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Fr. Christopher Darby led 19 pilgrims in the footsteps of the
Apostle St. Paul.
But first a stop was made in Antioch
where St. Peter, the Rock of the Catholic
Church, established the first church for
Christianity 2000 years ago, and there
Father was privileged to offer Mass for
the group as St. Peter had done for the
first Catholics nearly 2 millennia ago.
We continued on to Tarsus, the birthplace of St. Paul, then a
visit to Cappodocia, where the first
Christians escaped from the persecution,
and onwards to Pamukkale (
Hierapolis
)
where Christianity was spread via the
efforts of
St. Paul.
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We took a ferry to Patmos
and viewed the relics of St.
John
and the grotto wherein the Book of the
Apocalypse was written as well as his
pillow (a rock) and the triple fissure in
the roof from whence the voice of God
issued.
We concluded our pilgrimage in Istanbul
(Constantinople)
by visiting the former Catholic church
of
Hagia
Sophia
and the Chora church.
Truly the pilgrimage was very enlightening pilgrimage and we
learned much about where our Faith began
and the First Christians to whom we are
indebted for its spread. As
St.
Augustine says: "The
world is a book. Those who do not travel
read only one page."
As Pope Benedict XVI has declared 2008 a Holy Jubilee Year in
Honor of St. Paul, on the occasion of the
bi-millennium birth of the Apostle of the
Gentiles, we are organizing another
similar pilgrimage to
Asia
Minor
for September 2008. Watch for more details
coming soon.
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