PRAYING FOR PEACE

Thursday 3 October 2013

PRAYING FOR PEACE

We began the day with Mass at the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua, the largest Catholic church in Istanbul, somewhat hidden away in an alley off Istiklal Caddesi, a major downtown thoroughfare where the Streetcar runs. I was surprised to see how European the church architecture is. Built in 1912, the architect was Italian, as are the priests who still serve the parish today.

The church interior is perhaps best described as traditional "cathedral gothic" -- long aisle, high ceiling, dark lighting, with many statues along the side walls. A statue of Mary and a crucifix adorn the center of the sanctuary, and the tabernacle is off to the right at a side altar, underneath a large painting of the Last Supper. 

There was another tourist group in the church celebrating Mass in English with their bishop. We watched them from the back for a few minutes, then went downstairs to what I thought would be a brief waiting period. "Coffee and donuts?" I joked.

I was surprised to discover a basement chapel below the main church, complete with its own ornate sanctuary, altar, pews, tapestries, stained-glass windows. I quickly re-assembled my travel guitar (more on that later) and set up a small table in front of the pews on the left side to serve as a makeshift music stand.

In his homily, Fr. Paul spoke of the need for us to be peacemakers. I couldn't help noticing the two stained-glass windows behind him. To his right, Blessed John XXIII, who wrote the papal encyclical, "Pacem in Terris" (Peace on Earth). And to his left, Blessed John Paul II, who promoted peace during his world travels and was instrumental in the fall of the Communist Soviet Union. So for Sending Forth, we sang my song, "Grant Us Peace."

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CHURCH OF THE HOLY SAVIOR IN CHORA

There is an old Orthodox church in the Edirnekapi neighborhood of Istanbul called the Church of Holy Savior, or simply Chora Church. Built of brick with high ceilings and six domes, just about every inch of wall or ceiling is covered with breathtaking Byzantine mosaics. Chora Church is basically a wall-to-wall walk-through icon exhibit.

This house of worship, like many in Turkey, has changed denominations over the centuries. Established in the 5th century as an Orthodox church, Chora became a mosque in the 16th century because of Ottoman conquest of the region. It became a museum in 1958 and is a national treasure.

The important stories and people of the New Testament are portrayed in these mosaic frescoes:

Jesus Christ

Virgin Mary and her life

Christmas story

Miracles of Jesus

St. John the Batist

St. Peter, St. Paul, other Apostles

Heavenly host of angels

Second Coming

The frescoes are in a state of arrested decay. They were plastered over during Chora's mosque period, but restoration work began in 1948. Occasional blank spots testify to centuries of wear and tear but the mosaic brilliance still shines through. A walk through Chora Church is certainly a pleasant and inspiring way to spend the morning.

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NEO??

After the fabulous Chora tour, I was sitting at the steps of the outdoor cafe next to the church when a very familiar black cat approached and sat at my feet. I did a double take.

"Neo?? How did you get here? How did you find me?"

Surely, this was not my cat. Nevertheless, I looked for Neo's unique puff of white hair below this cat's chin. Nope. Of course not! But why was this cat so friendly to me? Maybe Neo sent him to check up on me?

Yeah, this is silly. But what a coincidence!

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GRAND BAZAAR

So with 90 minutes of free time to kill, we went to the world famous Grand Bazaar. At least everyone was telling me it's world famous. I had never heard of it before, but the moment I stepped into this overwhelming cavern of shops and booths I was hit with an air of familiarity. I had seen this place before -- in movies and on TV. In fact, Kamio informed me that an episode of The Amazing Race happened here.

Established in 1455, the Grand Bazaar is the largest and oldest covered market in the world, with 61 covered streets, 3000 shops, and 300,000 visitors daily.  I hung out with Mike and Kamio. We agreed we weren't interested in buying anything but it would be fun to browse around. And we were hungry for lunch. We found a food court with several sidewalk cafes and were immediately accosted by waiters and managers who forced brightly colored menus into our faces.

"Hungry?"

"There is table just for you!"

"Just look at this menu! Delicious!"

"Welcome to your place!"

It was very overwhelming but we settled on a restaurant based on the color of the booths (orange). We ordered and shared a vegetarian pizza bread and it really was quite tasty.

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CRUISING THE BOSPHORUS

And now for something completely different! We boarded a ferry at the waterfront and took a leisurely 90-minute cruise down the Bosphoros Strait, passing beneath two imposing suspension bridges: First Bridge (completed 1973) and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (1988). Design-wise, First Bridge is a spitting image of the Golden Gate Bridge except it's grey, not orange. The Mehmet Bridge might pass as a cousin of the Oakland Bay Bridge (San Francisco span).

It was a chilly and windy afternoon but many of us braved the outdoor decks anyway, cameras flashing away. As per trite custom on any boat of any size, I went to the bow, stretched out my arms, and yelled, "I'm the king of the world!"

The friendly crew started serving drinks and, given where we were going the next day, I ordered the local beer, Efes (Turkish for Ephesus). As we settled down at our tables, we enjoyed an impromptu episode of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" as our guide Aran gave us a running commentary on the many good-looking mansions that lined the shoreline on both sides of the water -- the Asian side and the European side. 

At one point, Aran pointed to the hills on the Asian side and said, "Chalcedon! City of the Council of 451 that helped to fine-tune the Church's understanding of the dual nature of Christ." Yes, the city still exists but, unfortunately, there is no church or landmark to commemorate the council. So we waved to the hills.

All in all, a wonderful way to end an awesome day!

Next blog: EPHESUS