The House of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus - The last home of the Mother of God

"From that hour the disciple took her home"

The Gospel of John (19,26-27) states that on the cross, Jesus entrusted his Mother to the beloved disciple - identified by tradition as John the Evangelist -: "Woman, there you have your son," and to the disciple: "There you have your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his house." This verse is the starting point of one of the most fascinating stories of Christian archaeology and spirituality: the discovery of the house where Mary spent the last years of her life in Ephesus, in present-day Turkey.

The ancient tradition - documented already in the second century by writers such as Irene of Lyon and Polycrates of Ephesus - says that John the Apostle took Mary with him when he established in Ephesus, the great metropolis of Asia Minor, where the apostle exercised his ministry until the end of his life. Ephesus was then one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire: one million inhabitants, the great temple of Artemisa (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world), a flourishing port in the Aegean.

In that city, in a small stone house on Mount Koressos, the Virgin Mary would have lived - according to this tradition - until her sleep (her transit from this world to Heaven), which the Church commemorates on August 15.

Anne Catherine Emmerich: the seer who pointed the way

Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774- 1824) was a German agustine religious from the Agnetenberg convent in Dülmen, Westphalia. From a young age, he experienced extraordinarily detailed mystical visions about the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. At the end of his life, bowed by a disease that did not leave her for years, the romantic writer Clemens Brentano transcribed his visionary stories for six years.

En 1821, Anne Catherine Emmerich describió con una precisión asombrosa la casa donde, según sus visiones, había vivido la Virgen María en Éfeso: «Está en una colina al sur de Éfeso, en una región boscosa […] La casa es cuadrangular, de piedra negra, con techo plano […] Detrás hay una pequeña fuente […] El monte se llama Koressos.» Emmerich nunca había salido de Alemania. No había estado en Éfeso. No tenía acceso a los textos antiguos que describían la geografía de esa región. Y sin embargo, su descripción era extraordinariamente exacta.

The most surprising thing is that the house described by Emmerich was, in its visions, exactly where the ancient historical texts placed it - on Mount Koressos, a few miles from Ephesus - but no one had looked in that place because no one knew where to look.

«Vi la casa de la Virgen María en los alrededores de Éfeso […] Estaba en una pequeña colina, a la izquierda del camino que va de Éfeso a Jerusalén […] La casa era de piedra negra y no tenía ventanas; la luz entraba por una abertura en el techo.»
— Anne Catherine Emmerich, The life of the Virgin Mary (1821), dictated to Clemens Brentano.

The discovery of 1881: the house found exactly where Emmerich described it

On October 18, 1881, French priest Julien Gouyet arrived on Mount Koressos following the book of the visions of Emmerich as if it were a map. He went up the hill, entered the forest and found the ruins of a small stone house that coincided in all the details with the description of the German seer: the quadrangular shape, the dark stone walls, the fountain behind the house, the orientation.

The discovery was confirmed and expanded in 1891 by Father Heinrich Jung of the Congregation of Lazarists, who organized a more systematic expedition with the support of the Archbishop of Esmirna. Jung documented the coincidence between Emmerich's description and the physical reality of the place with a rigor that impressed the skeptics.

The archaeological works revealed that the foundations of the house are of considerable antiquity, corresponding to constructive techniques of the I- II centuries of the Christian era. The upper part of the walls is later - from the Byzantine era, VIIIth centuries - suggesting that the original house was extended or restored at a later time. The semicircular apse of the background is the oldest part preserved.

The Council of Ephesus (431): "Mary, Mother of God"

The city of Ephesus is not only important in Marian history as it is the possible place of residence of Mary. It is also - and perhaps more decisively - that it was the seat of the third Ecumenical Council of Christian history, held in 431 under the chairmanship of Pope Celestino I (represented by his legacies) and Archbishop Cyril of Alexandria.

The Council of Ephesus solemnly defined that Mary is Theotokos: literally, "the one who gave birth to God," translated into Spanish as "Mother of God." This dogmatic definition was the response to the position of the Patriarch Nestorio of Constantinople, who held that Mary was only "mother of man" (Anthropotokos) or "mother of Christ" (Christotokos), not mother of the divine person.

The definition of the Council of Ephesus is one of the most important milestones in the entire history of Marian dogma. By proclaiming Mary Theotokos, the Council did not raise Mary but protected the doctrine about Christ: to claim that Mary is the Mother of God is tantamount to saying that he who was born of her is truly God, not just a man. Mariology is always Christology.

When the inhabitants of Ephesus knew that the Council had proclaimed Mary Theotokos, they went out into the streets with torches to celebrate it. The city - which had for centuries venerated the goddess Artemisa, patron of the mothers - welcomed the title of Mother of God with a spontaneous and overflowing joy.

"The whole people of Ephesus, from dawn to night, were waiting with torches for the outcome of the Council. When we left, they accompanied us with applause and lights to our homes."
- Letter of Saint Cyril of Alexandria on the Council of Ephesus (431).

The potatoes in the House of Mary

The Catholic Church has not made any dogmatic statement about the historical authenticity of the House of Mary in Ephesus - scientific rigour prevents it - but has adopted an unmistakably positive attitude. Four potatoes have visited the place, which in practice amounts to an approval of devotion:

Paul VI (July 26, 1967): First dad to visit the place. Paul VI, who was making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and then to Turkey, went up to Mount Koressos and prayed in the chapel. He was the first pope to step on Turkish soil in modern history.

John Paul II (November 30, 1979): He visited the House of Mary on his trip to Turkey, where he also met with the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrio I in Istanbul. John Paul II prayed the Angelus from the small explanade in front of the house.

Benedict XVI (29 November 2006): His visit to the House of Mary was one of the most emotional moments of his trip to Turkey. Benedict XVI celebrated a mass at the house's explanade and prayed the rosary. Before leaving he left a written intention on the "wall of desires," the outer wall of the house where pilgrims leave written requests.

Francisco: He has not visited the House of Mary in Ephesus until the date of this writing, although he has visited Turkey in 2014 on the occasion of the Synod of Bishops and his meeting with Patriarch Bartolomé I.

Muslim pilgrims: Meryem Ana in Islam

One of the most unique aspects of the House of Mary in Ephesus is that it attracts a significant number of Turkish Muslim pilgrims, who call the place Meryem Ana Evi ("House of Mother Mary") with genuine devotion. In Islam, Mary (Maryam) is the most holy woman of creation: this is explicitly stated by the Quran (3.42). The prophet Isa (Jesus), his son, is venerated as a prophet and as a Messiah.

For Turkish Muslims who visit Meryem Ana Evi, the place does not have the Christological meaning it has for Catholics, but it does have a Marian meaning of its own: it is the place where the most holy of women, the mother of the prophet Isa, lived. This convergence of devotion between Catholics and Muslims - rare in the world - makes the House of Mary in Ephesus one of the few places in the world where interreligious dialogue is not a program but a living reality.

The sanctuary statistics estimate that between 30 and 40 per cent of its visitors are Turkish Muslims. This figure, if correct, makes Meryem Ana Evi one of the largest interreligious meeting places around Mary in the world.

• c. 33-37 d.C.According to tradition, John the Apostle brings Mary to Ephesus after the death and Resurrection of Christ. It is established on Mount Koressos.
• c. 50 d.C.Saint Paul visits Ephesus and preaches there for more than two years (Acts 19). The Christian community of Ephesus is already rooted.
• 431Council of Ephesus: the dogma of Mary Theotokos (Mother of God) is defined. The city celebrates the definition with popular joy.
• 1821Anne Catherine Emmerich, a German Augustine religious, describes in her visions the House of Mary on Mount Koressos with extraordinary precision.
• 18 oct. 1881Abbé Julien Gouyet discovers the ruins of the house following Emmerich's descriptions. The coincidence is accurate in all geographical details.
• 1891The Lazarist parents organize the first systematic archaeological expedition. The house is partially restored and pilgrims begin to receive.
• 1896Pope Leo XIII blesses the first official pilgrimage to the place.
• 1951Pope Pius XII raises the House of Mary to the category of Holy Place.
• 1967Paul VI visits the House. He's the first dad to do it. First papal trip to Turkey.
• 2004Anne Catherine Emmerich es beatificada por Juan Pablo II.
• 2006Benedict XVI celebrates Mass in the house and prays the rosary. Sign the visit book.

The "wall of desires" and popular devotion

In the explanade in front of the House of Mary there is a long wall - the "wall of desires" or "wall of intentions" - where pilgrims of all religions leave notes of paper, fabrics, tapes and notes written with their requests to the Virgin. It is one of the most living and moving traditions of the sanctuary.

Together with the requests of Catholic pilgrims - in Spanish, Italian, Polish, Filipino - the intentions written in Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, of Muslim visitors appear. Mary unites people who do not share the same faith but do the same desire: to be heard by a mother.

The fountain behind the house - the same source described by Emmerich, which miraculously sprout according to tradition - continues to flow. His water is considered by pilgrims as holy water, and many carry it with them in bottles as a memory and a sign of grace.

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