After a week of silent prayer and reflection in Assisi, we are back on the road to Florence and Venice. The main part of our day was in Florence, the city known for being the cradle of the Renaissance. We had a brief tour of the city, but the highlights of the day was undoubtedly the strikingly beautiful cathedral of Florence – the “jewel” of the city, as our tour guide described it.

After arriving just outside of Venice last night, we set out today to see The Floating City. The group set out after breakfast, taking a ferry across the Laguna Veneta to Venice Island.

Advent is a time of waiting and preparing ourselves for the coming of our King, Christ Jesus. This season’s liturgies use many of the writings from the prophets that reflect the deep yearning of the people of God for their long-awaited Messiah.

As we approach the beginning of our silent retreat, I am filled with great gratitude for all the experiences and people we have encountered along this journey. We have travelled through Turkey, a non-Christian land, following St. Paul in his various journeys and visits to the churches in the region.

In a city full of sacred buildings, some churches stand out with their beauty, and one of them is the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which was the first on our schedule today because we wanted to celebrate the holy Mass there.

Throughout our pilgrimage, many of us have pondered what the end goal of such a journey would be for us. Most pilgrimages have a single destination; Lourdes, Fatima, Santiago de Compostela, etc. But our road has led us across three countries and a dozen different holy sites.

I have always been drawn to the suffering Christ. Perhaps it is because in our suffering, He always draws nearer to us, never allowing a moment of it to pass without His presence. In our moments of pain and sorrow, Christ holds us more closely.

Finally, we arrived at the eternal city, Rome! As I settle into my new room for the next four days I recall our previous day of travel from Athens International Airport to the Fiumicino airport in Italy. Oddly enough, life’s transitions are often like a journey through an airport—filled with bustling crowds, moments of waiting, moments of uncertainty, and glimpses of something greater on the horizon.

As we were celebrating the Eucharist underneath a tree in the former town square of the ancient city of Corinth, a bell suddenly rang from an unseen building on a hill nearby. It sounded, well, alarming to say the least, since it went on for so long. Then a pause of silence.

Today we traveled through the city of Athens and visited the Parthenon and the Areopagus. The Parthenon is a visible representation of the glory of Athens, the cornerstone of philosophy with great figures like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all gazing upon this temple of Athena I gazed upon today. Athens is also known as the seedbed of western civilization.

Today we visited two of the Meteora monasteries that are situated on the top of rock formations in Kalavaka, Greece. These rock formations were a popular spot for hermits as early as the 14th century. The desire to go off to a quiet place to pray has been constant throughout the history of the Church. Jesus himself went off to deserted places in order to pray. These cliffs surely meet the requirement of solitude.

Human nature is a mysterious and enigmatic reality, confounding the most brilliant minds generation after generation. Every era seems to propose a new theory to explain the interconnectedness of the body, soul, and mind.

Today our pilgrim group spent its first full day in Greece! The weather was dreary as we loaded the bus to visit the sites of Lydia’s baptism, described in the Acts of the Apostles, and ancient Philippi. Our new guides have given us a very warm welcome, despite the wintery weather of Europe. We drove through lush mountains and valleys filled with farms dotted with Greek flags and rain puddles.

The beginning of the new liturgical year corresponds with the beginning of a new chapter of our pilgrimage. Today is our last day in Türkiye, and the day of our flight to Thessaloniki, Greece.

While a full schedule has characterized most of our days in Türkiye, our first full Sabbath on pilgrimage was appropriately free, with nothing on the schedule save boarding the bus to head to the airport in the evening.

In Istanbul In conjunction with the rising of the sun, many fishermen arise and over bridges fish into the Bosporus. Recalling back, many of us  were amazed at the mass of fishermen who were fishing the first day we arrived in Istanbul.

We began our day in Bursa with Mass and breakfast followed by a visit to the famous “Green Mosque” and the “Covered Bazaar” where they sell gold and sIlk products.

After spending a day contemplating and praying at Mary’s house in Ephesus, visiting St. John’s tomb, and witnessing an incredible sunset in Assos, we now wake up in Canakkale, a city in northwest Türkiye surrounded by mountains with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea.

Sometimes on pilgrimage, it is easy to overlook what is most important: Holy Mass. This is not intentional- it just happens. Mass is usually early in the morning, followed by a full day of traveling and site seeing. More than once, I’ve heard someone say, “That was this morning!?” when Mass is mentioned on the bus. Suffice to say, our days are jam packed with amazing experiences.

The city of Ephesus was a historical giant.  At its height during the time of ancient Rome, it was the largest city in the empire’s Asian territories.  It boasted an immense three-story library that is still standing today, an enormous temple that rivaled any built in Rome or Athens, and one of the largest ports on the Mediterranean.

Sometimes on pilgrimage, it is easy to overlook what is most important: Holy Mass. This is not intentional- it just happens. Mass is usually early in the morning, followed by a full day of traveling and site seeing. More than once, I’ve heard someone say, “That was this morning!?” when Mass is mentioned on the bus. Suffice to say, our days are jam packed with amazing experiences.

It has been more than a week since we began following the footsteps of Saint Paul. So far, we have visited his birthplace, the places he traveled to during his missionary journeys, and sites where the first Christians had to hide to avoid persecution. Being in such powerful
locations – walking through and witnessing the history engraved in the rocks of Cappadocia,
Galatia, and Pamphylia – deepens one’s faith.

As we walked the half-buried streets of Pisidian Antioch, the sun beat down from overhead on the bleached stones. Perched on a hill, Antioch looks down on modern Yalvaç with the ancient temple of Caesar Augustus, son of a god and pontifex maximus, casting its once-imposing gaze over cities both ancient and modern.

We are in an overwhelmingly Muslim country, intermixed with tourists, where there are more cats than Christians. Today we were privileged to visit a few of the many ancient cave churches, where, in days of old, the numberless faithful Christians of Cappadocia worshiped. Hollowed out of rock, these sacred spaces are as immovable as the hills themselves, some still beautified by colorful mosaics on walls and ceilings.

Today, we are in Cappadocia! Cappadocia is a beautiful region in the south of Turkey; not a metropolitan city by any means but rather a combination of small towns in a beautiful desert region. The scenery is gorgeous with the rolling hills and simple architecture which hasn’t changed much in two thousand years.

I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I am walking around the streets of Tarsus, the birthplace of the great Apostle Paul. It was here he grew up a faithful Jew before going to Jerusalem to study the scriptures. We flew from Istanbul to Tarsus early in the morning, and on the bus ride to Tarsus, Fr Kasule read to us Paul’s conversion story told in the ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. While we are visiting St. Paul’s well and admiring the ruins of the ancient city, I am imagining the way in which God was looking on Paul during his early years, preparing his heart for conversion and to be His apostle in a way St. Paul could never have imagined.