Sister Marie Series by Dan Murr - Segment 19

At first, it seemed the purchase had been lost, but Mr. Binson’s works it out to finish it. Then the property on Nightingale Mountain is put in Sister Marie’s name and she uses her own resources to restore the area.
Now they were all waiting for completion of the lawsuit made by The Bey against his nephew. On 20 October, they learned the transactions were under way.
However, some days later when all seemed to be concluded, an obstacle appeared. Despite Mr. Binson’s coolness and ability, he thought, “We have lost.” But he regained his optimism and started the proceedings again. He paid some money and then was back in control of the situation.

The good news finally came to Father Poulin at Sacre Coeur in a telegram on 15 November at 5:40 in the evening. It read, “Congratulations, business concluded. Binson.”
When the deal was finally finished, it had cost less than 31,000 francs in French money.
What a valuable piece of property this Panaghia, by no means a small piece of land. Its length stretched two kilometers from east to west and its width 1300 meters. Its total area is 27½ acres. It takes three hours to cross the plain, five hours with the mountains and the hollows.
When the land was bought, it had been agreed to put everything together for their research: the Castle, the Terrace of Kara-Kaya; Bulbul-Dagh; Kara-Tchalty and the Tower of a Hundred Guards; also the Grotto which is below, known as the Cave of Latone.
As Sister Marie instructed, the property was registered in her name.
“It was logical,” Father Poulin wrote. “She had borne all the expenses and still does for Panaghia; repairing roads, construction of buildings, maintenance of the chapel, amelioration of the property, planting trees, annual expenses for excavations. She has done this with endless generosity and good will.”
“Do make use of me while I am here,” she had repeated often. “After my death, I will not be able to help you.
But Mary’s home was neglected for a long time, had been terribly damaged, looted and uninhabited. Now, however, Sister Marie held the legal title to the land and she knew it was her responsibility to restore Mary’s home. She also knew that people would want to come and see for themselves just how Mary’s Home actually had looked when she lived there.
This, however, was Turkey. Bureaucratic details were held in abeyance and it dragged on and on. It tested the mettle of Sister Marie and her devotion to the members. She managed to have a small building built on the property for a caretaker who was a devout Muslim. Her emotions fluctuated – joy, satisfaction, sorrow, gratitude, determination, thanks, frustration – with the pressures her team had to endure. The reality of it all wouldn’t take effect it until she and her sisters actually viewed the home on December 12, 1892. That day was their first visit to Mary’s home.
Sister Marie, also an administrator, began to discuss with the men their immediate needs for the project. She wanted to construct the following year (1893) a chalet where equipment and tools could be stored and where the sisters would have necessary accommodations. At times, it also could be used for pilgrims to remain overnight.
On 1 December 1892, fifteen days after its purchase, great consolation came to Sister Marie. Archbishop Timoni of Smyrna and Vicar Apostolic of Asia Minor arrived with a twelve-member commission to make an official visitation of Panaghia Capouli. The smallest details of the find were compared with the revelations of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich. Their official record was made, ratified and signed by the commission, and received most favorable recognition. The commission’s report was followed by the local civil and ecclesiastical approval.
As the RECORD OF EVIDENCE, here in detail is what Archbishop Timoni and his group certified and attested to:
Recent research, undertaken in accordance with the indications of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich, has seriously drawn the attention of the nation for some six months toward an area close to Ephesus and called Panaghia-Capouli (Door of the Virgin). We wanted to verify for ourselves the exactitude of the report that was given us. To this end, on Thursday, December 1, 1892, we were transported to said area of Panaghia-Capouli. There we found the ruins, well enough preserved, of an old house or chapel whose construction according to a competent archeologist dates from the first century of our era and which, as much for the location as for the interior plan, corresponds clearly and entirely to that which Catherine Emmerich said in her revelations regarding the house of the Holy Virgin at Ephesus.

Segment 20:Excavagation begins and more findings are discovered.