December 20, 1999
Tiffin woman visits home of the Virgin Mary
By MaryAnn Kromer
Correspondent
Christmas is a time when Christians commemorate the birth of the Messiah and honor the Holy Family. Mothers look to the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a role model, patient and loving. Scripture says she was with her son from his birth until the crucifixion, when Jesus entrusted her to the care of St. John, who alludes to Mary in the Book of Revelation.
Jane Frisch of Tiffin has a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin, a devotion which has grown stronger after two trips to Turkey to visit the house where the Virgin Mary spent her final days on earth. The structure was discovered in 1881 and was restored during the 1950s by an American foundation headquartered in Lima, Ohio. More than a million pilgrims visit the site.
The first visit to Ephesus was actally a side trip on a 10-day tour the Frisches made in 1997 to visit their son Richard, who lives in Romania.
"Richard had been there (to Mary's House) and had given me a little statue and two pictures that he had taken. He said, 'Mom, you really want to go to there.'"
Before making the uphill trek to Mary's House, Jane and her husband Leonard explored the ruins of Ephesus, where Jane spotted a fragment of translucent blue glass, about an inch square, with opaque white swirl designs. She tucked it into her pocket as a souvenir.
At the foot of the hill leading up to Mary's House, Frisch and her husband were somewhat hesitant, since the cab fare to the top was quite expensive. Also, they wanted to attend Mass while there, but none was scheduled that day. The couple did go up, however, since they had come so far. They were glad they did.
"It was the day before Thanksgiving (the U.S. holiday). When we got up there at one or two o'clock in the afternoon, there was a priest there from the United States," Frisch said. "After about two minutes, he asked if we wanted to go to Mass and communion."
The couple did not have time to go up again before going on to Izmir, Selcuk and Istanbul, Turkey, but Frisch was thinking to herself, "I want to come back here."
On the trip, Frisch learned that Mary's House had been discovered by following the instructions of a German nun, Anna Catharina Emmerich, who lived from 1774-1824. Her descriptions all came in the form of visions which she dictated to a respected German writer, Clemens Brentano. Although Emmerich never had left Germany, the house of the Virgin was just where she said it was and was laid out in the very plan she had described to Brentano.
After only one afternoon at the site, Frisch was so impressed with the house and its history that she made a return trip in June 1999. She had been corresponding with Sister Antonia, a sister she met on the first visit, and offered to volunteer at the site. The Sisters Minor of Mary Immaculate live in a convent near the house and do much of the work at the shrine. They accepted Frisch's offer of service.
This time, Jane Frisch flew alone, but Richard met her at the airport in Bucharest. She spent her birthday, June 7, and three more days doing such tasks as gardening, ironing and picking fresh flowers. The sisters made out a schedule for her and let her stay at the convent.
"Two couples live on the grounds there and they help. They have a place to stay. There's also a priest's house further away," Frisch said. "They were real glad to see me. Few of the volunteers are Christians. Most are Muslims. The sisters are very busy. They really need the help, especially watering everything down, because it's so dry."
One reason she was so anxious to return was what she learned about the bit of blue glass. In December 1998, Frisch took the cobalt-hued fragment to Dr. E. Marianne Stern, a glass expert in Toledo. Stern was able to determine that the piece once was part of a molded, ribbed bowl that commonly was used from late first century B.C. to early first century A.D.
Although the bowl would have been owned by a wealthy family, it does date from the period in which Mary lived, and the blue color is associated with Mary. Holding the fragment up to the light, one can see the figure of a veiled woman with a dove above her head. For those reasons, Frisch treasures it, carrying it with her at all times in a tiny pouch.
Frisch likes to reminisce over a cup of apple tea that she brought from Turkey. It is an instant beverage made by pouring boiling water over some brown granules that resemble freeze dried coffee. These dissolve completely into a golden liquid that tastes like hot apple juice. It is a delicious reminder of her travels.
She also picked up a few stones from the Ephesus area, some of which are the same as the stone used to build the walls of Mary's House. It is a type of limestone with a glittery, somewhat flaky surface. Vials of water from the spring just below the house are still another keepsake. Miracle cures have been attributed to the spring and to the ashes from the house's fireplace.
Frisch would like to return at least once more to see the Stations of the Cross up higher on the hill on which Mary's House was built. It is believed that the Blessed Virgin set up the 12 stations herself as a daily devotion and tribute to her son, Jesus. A stone with a Roman numeral on it marks each station.
"The only time you can go is when Father Joseph Buttigieg is around to take you up there, and he didn't have time to take me when I was there," she said. "That's what I really want to see next time."
In the meantime, Frisch was able to arrange for Joseph B. Quatman to come to Tiffin to give more information on Mary's House and on the restoration work the Quatman Foundation is doing currently. The talk is scheduled for Dec. 27, the feast of St. John the Evangelist, Mary's surrogate son.