The House of Our Lady

Poustinia about which I wrote yesterday is linked in the West with the Madonna House Community.

Someone once asked Catherine, “What is Madonna House?” She answered:
What is Madonna House? Madonna House is a very simple thing. It is an open door. It is a cup of tea or coffee, good and hot. It is an invitation to work for the common good.
Madonna House is a house of hospitality. It is a place where people are received, not on their education, not on how wonderful they are as painters, or whatever they have to do; they are received simply as people. They are loved.

Now today where do we find Pope Benedict XVI?
Benedict XVI will travel to Smyrna, the country's third-largest city, known as "The Pearl of the Aegean," from where he will go to Ephesus, the city where the Apostle Paul lived and was captive, and where, according to tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary and John the Evangelist also lived. In Ephesus, Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass at the Meryem Ana Evi (House of Mary) Shrine and deliver a homily. It was in this city that a Council in the year 431 proclaimed the Virgin Mary "Theotokos," of Mother of God.

Independent Catholic News
LONDON - 26 March 2001
Our Lady's house to open in Norfolk
A replica of Our Lady's house in Turkey, is to be opened in Norfolk next Sunday (1 April).
Bishop Peter Smith of East Anglia will bless the house, and representatives of the Turkish government are expected to attend.
Measuring just twelve feet by fifteen feet, the building at Downham Market is an exact copy of the original in Ephesus - said to be the house where Our Lady spent her last days with St John, before she was assumed into heaven. The building contains one stone from the house in Ephesus.
Local resident Eric St John-Foti is behind the project. He said: "My wife and I visited the house at Ephesus a number of times and were impressed by the feeling of tranquillity there."
Mr St John-Foti said he hoped the house becomes an inter-faith meeting place. He said: "The house in Ephesus attracts Moslem and Christian visitors alike. We want this new shrine to be dedicated to peace."