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24th June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - 2 Comments
It’s Tuesday and we are up bright and early for breakfast. There’s another pilgrimage here from Italy and we share a few words of friendship.
We have another long day ahead. We start our journey with the pilgrim’s prayer and Archbishop Mark reminds us of the Monastic tradition.
We start by visiting two monasteries perched high on these rocky outcrops.
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25th June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - 1 Comment
Our outdoor Mass at Berea was very spiritual. It would seem the Altar of St Paul is used by many pilgrim groups. Our reading (Acts 17) allows us to reflect on St Paul’s treatment by the Thessaloneans.
Archbishop Mark explains how Paul would have used his Jewish connections as an entree into the communities where he preached and so he preached at the synagogues to Jews and those “men and women of influence” who operated on the margins of the synagogues - Gentiles who did not want to embrace the rules and strictures of the Jewish faith but who were drawn to the evangelising messages of St Paul.
We are called to communal action through the Pauline mission.
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25th June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - No Comments
We wake to cloudy skies and make our way to the bus for this morning’s visit to the Church of St Demetrios’ Church. Like most of the churches of its day, the site has been occupied, shaped and adapted through the ages, and so there are different styles of architecture - Roman, byzantine, Islamic, Christian and Coptic evident, beautiful mosaics and frescoes abound as well as prescious icons.
It is the Feast of St John the Baptist and we arrive at the church during the reading of the gospel.
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26th June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - 2 Comments
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.
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29th June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - 2 Comments
It’s Sunday and we’re up early to attend Mass in one of the many chapels in the crypt of St Peter’s Basilica. Our usual routine is to get a wake up call at 6, breakfast at 7 and into the bus by 8, but this morning we’re all dragging our feet and Fr Francise is anxious that we not be late.
We say the Morning Prayer from our pilgrim journal together as we make our way to the Vatican precinct. The Basilica looks magnificent bathed in the morning light. We scurry across the square and into the Basilica. The Archbishops, priest and deacons disappear to get dressed (Green vestments today), leaving us some time to take in the magnificence of St Peters.
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28th June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - 4 Comments
Donna looking out from her window at Casa San Giuseppe
Today is Helen’s birthday and there’s something lovely about the idea of waking up in Greece and going to bed in Italy!
Today we’re back on the bus for the two hour drive to Thessaloniki. James our guide tells us that the media has reported that the storm we drove through on our way to Kavala delivered more rain than the area has had for a year and that about 300 sheep and goats had drowned!
We begin our trip with the morning prayers and Archbishop Mark spends time putting St Paul’s missions in sequence, with the over-riding theme that he was always heading west to Rome.
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28th June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - No Comments
It’s Saturday in Roma!
With such a profoundly moving day yesterday ( we covered a great distance but took some 7500 steps) today is going to be wonderful and hard work.
We wake refreshed in the knowledge that we are not so much living out of our suitcases - this has become quite significant in our minds!
First, breakfast together then onto the bus for our trip to the Catacombs. Archbishop Mark translates a prayer to St Paul from Rome as we make our way along the busy streets marvelling at the mix of old and new.
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24th June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - 1 Comment
It’s Monday and we are back in the bus heading north , following the ancient trade route in the footsteps of St Paul.
We have several hours of travel to cover the distance to our next stop, up through the mountains and then down and across the rolling plains towards the town of Kalambaka.
As the bus climbs away from the coast the landscape changes and starts to look more familiar. We can see why many Greek migrants would feel at home in regional Australia.
The temperature is milder too - the thermometer in the bus is showing about 26C and there are cloudy skies.
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23rd June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - 1 Comment
Ephesus 1,2,3,4
Nothing could have prepared us for the magnificence and significance of Ephesus!
Only now did we begin to understand the anxiety of Archbishop Mark and the guides to get us there!
There is a splendour to the grandeur that are the ruins of Ephesus! The grace and elegance of the ruins give life to the pivotal role that Ephesus played as a trading post and as a centre of scholarly learning.
Its grandeur in size and proportions makes us feel small and insignificant. The technology and innovation that is evident is mind boggling - cantilevered arhes, drains, public toilets(much like present day).
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22nd June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - No Comments
It’s Sunday and we’re all up early for a very special day - we are travelling by tender boat to Patmos to visit the Monastery of St John the Theologian and the cave that was his home when he was banished there for two years. It is said that St John wrote the text of Revelation in the Cave which is now built into the Monastery of the Apocalypse.
We’re all feeling sprightly - no one was enticed into the disco till the wee hours - although this is a very popular cruise ship filled with the energy and noise of young people on holidays.
One of the American pilgrims we met yesterday in Lindos fell and is now in a fibreglass cast - poor thing! It reminds us that for St Paul there would have been many dangers in his travels too. Lord, may your blessing and protection surround us as we travel in the footsteps of St Paul.
This afternoon we are going to the House of the Virgin Mary and to Ephesus - we’re back on the boat and heading to Kusadasi in Turkey. (more…)
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22nd June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - 1 Comment
It’s Saturday - a bright blue sky reflected on the deep blue sea.
Today we have been told will be quite strenuous and very hot. We’ve all found our sea legs but no-one seems to have slept very well.
I’ve remembered my pedometer and we’ve already walked about 20,000 steps in the footsteps of St Paul - that’s about 20kms!!!!
No wonder then that Ian, Eileen and Bishop Francis have decided not to venture to Lindos , in deference to their knees.
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21st June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - 1 Comment
Corinth!
An hour or so to snooze our way to Corinth lulled by the hum of engine, the heat of midday and the effects of our strenuous morning.
We’ve been joined by two young priests studying in Rome, who sought out our tour. Kay is feeling a bit squeamish this morning - I hope it doesn’t spoil her day.
As the bus edges into the narrow streets of Corinth we can smell the sea - salty, slightly rancid. What is that, I wonder?
The bus squeezes into seemingly impossible spaces as we travel through the ‘new’ Corinth - which has been there for centuries.
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21st June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - No Comments
Friday
This morning we are packed and ready to embark on our boat trip - not a cruise, we’re told- because ours is a trip with purpose.
Our ship is very comfortable - we have three nights on board and the opportunity for talks, prayer, mass and conversations all sprinkled among the cultural expose that is this Aegean paradise.
We begin with a short bus ride to the port of Priaus, where we have to surrender our passports and are provided with an identity card!
Then, aboard and settled we meet for Mass. We are joined by a few other passengers who share in our reflection of the readings.
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20th June, 2009 - Posted by Ursula Stephens - 3 Comments
We’re a motley group of pilgrims. Meeting for the first time in Sydney international terminal, tentative smiles and nods, acknowledging the distinctive carry on bags that identified us all. Some of us had met at the briefing meeting- others were meeting for the first time. As we nudged forward in the check-in queue I saw a hand waving a long way down the line - it was Fr Francise, shepherding the Canberra group.
We met again in the departure lounge- Fr Francise resplendent in a green and gold Australia bucket hat, Archbishop Francis moving gingerly onto the plane and the long journey to Athens. We’re off!
“Love and move inwards, discover your will. Shed heart’s invasions and the mind’s harsh control” Pope John Paul II.
We have a pilgrim journal and to reflect on the import of each day takes discipline as we move in the footsteps of St Paul.
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Our outdoor Mass at Berea was very spiritual. It would seem the Altar of St Paul is used by many pilgrim groups. Our reading (Acts 17) allows us to reflect on St Paul’s treatment by the Thessaloneans.
