The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-20
THE HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN.
A DISCOVERY BIZ LAzARIsT
EATHERG NEAR EPRkGUS.

"
Rains OF n BundiuG That Answers the ne.
scriptiou Given by the German Aayr-
ito, Catherine Emmorieh. OF the House
where Mary spent Her LAST Years.
WARRINGTON. Dec. 19.-Tho authorities Of
the Roman Catholic University here have been
informed that the fathers of the Order OF
Lazarlsts have discovered the house In which
the Virgin Mary lived while in Ephosus. The
discovery was made by Father Paulain, su-
perior Of the Lazarist mission Of Ephesus. the
headquarters of which are at Smyrna. The
missionaries work in all the territory about the
ruins of Ephesus. on the Rite OF which are now
merely a few Turkish villages. Tho order 10 .
French one.
II appears that Father Paulain made the Ala
covery through reading The Life of the Holy
Virgin" by Catherine Emmerich, the German
mystic who died In the carly part Of this sear
fury after having excited heated controversies
by her accounts of visions and of miraculous
experiences. Father Paulnin found tho book In
the library of the mission at Smyrna and tossed
II on the floor. expecting that IL would Be
thrown away. because its orthodoxy was sus-
pected. A few days after Father Paulain had
treated the book so CONTEMPORARY no found 10
still lying on the floor and picked IL mp TO see
what It contained. His attention was attracted
to tho chapter which told Of the declining years
OF the Virgin and how she passed them in .
mouse DullJ lot neE Dy o. JOun bno ApO1bios
Catherine Emmerich professed to have been In
spired when she wrote.
This house." the account said. "fs about
eight miles from Ephesus, on q mountain which
is reached by narrow paths which are to the
south Of Ephesus. From the summit. ono eoes
Ephesus on the one side, the SEA on the Other,
the sea being nearer the hill than 1t 10 to
Ephesus."
Emmerich had never visited Ephesue this de.
s%cription was Q very accurate one. The book
house. and aad", even Of It's furniture IL Il said ! that
the house was square. and In the rear had .
fSS onss % Sr G nsat snd F aa | Psul nhe d s,ss M ssi
to investigate the story: He. organised an
s sopsis..G of to rs s . p fS5 the p aoa'o JUNK H.
professor of mathematics at the College
of as = ns r Sn ssrylans; a T EStlro oodv e Ri}I gSs;
I'M Of the Sishtinseies. From smyrne re
F From here eth they isfs for the e' Si i..< The FL f fPss day
%ndr t"sy who informed them that there was Hssa ~
old tradition current am9ng, the people Of thas
ants Of the neiEhborhood were n THO habit Of
WEIR %SSik,RRs t R,sSFl oapisd & the 3 P PanS az .ne e eapouli po oF
Gate of the Virgin.
on. On the second day they assembled the Bull
bull Dag. aud on the third day reached It's SUM
denise E Eeos tse Of f az. OAK ( p iaSsep. a e0de Div. T tle.: :
Being exhausted. they wandered aimlessly
about until they saw some women working in q
tobacco field. They asked them for water. and
were directed to n clump Of trees near by. Here,
to their surprise. they found the ruins OF O stone
house similar in form to the one described
by Catherine Emmerich. They looked about
them and on one side they saw tho sea,
nearer to them than Ephesus. the rufus
OF which were on the other side. The house,
according to Catherine. was divided into three
parts. The central part was again divided into
three parts. of which the last was aemicircular.
This served as an oratory for the Virgin Mary.
On the left was the vestiary. which is now fallen
into ruins, and on the right was the bedroom, in
which was the bed, a plank fixed about q foot
and a half from the ground. The house Is now
preceded by a sort OF square. vestibule. which 10
known to have been erected several centuries
after Christ.
The expedition returned to Smyrna with the
news of their discovery. and Mgr. Timoni,
Archbishop of Smyrna, made an examination
OF the house and compared 1t with the dsscrip-
ton in the book. and he showed that but for the
ruinous condition of the house 1t was exactly
like the one described 10 the book. Since then
students from the school of Athens have visited
the place. and they say that the ruins are like
those or the gymnasium OF Athens, o Roman
building OF the time OF Christ.
This of course does not completely establish
the identity of the house. as the place where the
Virgin Mary dwelt after the Crucifxion of
Christ has been in dispute for centuries. The
last mention of her In the Bible is that she re-
manned in an upper chamber with the Apostles
after the Ascension. st. John had charge of her,
and 1t is believed that he went to Ephesue, and
It Is supposed that he died there.