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Assembling with Areopagite
18th June, 2009 - Posted by Archbishop Mark -
I suppose today counts as Day 1, but it was really assembly day. Most of the pilgrims arrived early this morning, with Neil and Mary Harrigan arriving yesterday and myself arriving via Budapest this afternoon. I was hoping to find Archbishop Carroll bursting out of his skin after the magic potion he’d been given in Singapore, but he was no good when I got to the hotel. He’d gone for a walk in the heat and it hadn’t been quite what the doctor ordered, although he blamed a pie he ate in Yass on Monday. He wisely decided not to join us for Mass at 6.00pm in the Catholic Cathedral of Athens which is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, St Denis.
This is Dionysius the Areopagite, one of the few in Athens who actually thought Paul had something to say when he made the famous speech on the Areopagus. We know Dionysius became a Christian, but not much more than that. However, that hasn’t stopped people through the centuries connecting Dionysius with all kinds of elements of the mystical tradition of Christianity. It hasn’t always been the kind of mysticism that Paul would have enthused about, even though the Apostle was very much a mystic in his own way. Paul’s was a mysticism of the disciple who (in his own words) “reproduces the pattern of the Lord’s death”; in other words, a mysticism of one who actually lives the death and resurrection of Christ so that they become not an event of the past but the deep rhythm of life here and now.
The Cathedral is a strange and rather stately combination of the Greek and the Roman. The Roman Catholic community here is small and includes many foreigners who are living and working in Athens. Quite a few Filipinos joined us for Mass, and one of the concelebrants was Filipino-born Fr Arthur who is now a priest of the Archdiocese of Athens. Apart from him on the sanctuary, we had a Chinese deacon and an Indian priest, which would have pleased the Apostle of the Gentiles. Neil Harrigan had the camera, so the Mass will pop up somewhere somehow on this blog. We prayed for all following us from afar and the pilgrim bloggers got a mention in my homily.
I was thinking of having an orientation session tonight after dinner, but there were some tired looking pilgrims at the table, so we decided to declare it a quiet night. Let’s hope they can get some decent sleep. Archbishop Carroll had something to eat and seemed in better form as he ate - even if he declined a glass of wine which I insisted would be excellent for his stomach. That’s what Paul said to Timothy. But Frank would not be moved.
Tomorrow we start early, head off around Athens - spending time of course on the Areopagus - and then head south to Corinth for the afternoon. Then it’s back to Athens for a briefing on our boat-trip across the Aegean (I refuse to call it a cruise) before the evening meal and then a first session from me after the meal, looking at what actually happened to Paul in Athens and Corinth. It’ll be a big ask after a big day, but pilgrimages weren’t meant to be easy. Time for bed…
Tags: Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, footsteps of saint paul, pilgrimage, st paul
Posted on: June 18, 2009
Filed under: Archbishop Mark's teachings
3 Comments
Fr Troy Bobbin
June 18th, 2009 at 4:02 am
It will pay me to be more organised next time. I look forward to hearing about Paul as you travel across the Aegean. I have noticed Bishop Mark when you speak about Paul it sounds like he was one of your close friends whom you had just had a conversation with and now your recounting it to others. Keep safe
Footsteps of Saint Paul » Action in the Footsteps of Saint Paul
June 18th, 2009 at 6:26 am
[...] pilgrims this morning start the day with the celebration of the Eucharist at Athens. Let’s continue to accompany them though our prayer and reflection. Following on from our [...]
Denis Matthews
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:43 am
Is the St Denis of Athens the same St Denis of Paris? I have a special interest
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