Story of the House
According to traditional belief after the Resurrection of Christ the Apostle John came to Ephesus with Mother Mary due to the biblical statement that Jesus consigned her to John’s care.
The House of the Virgin Mary has an incredibly unusual history. According to this history, a German nun, Anne Catherine Emmerich was taken ill in the nunnery. While her stay in the nunnery in 1812, she said that she had visions about Apostle John and the Virgin Mary traveling to Ephesus from Jerusalem.
She described Mary’s house in detail which was a rectangular stone building that John had built for Mary. The house had a fireplace, an apse and a round back wall. Mary’s bedroom with a spring running into it, was next to the apse. Emmerich said that the Virgin Mary died at the age of 64 and was buried in a cave near the house. St.Thomas had not been able to arrive in time. After his arrival they kneeled down in front of her grave but, the coffin and burial shroud were empty. Finally the house was turned into a chapel. She told all her visions in detail to a writer named Brentano, who was recording at her bedside.
After reading the book ” The Life of the Virgin Mary” in 1880 C, written by Brentano, Gouyet who was a French clergyman decided to travel to Ephesus. The archbishop of Izmir (Smyrna)of the time Monseigneur Timoni, supported the idea and gave him an assistant. When Gouyet found a house on Mt.Bulbul he believed that it belonged to the Virgin since it was matching the nun’s description. He sent his report to Bishopric authorities of Paris and even to Rome but did not receive the response he had expected.
About ten yaers after that, Lazarist priest H.Jung organized a second research team with the director of the French College of Izmir named Eugene Poulin. Two preists and two Catholic officials set out on 27 June 1891 to Ephesus. They found the chapel in ruins with and a statue of the Virgin with the hands broken off. Monseignor Timoni who was the archbishop of Izmir organized a team with seven priests and five specialists which went up to the house of the Virgin Mary in December 1892 and signed document called ‘History of Panaya Kapulu’.Since 1892 the House of the Virgin Mary has been a Catholic pilgrimage site where the restorations continued until 1894 and a shelter for visitors was built.
On July 26, 1967 Pope Paul VI visited the shrine, and confirmed its authenticity unofficially. On November 30, 1979 Pope John Paul II visited the shrine. During his four-day pastoral trip to Turkey on November 29, 2006 Pope Benedict XVI visited the shrine and celebrated mass here.
Greetings! Your website is very nice! I wish to add to your information about the discovery of Mary’s House by mentioning its Foundress, Sr. Marie de Mandat-Grancey. One can find the tribute to her just inside the doorway of the house. Please read more at houseofvirginmary.net. Many are now discovering the person to whom the people of the world owe a debt of gratitude for Mary’s House. Many are hoping she will be raised to the altar of Saints! This will be a beacon of hope for peace since in Mary’s House Muslims and Christians pray side by side in peace as they honor Mary. Once more light shines on Mary’s House, this hope for peace will grow and grow. Sister Marie has opened the door! Thank you for your time.