancient Franciscan testimony recorded that even the local Muslim custodians kept numerous lamps on. The anecdote is part of the history of the reception of the sanctuary and is not presented as proof of a miracle. The successive reforms also show how an ancient Christian place has been preserved and transmitted in a city whose religious history is shared by different communities.
Prayer
Saint Ananias, a faithful disciple, pray for those who seek the truth and for those who need to regain the light of hope. Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus, intercedes for the Christians of Damascus and for all who pilgrim with respect to the biblical places. May all devotion lead us to God and to the follow-up of Christ. Amen.
Sources
- Custody of the Holy Land, House of Saint Ananias in Damascus, institutional source, HTTP 200.
- OpenStreetMap, búsqueda de House of Saint Ananias Damascus, mapping, HTTP 200.
- OpenStreetMap Nominatim, Damascus locationNo. 1091272140, HTTP 200.
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