Trail of St Paul (Part 6)

After a good first night's sleep (after the tiring plane and bus journey) at the Narin Hotel in Antakya, we woke up refreshed on Sunday 31 May 2009. Everybody was anxious to begin our first full day in Antakya or Antioch on the Orontes in Biblical times. There are many Antioch cities/towns in Turkey but when they say Antioch in the Biblical context, most likely they are refering to this one which is in the Hatay province in south eastern Turkey and about 2-3 hours' drive from Adana and Tarsus, the birth place of St Paul.

Briefing for the Sabah pilgrims before they walked from the Narin Hotel to the church in Antioch.

 

Antioch is though to have been founded in 300BC. First to preach here was St Peter followed by St Paul and Barnarbas whose extensive efforts proved to be very fruitful for Christianity. Incidentally, the word Christian was first coined and used for the first time here. The strong and wealthy community of Antioch contributed to the Christian community of Jerusalem.

The highlights of our first full day in Antioch included a visit to the museum which houses a superb collection of mosaics from Antioch, Daphne and Seleucia Pieria dating back to hundreds if not thousands of years. So you can imagine how priceless or precious they are today. We also visited St Peter's Grotto, the cave church came to be known as the meeting place of the early Christians.

The next site we visited was Seleucia Pieria which was the port city of Antioch in ancient days. The most interesting monument here is the Titus Tunnel which was a tremendous tunnel dug for the diverting water the Orontes River. Another highlight here was the rock tombs with their impressive facades pertaining to the Hellenistic period.

May 31 was a special day for Sabahans especially the KDMs and the Christians in general and the pilgrims in Turkey in particular. First, as we all know it was the highlight or closing of the State-level Tadau Kaamatan (Harvest Festival) at Hongkod Koisaan in Penampang. Secondly, it was Pentecost Sunday. In other words, we celebrated Pentecost Sunday in a foreign land related to the Biblical times especially St Paul; thus making our pilgrimage even more meaningful. It was the first time I celebrated Pentecost Sunday overseas.

Rev. Fr. Fundes said Mass for us in the only functioning Catholic church (or rather chapel) in Antioch. It is run by the Capuchin friars headed by Fr. Domenico. It caters to the 'little' parish of Antioch with about 70 Catholics - slightly better than Tarsus.