Ephesus House: Then and Now
Right after the ascension of Jesus to heaven the persecution of Christians immediately began. It was of paramount importance to bring the mother of the Savior to a safe place. So, St. John, the beloved to whom Jesus entrusted his mother, brought her to Ephesus. Ephesus was a cosmopolitan city, a more tolerant society. In the beginning, St. John and the Bld. Mother probably stayed in a house in the city of Ephesus itself. This house later on became the site of the first basilica in honor of the Bld. Mother and where the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD was held, proclaiming her as the mother of God.
Later they transferred 6 km away, to a place called the mountain of the nightingales. Here, St. John built the Bld. Mother a house of stone where she and several other Christian women lived. Other Christians built dwelling places around this house to be near her. It was here that St. Luke learned of the infancy narratives of Jesus and where he wrote the first icon. When the Bld. Mother was dying, all the apostles congregated there from different parts of the world. St. Thomas was absent and so he missed the dying and burial of the Bld. Mother. To console him, the Bld. Mother appeared and gave to him her cincture (a relic of which will be enshrined in the Ephesus House). All these information and more were entrusted by the Bld. Mother to bld. Catherine Emmerich, an Augustinian mystic nun. Much of what we know of the Ephesus House and the events that transpired there were published in a book in 1852. Inspired to find the original house, in 1891, Vincentian priests rediscovered it just as Bld. Catherine described in her book. They also learned that a nearby village of Greek Christians had for centuries been visiting these The church has not made any proclamation about the Ephesus House but the visits there of Pope Leo XIII, Saint Pope John XXIII, Saint Pope Paul VI, Saint Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI are implicit declarations.
Before the pandemic, camps were being organized for depressed and suicidal youth. From this apostolate grew the concept of a refuge for troubled, confused, and hurting couples, individuals, and especially young people. The place is supposed to be a sanctuary where they can find hope, by the comfort, and guidance of the Bld. Mother. Just as the early Christians found solace in the Ephesus House, people can experience the same thing here. So the dream is to build the house of the Bld. Mother as identical as possible in size, materials, and features like the original. This structure, the third of its kind outside Ephesus and the first in terms of authenticity in the Philippines, will safeguard centuries old icons and first class relics of Saints known for their devotion to the Mother of God.
The service rendered here will be of hospitality, welcoming, and caring for the lonely Jesus, confused Jesus, the hurting Jesus. A contemplative community will manage the place together with volunteers willing to wait on Jesus in his various distressing disguises. Every person coming into the refuge is sent by the Bld. Mother herself.
The structures that will facilitate this sanctuary will be a “PANATA” for favors needed and favors received from Mama Mary.