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The Shrine of Our Lady of Ephesus: a Study of the Personas of Mary

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The Shrine of Our Lady of Ephesus: a Study of the Personas of Mary CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Georgia State University Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Religious Studies Theses Department of Religious Studies 11-21-2008 The hrS ine of our Lady of Ephesus: A Study of the Personas of Mary as Lived Religion Heather Abraham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/rs_theses Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Abraham, Heather, "The hrS ine of our Lady of Ephesus: A Study of the Personas of Mary as Lived Religion." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2008. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/rs_theses/19 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Religious Studies at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religious Studies Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF EPHESUS: A STUDY OF THE PERSONAS OF MARY AS LIVED RELIGION by HEATHER ABRAHAM Under the Direction of Dr. Timothy Renick ABSTRACT In Pure Lust, Mary Daly claims that the Virgin Mary is an “image of total subservience, the dethroned and sapped Goddess who was converted into a vessel.”1 Daly perceives Mary primarily through Christian scripture and other orthodox texts, ignoring her role as part of a religion lived and experienced outside of Church doctrine and dogma. This thesis explores how Mary is perceived and utilized by the laity, as opposed to the theological Mary, by specifically looking at how the Virgin Mary is imagined and experienced at the Our Lady of Ephesus Shrine in Western Turkey. Utilizing Robert Orsi’s lived religion approach and ethnographic research, this examination of the Virgin Mary will test Daly’s theologically based theory. INDEX WORDS: Religious Studies, Georgia State University, Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Ephesus, Robert Orsi, Lived religion, Mary Daly, Meryem Ana, Marian Shrines. 1 Mary Daly, Pure Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1984), 73. THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF EPHESUS: A STUDY OF THE PERSONAS OF MARY AS LIVED RELIGION by HEATHER ABRAHAM A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2008 Copyright by Heather Abraham 2008 THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF EPHESUS: A STUDY OF THE PERSONAS OF MARY AS LIVED RELIGION by HEATHER ABRAHAM Committee Chair: Timothy Renick Committee: Kathryn McClymond Louis Ruprecht Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University December 2008 iv DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my husband, Teoman Sagisman, in appreciation for his patience, love, and support. I also dedicate this work to my three muses—Princess Grace, Rhea Sita, and Bella Luna who remind me to enjoy the little moments of each day and, finally, many thanks to Annie, Tammy, Patty, Vanessa, Lois, and Rachel for their continual support. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the assistance and support of all the faculty and staff of the Religious Studies Department at Georgia State University. In particular I express my enduring gratitude to my thesis director, Dr. Timothy Renick, for his unending encouragement and guidance throughout this project. I also thank Dr. Kathryn McClymond and Dr. Louis Ruprecht for their insightful suggestions and direction. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v LIST OF FIGURES vii CHAPTER Introduction 1 I. Lived Religion Approach 4 Lived Religion at Our Lady of Ephesus 8 II. The History and Ephesus Tradition of Our Lady of Ephesus 11 Ephesus Tradition 11 Anne Catherine Emmerich 16 Discovery of the Shrine 17 The Kirkindje Christians 19 Vatican Response and Papal Visits 21 The History of Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Ephesus 23 Diversity of Pilgrims 24 Mary in Islam 26 III. Our Lady of Ephesus 32 Description of the Shrine 33 Author’s Observations and Pilgrims’ Experiences 37 IV. Conclusion 53 V. Works Cited 61 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Ruins of St. John’s Basilica 30 Figure 2.2: Ruins of St. Mary’s Church 30 Figure 2.3: Our Lady of Ephesus in 1896 31 Figure 2.4: Kirkindje Christians 31 Figure 3.1: Statue of Mary 48 Figure 3.2: Informational Signs 48 Figure 3.3: Front View of Our Lady of Ephesus 49 Figure 3.4: Eastern View of Our Lady of Ephesus 49 Figure 3.5: Interior of Our Lady of Ephesus 50 Figure 3.6: Diagram of Our Lady of Ephesus 50 Figure 3.7: Sacred Springs 51 Figure 3.8: Grids 51 Figure 3.9: Kiosk 52 Figure 3.10: Father Tarcy and Author 52 1 Introduction Marian devotion appears on two levels. There is the Mary of the official theology and of the monks, which venerate her as the Virgin who was docilely obedient to the divine will. … But there is also the Mary of the people who is still the earth mother. She is venerated for her helping power in natural crises.2 Rosemary Radford Reuther In Pure Lust, Mary Daly claims that the Virgin Mary is an “image of total subservience, the dethroned and sapped Goddess who was converted into a vessel.”3 In The Church and The Second Sex, Daly argues that Mary is a “remnant of the ancient Goddess of the pre-patriarchal age, who has been domesticated and enchained in Christian mythology.”4 Although Daly’s depictions are useful in their place, her narrow theological view of the Virgin Mary largely ignores Mary’s role as part of a religion lived and experienced outside of church doctrine and dogma. Daly’s view fails to take into account how Mary is imagined and experienced in the daily lives of those who venerate her. In contrast, the above passage from feminist writer and religious studies scholar Rosemary Radford Reuther hints at alternative identities assigned to and constructed for the Virgin Mary. Throughout history, various understandings of Mary have been constructed through the lenses and agendas of observers and the worshippers. Theologians, religious studies scholars, and the laity can and often do have vastly different understandings of who and what Mary is and the role she plays within a particular religious tradition. Moreover, theologians and scholars often overlook or disregard how Mary is perceived, utilized, and experienced by the laity. 2 Rosemary Radford Reuther, Mary—The Feminine Face of the Church (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1977), 58. 3 Mary Daly, Pure Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1984), 73. 4 Mary Daly, The Church and The Second Sex (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1975), 42. 2 This thesis will explore how the Virgin Mary is imagined and utilized by the laity, as opposed to the theological Mary of scripture and church dogma. I will specifically look at the Virgin Mary as manifested and experienced at the Our Lady of Ephesus shrine in western Turkey. This examination of Mary will test Daly’s theologically based theory of Mary as pagan divinity domesticated, subservient, dethroned, and enchained. Of the multitude of Marian shrines throughout the world, Mary of Ephesus stands out in a variety of ways. Unlike most Marian shrines, Our Lady of Ephesus is not noted for Marian apparitions but as a site connected to the historical, physical, earthly Mary. Pilgrims who flock to the shrine believe it to be the last earthly home of the historical Mary of the New Testament and the Quran. Although sought out by millions of Christian and Muslim pilgrims annually, the shrine has received little attention from the academic world. It is the Mary of the people or at least of the pilgrims and visitors to one fascinating shrine—that I wish to pursue in my investigation of the Our Lady of Ephesus. Exploring how the Virgin Mary is experienced at this rarely studied shrine offers us an opportunity to better understand the phenomena of lived religion and to test common feminist claims regarding Mary’s role as a “…derivative symbol disguising the conquered Goddess.”5 Certain feminist writers have created a narrative that places Mary in strict obedience and subjugation to the patriarchal God of Christianity. I believe that a study of the Our Lady of Ephesus shrine will offer an alternative narrative by portraying an independent, sovereign, and autonomous Mary who inspires the millions of pilgrims who visit her yearly. In this examination, I will explore Mary as experienced at Our Lady of Ephesus from the lived religion and historical approach. Utilizing Robert Orsi’s ethnographic approach to religion, 5 Mary Daly, Gyn/Ecology: The Metaaethics of Radical Feminism (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1990), 84. 3 I will explore how Mary is perceived and experienced at Our Lady of Ephesus. In chapter one, I will introduce Orsi’s approach to lived religion. In chapter two, I will pursue an historical investigation of Our Lady of Ephesus. Utilizing primary and secondary sources, I will trace the early Church tradition of Mary’s presence in Ephesus. I will then discuss the story of the “discovery” of the Shrine in 1891 by Franciscan Priests whose sole use of Anne Catherine Emmerich’s ecstatic visions allegedly led them to the ruins of Mary’s house high atop Nightingale Mountain in western Turkey. The final part of my historical investigation will be devoted to the exploration of local traditions of the Kirkindje Greeks, Vatican reaction and recognition of the shrine, and an historical overview of pilgrimage to Our Lady of Ephesus. After establishing the history of the Marian shrine, I will then proceed to chapter three where I will apply the lived religion approach to Our Lady of Ephesus.
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