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Reflections from the back of the Bus - Thursday
26th June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens -
We are having a spirit filled day today with our visit to Phillipi where St Paul preached and established the first church in Europe, a vibrant Christian community.
We begin with the Pilgrim’s prayer from our journal: Our father in heaven you are the aim and object of our lives and the goal of our pilgrimage…..
We drive from Kavala to Phillippi a distance of about 22kms , seeing evidence of the ancient road - the Via Egnatia - that St Paul travelled. We arrive at the Baptistery of St Lydia.
Archbishop Mark reads the beginning of St Paul’s letter to the Phillipians, written when he was imprisoned in Ephesus. Then we walk through an old cemetery (necropolis) to the stream where St Paul met Lydia and the other women and preached the gospel.
There is a shrine here and an outdoor Mass setting, so Archbishops Mark and Francis, Frs Francise and Warwick and Deacons Peter and Paul prepare for Mass while we sit on the stone steps and take in this idyllic setting. The stream is running quite fast after yesterday’s rain. The sound of the running water is very calming.
Mass includes our intentions for George and his family and friends grieving their loss, and for Mary’s friend Pat who died on Tuesday. John reads from the Acts today and Archbishop Mark preaches, as St Paul did all those years ago about the life that God wants for us. He brings us the good news that Lydia and her companions received beside the same stream.
It is a message of love: of koinonia ( communion) of kenosis (self-satisfying love) and cara (joy) . There is something very profound that we are here, that this message is enduring, and that Archbishop Mark is completely at home in this environment!
After Mass we have a blessing of all the gifts we have bought along the way, with water from the spring.
We visit the Baptistery where there are beautiful mosaic pictures of the saints including St Christopher and a stunning icon of St John the Baptist immediately after death.
The Church of St Lydia at Philippi with Bishop Mark and Fr Francise in front of a beautiful mosaic of St Christopher
Its very warm so we stop for an icecream before heading to the archeological site that is ancient Phillippi.
At Phillippi the ruins are an active archeological site. We begin with Archbishop Mark reading the remainder of St Paul’s letter to the Phillipians to us as we sat in the ancient arena. We captured this on video and hopefully will be able to put this on the blog soon. Again it is a very powerful experience that we are here, where St Paul was, hearing the words he preached so constantly.
We move off to the ruins and are amazed to see some of the workmen killing a snake - a viper in biblical terms. This makes Norma very tentative as we step across the rugged stones and into the market place where St Paul and St Silvanus were brought before the rulers and imprisoned.
The archeological dig has unearthed some beautiful mosaic floors and allowed accurate dating of parts of the site . Like everywhere layers and layers of civilisations are laid out, materials have been reused and adapted.
Our guide James takes us to the ancient baths and shows us where supplies were stored below houses by the Christian chruch, and used to feed the poor and care for widows and children- the foundations of the church’s role in chaitable works and welfare that endures.
The site is not as expansive as Ephesusn but is equally impressive, and so much has yet to be discoered. Archeology is an expensive and time consuming business!
As we drive back to Kavala its just after midday so we say the Angelus together and then discuss our plans for our free afternoon. It’s hot but we can see the storms building up out to sea.
Kavala is an ancient fishing port and has an active fishing fleet. As we walk along the promenade in search of a cool ale we can see the fishermen tidying their nests and packing their boats for their next foray out into the deep blue Aegean sea.
Our advenutes today have taken us 20680 step in the footsteps of St Paul so we are weary pilgrims as we spend our last day in Greece.
Tags: Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, footsteps of saint paul, pilgrimage, Prayer, st paul, Ursula Stephens
Posted on: June 26, 2009
Filed under: Reflections from the Back of the Bus
2 Comments
Denis Matthews
June 26th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
This is hardly a “reply” but keeping up with you has been a challenge. As I sit at my computer on Saturday morning our time at home, I note that you have already arrived in Rome. International time can be a problem. I assume that you have been in summer time in Greece with your clocks 3 hours ahead of GMT and on your way to Rome you set your clocks back one hour so that you are now 8 hours behind us in Eastern Australia. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. Please continue till the pilgrimage comes to an end. What a wonderful experience you have had! I shudder to read of creaking knees as you climbed to unimaginable heights. I assume the average age of our pilgrims is much greater that that of the apostle Paul.
Brian Coyne
June 27th, 2009 at 3:02 am
Could I just say I am sorry I didn’t come across this endeavour much earlier — around the start of your pilgrimage say. What a fabulous initiative this is. I would like to extend a special thanks for those who have taken the trouble to take and post the photos and videos — and to write the text. As a writer and editor I appreciate the energy this takes — especially when one is away from home and using unfamiliar internet connections. This is valuable work though for extending the value of an endeavour like this way beyond those immediately taking part. Over recent years I’ve followed a number of both religious and secular ‘pilgrimages’ where friends have ’shared their progress’ via the web and have deeply appreciated the effort, and distraction, that I know goes into having to journalise one’s experience on the road. I’ve written a commentary on Catholica today drawing attention to this initiative and to the National e_Conference being conducted from the Broken Bay Institute this coming Tuesday. Our lives are deeply enriched by the work of all of you.
Blessings,
Brian Coyne
editor & publisher
http://www.catholica.com.au
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